Canada goes to polls today

.

Canadian voters are going to the polls today (Apr 28) amid one of the most dramatic campaign transformations in years, Al Jazeera reported.

January polls indicated the Conservatives were headed for a certain victory, but the Liberals have started gaining traction, although the competition has narrowed in recent days. Early voting has shattered records with more than 7.3 million ballots cast, as per Al Jazeera.

"It's pretty clear the Liberals are going to win this now," said Frank Graves, President and Founder of Canadian polling firm EKOS Research. "That would have been utterly unthinkable at the beginning of this year," he told Al Jazeera.

Last fall, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre tapped into rising populism in response to an affordability crisis and inflation under longtime Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

But the tide turned when Trudeau stepped down earlier this year on January 6, paving the way for new Liberal leadership, and President Donald Trump entered his second term, threatening Canada's economy with a trade war. Suddenly, Canadians unified around their national identity.