WHY IS THIS ELECTION HAPPENING?

Why, exactly, are we suddenly embroiled in a federal election? Did the opposition parties team up and defeat the Liberals on a vote of confidence in the House of Commons? Did the government suddenly decide to shift its political agenda

180 degrees and decide it needed a renewed mandate to carry it out? Did a new leader take over the governing party with a notion that she might like to seek the voters' approval?

Nope, none of these things. We are in the midst of a federal election because: COVID isn't currently ravaging our long-term care homes; people are focused on their cottages and relaxing with family; no one is talking over the back fence about the cavernous federal deficit or China's bullying; even with part of the country burning up this summer, people aren't focusing on climate change. Our guard is down.

Meanwhile the Conservatives are having trouble finding their feet politically; the Greens have taken themselves out of any serious discussion and the NDP — well, Jagmeet Singh is a nice guy but politics isn't where our hearts are right now.

There is little the opposition can shake in our faces that will stir us from the simple relief of a summer when we can finally hug and visit friends and family. As a result, polls favour the Grits. The prime minister has pulled the plug on his functioning minority government hoping to garner a majority — with which, if he succeeds, he will do pretty much the same things he has already been doing.

That fact makes it even harder to get excited, which is likely what the Liberals are banking on as they — like the Harper government before them — ignore the fixed-date election law passed in 2007, whereby a ruling party isn't supposed to troop us off to the ballot box simply because it wants to. Yes, there's actually a “fixed date” under that law: the third Monday in October, four years into a government's mandate, unless the opposition parties bring it down on a non-confidence vote.

Did we miss that vote? Did it happen while we were all at the beach last week? Ah, no.

Meanwhile, the campaign diverts MPS from the actual problems at hand. At the top of that list is the “fourth wave.”

Shilling for support, your would-be MPS will spout whatever COVID message they think you'll vote for; and they won't pay proper attention to what is happening with the pandemic at a given time.

They or their volunteers will just show up, beaming, at your door. Let's at least hope they're all vaccinated.