Thirty-nine days and counting…the federal election is finally here and The Conversation Canada plans to offer our readers stories they can’t find elsewhere. As always, we’ll rely on experts who have conducted research in the areas they write about or have academic expertise to provide an informed opinion. Today we kick off our election coverage with three strong stories:

• Dianne Lalonde of Western University tells us about “dumbfakes and deepfakes” – edited or altered videos that can appear to make politicians say and do things they didn’t actually say or do.
• Are Conservatives facing an identity crisis as they head into this campaign? Brian Budd of University of Guelph writes about the challenges that Andrew Scheer is facing in his first campaign as the Conservative leader.
• Mark Winfield, a professor of environmental studies of York University, looks at why Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will struggle to attract so-called “green voters” because of its plan to complete the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

For those of you who’ve already had enough election news, we offer two health stories: how “Small Data” can help healthcare officials deliver better services and why we need to start taking into account the environmental and social costs when calculating the true costs of providing health care.

Regards,