Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to speak to Canadians in a rare televised address Wednesday evening merely hours after the minority Liberal government lays out its priorities for the new session of Parliament in the speech from the throne presented by Gov. Gen. Julie Payette.
Trudeau has asked the television networks for time to address the nation as Canada faces a steep increase in new coronavirus infections and the country’s top doctor warned Canadians on Tuesday that they are “at a crossroads.”
Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office said Trudeau “will address Canadians directly on the urgency of fighting COVID-19 as we face down the prospect of a second wave of the virus.”
The address is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET and will be carried live by major television networks, as well as livestreamed online. Trudeau is expected to speak for 15 minutes. The prime minister’s address will then be followed by reaction from the opposition parties, which will have 15 minutes combined to offer their reaction.
However, with both Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, who is also the Leader the Official Opposition in the House of Commons, and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, it’s not clear how their parties will avail themselves of the allotted time.
Televised addresses to the nation by Canadian prime ministers are relatively rare. Lester B. Pearson addressed Canadians in 1968, Paul Martin in 2005 and Stephen Harper in 2008. Just like Trudeau, these prime ministers were leading minority governments that were facing possible defeat in the House of Commons.
Canadians could be going to the polls this fall if opposition parties join forces to oppose the government’s priorities presented in the speech from the throne today.
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