EXPLAINER: What are the issues in Canada’s close election?

By ROB GILLIES
Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing a tough reelection battle against his Conservative Party rival, Erin O’Toole. Trudeau called an early election for Monday in hopes of winning a parliamentary majority and strengthening his government. But he has struggled to explain why he was in a rush to schedule the snap vote during the coronavirus pandemic. The opposition has relentlessly accused him of doing it for his own personal ambition. Polls suggest neither Trudeau’s Liberal Party nor O’Toole’s Conservatives are likely to win a majority of Parliament’s 338 seats, meaning both would need to form an alliance with a smaller party to pass legislation.