Canadian election: Liberal leader Justin Trudeau leads polls

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is leading the polls in Canada's election longest and closest campaigns in the country's history. The 42<sup>nd election is a tight three-way race between incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair.

Although the candidates have been travelling across the country in an attempt to sway undecided voters for the last 78 days, twice as long as past electoral campaigns, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is leading the polls, according to CBC's poll tracker.

Conservative party leader Stephen Harper has been in power for nearly a decade, and a win in this election will make him the first Canadian Prime minister in more than a century to win a fourth term in office. His campaign Is based on steering Canada's troubled economy back on track, with TV adverts saying Trudeau is "just not up to the job."

Justin Trudeau, son of late prime minister Pierre Trudeau and leader of the Liberal party, began the race in third place, but now leads the polls in a late surge. The Liberal party was unseated three terms ago after years of being on top.

Tom Muclair, left-leaning New Democratic Party seeks to repeat regional success, and was the original front-runner in opinion polls at the start of the race.

When this campaign began, the Liberals were in last place and sinking in the polls. But Trudeau's performance in an opening debate brought Liberals back into the race, though the New Democrats still held the lead they had consistently enjoyed since the spring, report CBC.

Harper has formed governments three times without capturing more than 39.6% of the popular vote. Each of Canada's three largest parties has led in one poll or another, but the country's strong political culture and plurality make it hard to predict an outcome.

The Canadian House of Commons contains 338 seats, in which 170 seats are needed to form a majority government. Voting hours are staggered across the country and polls opened in Newfoundland at 08:30 local time (1100 GMT), and will close in the westernmost province British Columbia at 19:00 (02:00 GMT).

Canadian TV channels CBC, CTV, Global and CPAC will show election results coverage starting anywhere from 18:30 p.m. Eastern Time (23:30 GMT).