Snap elections aren’t often called, and less often during a pandemic. The last snap election was called by Stephen Harper back in 2008. But just like that election, Justin Trudeau walked away with the same level of government as was prior to the election—another minority government.

The results of the 2021 federal election are as followed:

A total of 338 seats were up for grabs on Sept. 20 with 170 required to earn a majority government.

Seats in the house didn’t move around much. Most parties only lost or gained a seat. Albeit the Liberals walked away on top, they didn’t win the popular vote—the Conservatives won that crown with 34 per cent of the vote.

This year’s election voter turnout wasn’t as high as past elections, but again, this was during a pandemic. Only 58 per cent of registered voters made it to the polls, although this doesn’t take into consideration those that registered on election. And yes, I was one of those “late to the party” individuals.

Comparing this to previous election turnouts, it shouldn’t come too much as a shock that voter turnout took a bit of a nose dive during a pandemic election. The 2019 federal general election had a 67 per cent turnout—this amounts to just under a 10 per cent dip in the amount of people that voted in this election. Not exactly a small number. To put this into perspective, the 2015 federal election had a 68.3 per cent voter turnout. One or two percentage drop in voter turnout is expected, but close to 10 per cent isn’t a small number.

By talking with people out in the community, I have gathered that most weren’t exactly excited to be voting during a pandemic and fourth wave. Not to mention the huge price tag that is being reported for this election. The 2019 election’s estimated costs sat at around $502 million. The 2021 election is expected to be upwards of this.

With another minority government in power, it isn’t guaranteed when the next election will be. However, we do know it’ll be sometime between now and 2025.