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| Canada heads to the polls in closest election in country's history – live | Canada heads to the polls in closest election in country's history – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 5.54pm BST17:54 | |
| John Barber | |
| John Barber in Toronto sends this dispatch: | |
| The Canadian and international media spent a lot of time during this long campaign talking about the rights of Muslim women and the limits of multiculturalism – the so-called “niqab issue”, spurred by the Conservative government’s determination to make one Muslim immigrant from Pakistan remove her face veil before swearing allegiance to her new country. Judging by spilled ink alone, a person would be forgiven for seeing this as the “niqab election”. | |
| But despite the fervor, the issue appears to have had little if any impact on actual voting intentions. Broad trends charted by hundreds of polls show that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives began and ended the campaign with the same 30 per cent support – neither rising nor falling as a result of their provocative stance against immigrant Zunera Ishaq. Outside a few ridings in rural Quebec, the niqab issue looks to be dead on arrival at election day. | |
| 5.41pm BST17:41 | |
| Maclean’s, Canada’s national weekly news magazine, has pinpointed three make or break moments that defined Canada’s marathon election campaign. | |
| Deciding on what constitutes the turning point is something of a parlour game for political watchers, and it can be debated endlessly. Was it the moment whenJustin Trudeau defended his father during the Munk debate on foreign policy, as the Ottawa Citizen’s Mark Kennedy told me recently? Was it Tom Mulcair’s stance on the divisive niqab debate, which put him off side with much of his key vote in Quebec but was hailed as an act of integrity by his supporters? Was it Stephen Harper’s launching of the barbaric cultural practice’s hot line, a paranoid stunt that solidified his turn toward the dark politics of division or was it his income-splitting promise, which could drive middle-class voters to him? | |
| Read about the turning points here. | |
| 5.34pm BST17:34 | |
| Guess who they voted for? | |
| 5.23pm BST17:23 | |
| Hey Americans. Yeah, we’re talking to you. | |
| If you’ve been too wrapped up the Donald Trump show to notice the electoral drama unfolding just north of the border, my colleague Nicky Woolf has a nice little piece on why Americans should care about Canada’s nail-bitingly close election, (especially those of you planning to move there should the US presidential election not go as you hoped). | |
| With Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s party predicted to win the most seats – if not an outright majority – experts say there is a chance of a thaw in relations between the two countries in time to facilitate real action on issues like climate change. | |
| Of course, the US and Canada are deeply intertwined economically. Each is the other’s largest trading partner: trade between the two countries in 2012 – the most recent year for which data is available from the Office of the United States Trade Representative – totalled $707bn. | |
| Canada is also the world’s largest national importer of US goods, spending $51bn a year on US-made cars alone. It is also the second-largest importer of US agricultural products ... | |
| “For our American cousins, the relationship is consequential. For us, it has often been definitional,” Trudeau said earlier this year. | |
| Read more here. | |
| 5.05pm BST17:05 | 5.05pm BST17:05 |
| While millions of Canadians are heading to the polls today, roughly 1.4 million won’t have a say. | While millions of Canadians are heading to the polls today, roughly 1.4 million won’t have a say. |
| Under a law upheld by an appeals court last July, Canadians who are old enough to vote and have lived abroad for five or more years cannot vote are barred from voting in Canadian federal elections. | Under a law upheld by an appeals court last July, Canadians who are old enough to vote and have lived abroad for five or more years cannot vote are barred from voting in Canadian federal elections. |
| The Guardian’s Canadian expats, Ruth Spencer & Laurence Mathieu-Léger, spoke to disenfranchised Canadians living in New York City at a demonstration against prime minister Stephen Harper in Brooklyn last week. | The Guardian’s Canadian expats, Ruth Spencer & Laurence Mathieu-Léger, spoke to disenfranchised Canadians living in New York City at a demonstration against prime minister Stephen Harper in Brooklyn last week. |
| People like me have no other citizenship. I have no right to vote anywhere. – Gillian Frank | People like me have no other citizenship. I have no right to vote anywhere. – Gillian Frank |
| Updated at 5.07pm BST | Updated at 5.07pm BST |
| 4.51pm BST16:51 | 4.51pm BST16:51 |
| When elections roll around, editorial boards like to have their say. | When elections roll around, editorial boards like to have their say. |
| BuzzFeed Canada’s has spoken. With cheeky puns and firm judgement, the website has endorsed Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista’s “damn fine booty”. | BuzzFeed Canada’s has spoken. With cheeky puns and firm judgement, the website has endorsed Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista’s “damn fine booty”. |
| The endorsement is apparently catching fire. | The endorsement is apparently catching fire. |
| Updated at 4.55pm BST | Updated at 4.55pm BST |
| 4.34pm BST16:34 | 4.34pm BST16:34 |
| Who’s Stephen Harper? What are Canada’s political parties? What’s a riding? Who’s in the lead? Here’s everything you need to know to understand today’s election, thank to my colleague Alberto Nardelli. | Who’s Stephen Harper? What are Canada’s political parties? What’s a riding? Who’s in the lead? Here’s everything you need to know to understand today’s election, thank to my colleague Alberto Nardelli. |
| 4.23pm BST16:23 | 4.23pm BST16:23 |
| While non-citizens dare not try to influence the Canadian election, these front pages can. | While non-citizens dare not try to influence the Canadian election, these front pages can. |
| In a final push ahead of Monday’s election, The Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, Fort McMurray Today, among other newspapers, replaced their front pages with near-full-page spreads endorsing the Tories, The Huffington Post reports. | In a final push ahead of Monday’s election, The Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, Fort McMurray Today, among other newspapers, replaced their front pages with near-full-page spreads endorsing the Tories, The Huffington Post reports. |
| The spreads said either “Voting Liberal will cost you,” or “Voting NDP or Liberal will cost you,” followed by explanations of how those parties’ platforms would affect voters. There was also a ballot-style checkbox marking a “Conservative” vote. | The spreads said either “Voting Liberal will cost you,” or “Voting NDP or Liberal will cost you,” followed by explanations of how those parties’ platforms would affect voters. There was also a ballot-style checkbox marking a “Conservative” vote. |
| Spare a thought for the journalists who work diligently for papers that sold a front page today. Not their choice. pic.twitter.com/Dx2ZN7gGGa | Spare a thought for the journalists who work diligently for papers that sold a front page today. Not their choice. pic.twitter.com/Dx2ZN7gGGa |
| Updated at 4.37pm BST | Updated at 4.37pm BST |
| 4.14pm BST16:14 | 4.14pm BST16:14 |
| Last Week Tonight host John Oliver wants the Canadian people to vote prime minister Stephen Harper out of office. But saying so could land him behind bars. | Last Week Tonight host John Oliver wants the Canadian people to vote prime minister Stephen Harper out of office. But saying so could land him behind bars. |
| Under Canadian election law, it’s illegal for non-citizens to try to influence a Canadian election – a violation punishable by a $5,000 fine or jail time, or both. But Oliver said he wasn’t scared of spending six months in a Canadian jail. | Under Canadian election law, it’s illegal for non-citizens to try to influence a Canadian election – a violation punishable by a $5,000 fine or jail time, or both. But Oliver said he wasn’t scared of spending six months in a Canadian jail. |
| “If telling you not to vote for Stephen Harper is going to cost me $5,000, I’m going to get my money’s worth and do it in the most Canadian way possible,” Oliver promised. | “If telling you not to vote for Stephen Harper is going to cost me $5,000, I’m going to get my money’s worth and do it in the most Canadian way possible,” Oliver promised. |
| On stage, Oliver was joined by a beaver wearing a maple leaf shirt playing Sweet Caroline on a keyboard, a moose getting a colonoscopy under Canada’s “fantastic single-payer health care system”, and native son Mike Myers dressed as a mountie driving a snowplow, who declares: “Don’t vote for Stephen Harper.” | On stage, Oliver was joined by a beaver wearing a maple leaf shirt playing Sweet Caroline on a keyboard, a moose getting a colonoscopy under Canada’s “fantastic single-payer health care system”, and native son Mike Myers dressed as a mountie driving a snowplow, who declares: “Don’t vote for Stephen Harper.” |
| The scene ends with Oliver declaring that Stephen Harper doesn’t care about black people, a reference to the now infamous moment when Kanye West said: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” during a benefit concert for Katrina victims while presenting with Meyers. | The scene ends with Oliver declaring that Stephen Harper doesn’t care about black people, a reference to the now infamous moment when Kanye West said: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” during a benefit concert for Katrina victims while presenting with Meyers. |
| “Oh God, not again,” Meyers gasps. | “Oh God, not again,” Meyers gasps. |
| Oliver corrects himself. “Stephen Harper doesn’t care about Muslim people.” | Oliver corrects himself. “Stephen Harper doesn’t care about Muslim people.” |
| Meyers: “Totally fair.” | Meyers: “Totally fair.” |
| And then Oliver makes it rain 5000 Canadian dollars. Oh Canada. | And then Oliver makes it rain 5000 Canadian dollars. Oh Canada. |
| Updated at 4.18pm BST | Updated at 4.18pm BST |
| 3.35pm BST15:35 | 3.35pm BST15:35 |
| Canadians head to the polls today for what seems set to be the closest election in the country’s history following a marathon campaign cycle. | Canadians head to the polls today for what seems set to be the closest election in the country’s history following a marathon campaign cycle. |
| Just in the last three weeks the centre-left Liberal party, led by Justin Trudeau – son of famous former prime minister Pierre Trudeau – has surged into the lead, while the one-time pole position-holders, the left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Tom Mulcair, have dropped to third place. | Just in the last three weeks the centre-left Liberal party, led by Justin Trudeau – son of famous former prime minister Pierre Trudeau – has surged into the lead, while the one-time pole position-holders, the left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Tom Mulcair, have dropped to third place. |
| Barring a surprise in today’s result - and after the polling upset in the UK election earlier this year introduced the world to the concept of “shy Tories”, one is not entirely out of the question – Trudeau looks set to oust incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative party from power. | Barring a surprise in today’s result - and after the polling upset in the UK election earlier this year introduced the world to the concept of “shy Tories”, one is not entirely out of the question – Trudeau looks set to oust incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative party from power. |
| The Liberals may be leading, but current projections suggest that they will not be able to win the 170 seats required for a parliamentary majority on their own. There have been hints throughout the campaign that the NDP may be willing to enter into a coalition with the Liberals, but no outright promises; and a minority government, where legislation is negotiated on an ad hoc basis, is also a potential outcome. | The Liberals may be leading, but current projections suggest that they will not be able to win the 170 seats required for a parliamentary majority on their own. There have been hints throughout the campaign that the NDP may be willing to enter into a coalition with the Liberals, but no outright promises; and a minority government, where legislation is negotiated on an ad hoc basis, is also a potential outcome. |
| Places to watch: ridings – electoral districts – in downtown Toronto and Vancouver, many of which are Liberal/NDP marginal seats, will indicate how united the support is behind the centrist Liberals, and act as good bellwethers. In the greater Toronto area, suburban seats like Ajax, where the conservatives wiped the Liberals out in 2011, will show how much support Harper has lost to the Liberals among his base; the Conservative incumbent, immigration minister Chris Alexander, looks set to be ousted by the Liberal MP Alexander toppled in 2011, Mark Holland. | Places to watch: ridings – electoral districts – in downtown Toronto and Vancouver, many of which are Liberal/NDP marginal seats, will indicate how united the support is behind the centrist Liberals, and act as good bellwethers. In the greater Toronto area, suburban seats like Ajax, where the conservatives wiped the Liberals out in 2011, will show how much support Harper has lost to the Liberals among his base; the Conservative incumbent, immigration minister Chris Alexander, looks set to be ousted by the Liberal MP Alexander toppled in 2011, Mark Holland. |
| Meanwhile the oil-rich province of Alberta, where Harper is himself an MP, will be useful for seeing if the NDP can maintain the anti-Conservative sentiment which saw them win provincial power here in a sensational revolt against Harper’s party back in May. | Meanwhile the oil-rich province of Alberta, where Harper is himself an MP, will be useful for seeing if the NDP can maintain the anti-Conservative sentiment which saw them win provincial power here in a sensational revolt against Harper’s party back in May. |
| Polling has been staggered across Canada’s timezones in the hope that a result might be available at roughly the same time. Polls opened at 9.30am eastern time in Ontario, and an hour later in British Columbia, on the west coast (7.30am local time). Results will start pouring in pretty quickly after the polls close, at 9.30pm eastern in Ontario and 10.30pm eastern in British Columbia. | Polling has been staggered across Canada’s timezones in the hope that a result might be available at roughly the same time. Polls opened at 9.30am eastern time in Ontario, and an hour later in British Columbia, on the west coast (7.30am local time). Results will start pouring in pretty quickly after the polls close, at 9.30pm eastern in Ontario and 10.30pm eastern in British Columbia. |
| Stay with us – it could be a bumpy ride. | Stay with us – it could be a bumpy ride. |