During the election period, we’re taking our popular Image of the Week feature daily. Check Macleans.ca each weekday as writer Michael Fraiman dissects an image that tells a different story from the campaign.
It’s official: Justin Trudeau is off to the races, and he’s bringing his family along for the ride. The calculus behind today’s writ-drop, kicking off a tight 40-day federal election, was precise. Had Trudeau called it any sooner, Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives would enjoy more time to outspend the Liberals in advertising; any later and everyday parents might mentally move on from their child’s first day of school. (Why not wait until after Sept. 11, with all of its dark resonance, remains a mystery, but whatever.) Trudeau’s platform hinges on a future for Canada’s children: climate change, national pharmacare and equal rights comprise a marked attempt to steal progressives away from the New Democratic Party. It worked in 2015. But if Trudeau wants to stay in power after Oct. 21, he’ll need a bigger army than his family of five.
