Where party leaders stand two weeks from election day

Less than two weeks out from election day, the leaders of the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP have their final sprint to reach Canadian voters.

Justin Trudeau contends with aggressive anti-vaccine protesters disrupting speaking appearances and ground lost in the polls to the Conservatives.

Jagmeet Singh works to paint the NDP as a legitimate option for progressive voters disillusioned with the Liberal party — and encourage them that it’s worth the trip to the polls to back his party.

Erin O’Toole has rewritten his policies and stances to round up more progressive voters come Sept. 20, and so far, it seems to be working.

All three have more ground to cover as time disappears. The Star profiled each of these candidates with to give readers a sense of how they each hope to win their vote.

Justin Trudeau, Liberal party

“I can’t back down,” Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau declared on Monday.

Since the election was called, Trudeau’s campaign trail has been accented by anger from the public: frustration with the pandemic, upset over the fact that the Liberals called an election at all, and vocal groups of protesters around the country — one of which sprayed him with gravel at a stop in London, Ont., on Monday.

With Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole proving to be a contender for the top spot in Ottawa, Trudeau has been sticking to his platform and message that O’Toole is “bowing to the fringe politics that want to take back Canada.”

At a stop in Welland, Ont., he said: “For people who still wonder, whether or not we really needed an election right now, just take a look at the issues and the intensity of debate over so many big issues that really matter to Canadians, the clear and stark differences between our various approaches for this country, the clear and stark differences in leadership style.”

His task over the next two weeks is persuading Canadians to see it the same way.

Erin O’Toole, Conservative party

Watching O’Toole over the first half of this campaign, one thing has held true: he is consistently inconsistent.

What may surprise is it looks like the frequent political story rewrites are working.

During his leadership run a year ago, O’Toole’s flirtations with social conservatism and apparent enthusiasm for the culture wars surprised many who had known him as a moderate in the Conservative caucus.

Since becoming leader, he’s dropped that “true blue” mantle to court progressive voters and switched from wanting to take Canada back to promising to secure its future.

But even with the flip flops, some messages appear to be sticking.

The challenge for a leader of Canada’s fragile and diverse Conservative coalition is to be conservative enough to maintain support of the party’s base, but moderate enough to pick up centrist votes.

Jagmeet Singh, New Democratic Party Whatever the polls say, it’s clear the New Democrats see the Liberals as their main opponent, so it makes sense NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has taken aim at Trudeau and the Liberal party every chance he gets.

The hope seems to be to capitalize on what the NDP sees as disillusionment with Trudeau after six years of Liberal government marred by “broken promises,” and to rally progressive voters to Singh.

And Anne McGrath, the party’s national director, said the NDP is on track to add seats to the 24 it had before the election was called.

But the question is, will supporters see enough reason to vote?