Trudeau criticized for calling Canadian election in 4th wave

MONTREAL (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his decision to call an election during the pandemic in first debate of the campaign for this month’s election. Trudeau is facing a tough re-election battle against his Conservative Party rival. The vote is Sept. 20. Trudeau called the election last month seeking to win the majority of seats in Parliament, but polls show that is unlikely and that he might even lose power. Trudeau had wanted to capitalize on the fact that Canada is now one of the most fully vaccinated countries in the world.  But Canada is in a fourth wave driven by the delta variant.