Day thirteen, and the campaigns were trying to get back to a message that wasn’t trade war-related, for what that’s worth in the current moment we’re in. Mark Carney was in Montreal, where he promised to protect CBC/Radio-Canada though a more accountable governance structure and more funding directed to local coverage, and to protect it by enshrining its funding in legislation…except that you can’t bind future governments by statute, and yes, the Supreme Court of Canada has said so. He also downplayed Preston Manning’s crybaby separatism comments, and reminded reporters of his western credentials. Carney will be in Oakville and Toronto today.
"If elected, my government would take action to enshrine, protect and strengthen CBC/Radio-Canada for generations to come," says Liberal Leader Mark Carney, pledging to increase CBC/Radio-Canada funding by $150M and stabilize its long-term funding. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/mqEgf5v1cV
"I think such dramatic comments are unhelpful at a time when Canadians are coming together, and that is the sense in the West as well," Liberal Leader Mark Carney says when asked re: Preston Manning's comments that voting Liberal could threaten national unity.#cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/XJ7pD4BgWW
Pierre Poilievre was in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, to propose tougher bail conditions and sentencing for intimate partner violence (which is something to tackle! But sentencing is not the only solution). The Conservatives didn’t send out a notice as to where Poilievre would be today.
"My Conservative government will ensure that criminals stay behind bars and victims stay safe," says Pierre Poilievre as he proposes to bring in tougher sentences and restrict bail for those convicted and accused of crimes of intimate partner violence. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/maGz3o4Vsc
"We're going to make our own decisions on exactly how much we spend, we're going to make our own decisions about our military," says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when asked re: U.S. calls for NATO members to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/XZvSCtWmC4
Jagmeet Singh was in Montreal to pronounce that they would crack down harder on offshore tax evasion, with some digs about Brookfield as though Carney was making all of its decisions (because apparently the NDP need to learn how corporate boards operate). They also promised they would tear up tax treaties with havens like Bermuda…except those treaties are vital for information sharing used to combat tax evasion. Because apparently the NDP really thought through that policy. Singh will be in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador this morning, and then off to Halifax for the evening.
"We believe that if you make a profit in Canada, you should be able to contribute back to this country," says Jagmeet Singh as he pledges that an NDP government would crack down on offshore tax havens. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/G5dyqA7tfY
NDP: We're going to cancel tax agreements with havens like Bermuda to stop tax evasion!Reality: Those tax agreements provide information sharing crucial to combating tax evasion.
In other campaign news, here is what we heard from the Radio-Canada “Five leaders” interviews, and how Poilievre is starting to moderate a few of his positions including on things like the digital services tax.
A Russian attack on a residential area of Kryvyi Rih killed nineteen people including nine children, and yet they claimed they were targeting “gathering military,” which is obvious disinformation. Germany is funding Eutelsat to provide Ukraine an alternative to Starlink, with the hopes of sending between 5,000 and 10,000 terminals within weeks.
⚡️Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 6, injure 46 over past day.
Russian forces launched 78 drones from the Russian cities of Kursk, Bryansk, Millerovo, and Primorsk-Akhtarsk against Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine's Air Force.https://t.co/EebdSe9DQI
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 4, 2025
Day twelve, meaning we’re about a third of the way through, and so much of the day was all about the fallout of Wednesday’s tariff announcement. Mark Carney was in Ottawa where he had yet another virtual meeting with the premiers before meeting with the media. There, he said that the era of trade where America leads is over is over, that Trump’s actions will rupture the global economy as it has been since the end of World War II, and that while this is a tragedy, it’s the new reality. Canada’s response is a matching 25 percent tariff on vehicles from non-CUSMA-compliant vehicles coming from the United States, but not on auto parts, where the proceeds would go back to the auto workers. Carney will start the day in Montreal, before heading to Woodbridge, Ontario, and then Scarborough.
"Yesterday's actions by the U.S. administration, while not specifically targeting Canada, will rupture the global economy and adversely affect global economic growth," says PM Mark Carney in Ottawa as he comments on the Trump administration's global tariff action.#cdnpolipic.twitter.com/HhtQOU25mo
In response to U.S. auto tariffs, PM Mark Carney announces a matching 25% tariff on all imported American vehicles not compliant with the CUSMA trade agreement, pledging support for Canada’s auto industry and reiterating a plan to build a "made-in-Canada auto sector."#cdnpolipic.twitter.com/fvSRe4dkHJ
Pierre Poilievre was in Kingston, where he promised to remove the GST on Canadian-made vehicles (which the NDP initially proposed), and a fund to help keep workers stay on the job in affected industries. It is also noteworthy that Poilievre distanced himself from Danielle Smith and Preston Manning’s crybaby separatism comments, saying that they need to unite the country. Poilievre will be Trois-Rivières, Quebec, today.
"By saving cash-strapped Canadian families their hard-earned money, we will increase demand for Canadian-made cars and keep more workers on the job," says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he proposes removing the GST on Canadian-made automobiles. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/T8jbR48qAo
Jagmeet Singh was in Ottawa to propose the creation of Victory Bonds to fund public infrastructure, in addition to reannouncing his previous protectionist plans. Singh will be in Montreal again today.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh proposes the creation of "Canada Victory Bonds" to raise govt revenue for public services & infrastructure, saying "instead of relying solely on banks & paying debt & interest to those banks, let's pay interest to Canadians instead." #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/aTiRvLux7W
The NDP have a tense problem here.They haven't launched anything because they are not in government. They are proposing launching these bonds. There is a difference.
The NDP social media strategy should be to stay off it.
— David Moscrop, newsletter @davidmoscrop.com (@David_Moscrop) April 3, 2025
In other campaign news, Carney said that legislation to protect Supply Management was unnecessary (which is true, but also because you can’t bind a future government so you’re just wasting everyone’s time). Poilievre insisted that their willingness to dump candidates (so far) shows that they’re different from the Liberals (which is a specious argument before the cut-off date).
Hundreds of Ukrainian troops are allegedly holed up in a monastery as Russian troops try to drive them from Kursk region. President Zelenskyy visited the neighbouring Sumy region yesterday. Ukraine appears to have resolved some of its manpower challenges.
Our defenders in the Sumy region are the true shield of northern Ukraine. Since August, they have been holding back Russian and North Korean forces and disrupting their plans.
Their actions have forced Russia to divert significant forces from other directions, weakening the… pic.twitter.com/uvgNLAwNJG
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 3, 2025
⚡️UPDATED: Russian drone attack against Kharkiv kills 4, injures 35, including child.
The body of a fourth victim was found in the early hours of April 4, trapped beneath rubble in Kharkiv, authorities said.https://t.co/RkYwKMMDKz
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 4, 2025
Day eleven, and the countdown was on for the major tariff announcement from Trump, which he dubbed “Liberation Day” in the most Orwellian sense. Mark Carney was in Ottawa, meeting with his Canada-US advisory council before the announcement, and then the Canada-US Cabinet committee after the announcement, but with more tariffs coming into play later today, the announcement on retaliatory measures is still forthcoming. Carney did say that this latest global tariff imposition will “fundamentally change the global trading system.” And while he didn’t campaign, Carney did, however, have François-Philippe Champagne make a campaign announcement on his behalf in Granby, Quebec, about the agrifood sector, which not only vows to protect Supply Management, but makes pledges around more funding for various agricultural programmes including trying to build more domestic processing capacity. Carney will remain in Ottawa for the morning, and head to Montreal for a Radio-Canada event.
“In a crisis, it’s important to come together and it’s essential to act with purpose and with force. And that’s what we will do,” says PM Mark Carney as he comments on the impact on Canada of U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly announced tariffs on multiple countries.#cdnpolipic.twitter.com/h9TvfnyGjU
I listen to arguments against retaliatory tariffs, as they do hurt us more than the other side.But, the point is to hurt the other side and get the US tariff reversed. Our ability to withstand pain is greater, but not infinite.So, I'm in favour of smartly targeted retaliatory tariffs.
But some argue against *any* retaliation. Not pro-Trumpers themselves, but people who say "they are big and we are small and we can't possibly do anything we should just submit."This argument I resolutely reject. If not quislings, they are at least cowards. Fight for your country or GTFO.
Pierre Poilievre was in Toronto to give a “keynote speech” to an invited audience meant to resemble a Chamber of Commerce speech on the response to Trump, and it was…middling, because he seems to think that Trump is actually interested in renegotiating the New NAFTA, or that the tariffs are for legitimate reasons rather than the ludicrous belief that they can be used as income to replace taxes that billionaires pay. And he made some particularly odd promises, like using the tax windfall from increased trade to fund the military, or that the Americans actually care about stopping their guns from crossing our border. And a lot of it was falling back on his same economically illiterate beliefs that the Liberals killed the resource extraction sector (which is only operating at record production levels) and that more oil and gas will solve all of our problems (it most assuredly won’t). Poilievre will remain in Kinsgston this morning, and then head to Oshawa for a rally in the evening, and will attend the Radio-Canada event virtually.
"Keeping Canadians working should be our top priority," says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in a speech in Toronto as he proposes a temporary loan program for businesses directly impacted by U.S. tariffs. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/y81PpICLsa
"Why not end the uncertainty that is paralyzing both sides of the border and that is also costing us jobs today," says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he pledges an immediate renegotiation of the CUSMA trade agreement if his party forms government. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/16jq1k5FHi
Doug Ford said his MPPs are too “swamped” to campaign for the Conservatives. So it’s interesting to see Caroline Mulroney on Bay Street introducing Pierre Poilievre. pic.twitter.com/qF7556pfmE
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will propose to Donald Trump that both sides pause tariffs and launch early renegotiation of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement which is already up for renewal in 2026. pic.twitter.com/wuCkYUZlcQ
Jagmeet Singh was in Winnipeg and made his own pledges to protect workers from the tariffs, which were mostly just reannouncements. Aside from the pledge to meaningfully reform EI (which is far easier said than done—the current government has been working on this for years), he pledged investments in a few sectors, reannounced things like his GST cuts (which disproportionately benefit the wealthy), and he pledged more protectionist measures, which feels like it’s missing the mark for the moment we’re in as a country. Singh will be in Ottawa for the morning, and then head to Montreal later in the day for the Radio-Canada event.
"The way we fight back against Donald Trump is doubling down on who we are as Canadians and our value that we are better off and we are stronger when we look out for one another," says NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in Winnipeg as he proposes U.S. tariff response. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/t8fo0eHLsc
In other campaign news, Conservative spending on Facebook and Instagram ads has fallen sharply while the Liberals have increased theirs.
As for the tariffs, it looks like Canada and Mexico were exempted from this particular round, and that the New NAFTA-compliant exemption remains in place, but the steel and aluminium tariffs are still there, and the auto tariffs come on today in some fashion but they are making those up as they go along, so those remain significant issues overall. But as for how they arrived at their apparently random list of tariffs today, well, it’s even dumber than you could have imagined.
The officials said that if Trump lifts the fentanyl-related tariffs, that Canada and Mexico would default to today's baseline (10%).
Note: there was confusion over the USMCA thing being a one-month pause. Trump verbally called it that but it was enacted as an indefinite change.
Even given that it's Trump, I cannot believe they said "We'll just divide the trade deficit by imports and tell people that's the tariff rate." And then they decided to set our tariffs by just cutting that totally made-up rate in half! This is so dumb and deceptive.
A Russian drone attack hit an energy substation in Sumy region, as Russia claims that Ukrainian forces’ drone and shelling attacks in Kursk region cut off power to 1500 households, thus claiming each side violated the “energy ceasefire.”
Last night, the Russian army continued using attack drones against Ukraine. A total of 74 drones were launched, including 54 Shaheds. Kharkiv was deliberately targeted – at least 14 drones. Unfortunately, there were hits. There are wounded, including three children. All are… pic.twitter.com/PUk5tSlHMN
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 2, 2025
A targeted Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih. All necessary services are on site, working to mitigate the consequences of the shelling and to help people. Some people are wounded, and they are receiving medical assistance. As of now, it is known that, tragically, four lives… pic.twitter.com/Qe05g2ReUa
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 2, 2025
Day ten, and things felt a bit more on track today now that the Paul Chiang situation didn’t loom over everything. Mark Carney was in Winnipeg, and re-announced his party’s affordability measures, such as the cancellation of the consumer carbon levy (though I’m not sure how losing the rebates after this quarter will help most households with affordability), his tax cut plan (which disproportionately helps the wealthy), and their various home building pledges along with the previously announced expansion of dental care this summer. That said, he also said expanding pharmacare likely wasn’t going to be a priority (but remember that pharmacare done in the dumbest way possible because the NDP insisted, so maybe it’ll give it time to negotiate a better system? But only if the premiers actually want to play ball, mind you, and they were reluctant beforehand. Carney is back in Ottawa today for “meetings” in advance of the tariff announcement this afternoon.
Responding to a reporter's question in Winnipeg, Mark Carney confirms that a reelected Liberal government would not repeal Bill C-69, the environmental impact assessment act, which has been dubbed by its critics as the “no more pipelines act." #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/3356eySCTk
Pierre Poilievre was in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador, and announced that he was going to cave to five demands from the oil industry, including repealing the Impact Assessment Act, scrap the emissions cap, the industrial carbon price, guarantee “six-month approvals” for projects (and good luck with that), and increase Indigenous loan guarantees for resource projects. Of course, the justifications he keeps pointing to are things that predated Trudeau and the IAA, and there are a tonne of approved projects on the books that aren’t moving ahead for market-based reasons. He’s selling a fiction about the need for more oil and gas projects which the market has not moved on, and is convinced this is the way to fight Trump. It’s baffling. Poilievre also insisted that the Liberals were going to bring the consumer carbon levy back once the election is over, just like Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole also insisted that the Liberals were going to tax the capital gains on your home. He later made an announcement in PEI about removing the automatic escalator on beer, wine and spirits, which…is a fraction of a cent every year. Honest to Dionysus… Poilievre will be in Toronto this morning, and heads to Kingston for the evening.
“I voted against C-69. I have always been against C-69. I’ve said I will repeal C-69, the ‘no-new-pipelines’ Liberal law within 60 days of becoming prime minister,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said at a St. John’s press conference earlier today. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/TvPiYGMcMx
None of these projects were reviewed under the legislation contained in Bill c-69. Most were reviewed under CEAA 2012 ex MVP (CEAA 1992) and (where applicable) the same vintage of the NEB Act. Some were cancelled before Trudeau was elected. Some were DOA years before that. https://t.co/dzIH5lkVGs
Saguenay? Blocked by the Quebec Government. Energy East? TC Energy and the Government of Alberta along with oil shippers bet on a revived KXL and subsequently on TMX. Those BC LNG terminals? Turns out a lot were cancelled in 2016-17 Wonder why? Did Trudeau do this? pic.twitter.com/GDDNQ9Ccdt
Shell walked away from a half-built Carmon Creek in 2015, before the federal election, and had basically stopped construction a year earlier when prices collapsed. It was expensive and emissions-intensive and Shell was looking to re-orient its portfolio away from those things.
I mean, hell, if you're going to blame someone, there's probably more credibility to blaming me than blaming Trudeau. That's what Koch did (indirectly) for Muskwa https://t.co/B13rNKlfEd
Oh, but why is no one applying for a new pipeline? CER has seen the Mainline expanded, the TMX pipeline built (and running under capacity) and there is an outstanding permit for KXL. Any new line has to justify need beyond that.
Both the federal Liberals and the Conservatives before them have been all over the map on major energy projects. I am all-in on building a better process, but to do that, people have to be honest with themselves about what happened and would have happened under different rules.
Jagmeet Singh was in Edmonton, and promised changes to the Canada Health Act to ensure that American corporations can’t buy Canadian healthcare facilities, and to put stronger controls on provinces who allow cash-for-access services. He later headed to Winnipeg and met with Wab Kinew. Singh remains in Winnipeg today.
"You elect New Democrats, we're going to go to Ottawa and fight to make sure our health care system is stronger, that you can get the care you need faster," says NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh as he proposes measures to protect Canada's public health care system. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/wx0t4vRlgQ
In other campaign news, the Greens have qualified to be in the leaders’ debates, but Maxime Bernier and his vanity party have not (as it should be). Here is a comparison of the various carbon pricing (or not) policies as we now appear to be in a race to the bottom based on false premises. Here is an analysis of the various housing promises. And stories of frustration continue to leak out from the Conservative ranks.
Look! Writs—plural!—being signed, and not on the day the election is called!
Russians claim to have captured a new village in eastern Donetsk region. President Zelenskyy is meeting with a small number of countries about contributing troops as part of the security guarantee in the event the conflict does end.
Russia's territorial gains in Ukraine drop to lowest level since June 2024, monitoring group says; some Russians celebrated Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow, intercepted calls suggest; and more.https://t.co/Ua3bXENruL
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 1, 2025
⚡️Russian strike on Kherson energy facility causes blackout despite partial ceasefire, FM says.
Some 45,000 residents of Kherson were left without electricity after a morning Russian attack on one of the city's power facilities.https://t.co/myE4dC0DEx
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 1, 2025
Day nine, and in spite of the big plans that some of the leaders were trying to put forward, the issue of Paul Chiang loomed over everything. Mark Carney was in Vaughan, Ontario, and pitched a very bold plan to stand up a new Build Canada Homes organization, which would see the federal government take charge of building houses, with a goal of reaching 500,000 new homes per year, and using the market power to stand up a pre-fabrication industry that would have the certainty that these orders are coming in. (They also had to quietly change the French name of the proposed organisation after the initial version was grammatically incorrect). He also promised a number of things around development charges and permitting that are not within federal jurisdiction, so questions remain as to how he expects to reach those goals. Carney will be in Winnipeg today.
Earlier, Liberal Leader Mark Carney proposed a housing plan that would increase the construction of housing to nearly 500,000 new homes a year, "flipping the script on housing with a new approach to build faster, build smarter, and to build more affordably."#cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/fuhreROe0F
Pierre Poilievre was in Fredericton, New Brunswick, pitching a national energy corridor, without saying how he plans to actually achieve it over the provinces and First Nations. (Yes, Carney talked about this with the premiers, but there have been no details yet). When asked about the mounting frustration within the campaign, Poilievre avoided answering the question, but defended his platform under the rubric that the Liberals weakened the country. Poilievre will be in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador this morning, and hold a rally in Borden-Carleton, PEI, in the evening.
Earlier, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged a national energy corridor to fast-track approval of pipelines & other critical infrastructure projects, to "break our dependence on the Americans, ship our resources to ourselves and overseas markets." #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/2aXyVduic3
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asked about mounting frustration inside his party about campaign and whether he will change campaign leadership which includes chief strategist Jenni Byrne. He completely avoids the question in his answer. pic.twitter.com/jXvBENNZ81
“Put Carney in jail!” a Poilievre supporter yells during a rally with Conservative Leader in Fredericton. Cheers follow. Poilievre tamps it down. “No, we don’t need to do that … We just need to vote him out of office.” pic.twitter.com/2x9kMnj8Mt
Interesting details from @PierrePoilievre on his corridor promise. So, fed gov't does assessment and consultation for the corridor, and then publishes irrevocable approval and companies can bid for the opportunity to build projects in the corridor? That last step wasn't clear. 1/ https://t.co/Go8Xtl0Jiw
I am unclear how this would solve the problems PP identified. First, doing all the analysis for hypothetical projects that might go in a corridor is going to take time. Add consultation to that. This won't immunize permits from legal challenge. And, Parliament can't bind itself.
Jagmeet Singh was in Victoria, and promoted energy retrofits that would create “good union jobs,” which continues to feel hopelessly behind the curve. We also saw Singh’s messaging strategy start to shift as well, insisting that electing more NDP MPs mean more people fighting for the “little guy” in negotiations around the future of the country and yeah, I’m not sure that’s not quite how it works. Singh remains in Edmonton today.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh pledges to remove the consumer carbon tax and also eliminate subsidies to the oil & gas industry, diverting that money so Canadians can retrofit their homes, "to lower their energy costs, to save them money and reduce their emissions."#cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/W4zNAepIfd
For the Monday morning crowd, on how the NDP’s week 2 started with some shifting strategy:
“Singh’s message was clear: elect enough New Democrats to ensure MPs in Ottawa are fighting for the little guy in the ‘very hard negotiations about the future of our country.’” https://t.co/DFwXEUVgGD
In other campaign news, here’s a comparison of how the party leaders are each dealing with the Trump threats, and how that is reflected in their policies. On the Paul Chiang question, Carney said that he spoke with Chiang and that he still has his confidence, which raises big questions about Carney’s political judgment. Chiang posted that he had resigned as candidate around midnight, which takes the issue off the table, but leaves the questions around Carney’s judgment hanging in the air.
I asked Carney about Chiang and he says after a conversation with Chiang, he still has confidence in him, views this as a “teachable moment,” adding “the incidents were deeply offensive. This is a terrible lapse of judgment”
President Zelenskyy says that Russia has committed over 183,000 war crimes in Ukraine since the start of their invasion, and that they need to be punished for it.
We are in Bucha—a Ukrainian city where the world, three years ago, began to understand the full scale of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 31, 2025
Day eight of the campaign, and in spite of there being policy announcement, it was another fairly low-key day, or maybe it just felt like that without the usual wall-to-wall coverage. Mark Carney continued to hold private events in his riding, and took to media questions. There was no announcement of where Carney will be today.
Pierre Poilievre was in the GTA, and announced a plan to waive capital gains taxes if they are re-invested in Canadian companies. If this sounds familiar, it was because the Conservatives floated this in 2006, only to abandon it because it was impractical. Poilievre insists that this could be “economic rocket fuel,” but there is no lack of irony with the fact that it comes with an absolute mountain of red tape in the form of compliance paperwork. Poilievre heads to Fredericton, New Brunswick, later today.
At a campaign event in North York, Ont., Pierre Poilievre says he will implement a ‘Canada First Reinvestment Tax Cut’ if the Conservatives win the election. “No capital gains when you reinvest the money here in Canada,” he pledges. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/2jTcIRP4TK
Ok here is the capital gains tax deferral idea (story from @stevenchase.bsky.social 17 years ago). Looks like the exact same promise from Mr. Poilievre today as from Mr. Harper in 2006. I wonder if anything has changed to now make this feasible?www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-bu…
"The problem, Mr. Flaherty has acknowledged recently, is it's proven "difficult and complicated" to enact the capital gains pledge.That's a euphemistic way of admitting what experts have long warned: that the pledge is too vague, open-ended and costly to translate into law."
I notice the CPC, despite spending two years calling for an election, have no backgrounders for their election proposals. So here is my comment on their latest cap gains proposal: it is really stupid. Want more details? Release a backgrounder
Jagmeet Singh was in Port Moody, BC, and promised to have CMHC offer low-cost loans to first-time home buyers, yet another demand-side solution to a supply-side problem. Singh is campaigning in Victoria today, before heading to Edmonton.
“If we can give loans to large, wealthy developers to buy buildings, to buy homes, why can’t we give everyday families a break?” asks NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh as he outlines a plan to offer Canadians low-interest, public-backed loans to buy their first home.#cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/x32DWTpk7F
Meanwhile, the Paul Chiang controversy continues to simmer as the Liberals refuse to turf him, in spite of the fact that there can be no justification for the kind of behaviour he exhibited in instructing people to turn over his would-be Conservative rival to Chinese authorities for a bounty. (That would-be rival is now the Conservative candidate in nearby Don Valley North). That Chiang himself has not resigned is as much of a problem. The cut-off for nominations has not been reached yet, and they could still find a replacement in time (though not much time) rather than continue to let this complete lapse in political judgment continue to haunt them throughout the campaign. Carney is not Teflon, and the Liberals shouldn’t treat him as such.
It is *insane* to me that anyone thinks Chiang can remain as a candidate.
If he cared about the party, as opposed to his own desire to be elected, he would step aside.
That alone ought to give Carney pause about the motivations of Chiang should he actually win the seat.
Russian drones attacked Kharkiv for a second night in a row, injuring two and damaging a kindergarten and private houses.
Yesterday’s Russian strike on Kharkiv sadly took the lives of two people. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Around 30 people were wounded—all have received the necessary medical assistance. I thank our rescuers and medics who work every day for our people.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 30, 2025
⚡️Doctors resume operating on patients at military hospital hit by Russian strike.
"Operations have resumed in the operating rooms, which were damaged by the blast wave. The hospital cannot stop providing assistance…for even a minute."https://t.co/7l53iw6LA2
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 31, 2025
Day seven of the campaign, and it was a quieter day, but things were still happening. It also looks like, despite previous campaigns usually having quieter Sundays for the parties to regroup, to let reporters swap in and out of campaign planes and so on, that some of the parties are having active campaign days today, because why let anyone catch up?
Mark Carney was in his riding, meeting his team and volunteers, and had along the way kicked out local media. Oops. He’ll remain in Ottawa today, meeting with local families and volunteers.
Update: I’ve heard from the Liberal Party who said it was a miscommunication and have offered a formal apology, noting this should have never happened. They’ve promised to add me to all media events from now on and I’ve asked for a one-on-one interview with Mr. Carney. https://t.co/pl2JBjHYd5
Pierre Poilievre was in Winnipeg, where he pledged to allow tradespeople to write off their expenses when they travel for work, because he’s trying very hard to secure the blue-collar vote, and to pretend that the solution to the trade war with Trump is to just expand the oil and gas sector. Poilievre also said he wouldn’t contest any controversial Quebec language law in courts, and presumably that means their “secularism” legislation either (because apparently he’s still trying to out-Bloc the Bloc). Poilievre’s campaign returns to the GTA today.
"You can ensure that Conservatives will always put Canadian workers first, for a change," says Pierre Poilievre as he proposes an expanded tax write-off for the expenses of travelling tradespeople and a pledge to eliminate the tax subsidy for corporate jets. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/tq89MK3L8e
Jagmeet Singh was in Ottawa, and promised “emergency price caps” on certain grocery items in order to “tariff proof” them, which seems like it’s asking to defeat the purpose of counter-tariffs because Singh and his advisors don’t have a clue about how these things work, and refuse to listen to economists. He also wants a windfall tax on grocery giants and more powers to the Competition Bureau to enforce grocery prices—almost all of which are old policies just dressed up for the trade war era rather than the spike in inflation, meaning that the NDP has a box of “solutions” that they are seeking out problems for. The campaign heads off to Port Moody, BC, today.
"We know that people are struggling with the high cost of groceries because corporate grocery stores are ripping you off and driving up the cost of food," says NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in Ottawa as he pledges an emergency cap on food prices. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/2OemcyaCvA
Meanwhile, the knives are out in the Conservative camp, with even more leaks and anonymous sources™ calling up more media outlets to discuss their concerns with the state of the campaign (CBC and Globe and Mailthis time), painting even more of a picture of a campaign that is too centralised, too focused on weird, niche issues (including reporting of crowd sizes), bullying, and tone-deafness. This also includes the fact that some 90 ridings were set aside to have Poilievre and Jenni Byrne choose the candidates rather than allowing a nomination process, which is frankly happening across too many parties these days.
The Liberals don't appear to be dropping Chiang as their candidate in Markham-Unionville, per this statement just released by the campaign, calling his comments regarding Tay's bounty as a "significant lapse in judgement" but note that he has apologized and committed to "stand… https://t.co/xScskmnMsppic.twitter.com/BgS4gmoB0p
Including March 26, and the questions Poilievre and Singh took today, the totals now stand at: Carney: 103 Poilievre: 38 Singh: 119 Blanchet: 73*#Elxn45 (*Blanchet has not held his presser yet today.) https://t.co/9f8IBNc7Anpic.twitter.com/D72VPzZNyp
Russian drones struck a military hospital, shopping centre, and apartment blocks in Kharkiv late Saturday.
Throughout last evening and night, Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 170 drones, including over 100 Shaheds. This massive attack targeted the Dnipro, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Khmelnytskyi regions.
All night in Dnipro, the aftermath of this attack was being dealt with. As of… pic.twitter.com/LWZLXLqG7r
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 29, 2025
Day six of the campaign, and things took a slightly different tone as the tariff issue still loomed large. Mark Carney remained in Montreal, where he had his first call with Donald Trump since becoming prime minister, and they both gave very civil readouts, but the tariffs are still coming, as are the retaliatory measures. Carney then had a virtual meeting with the premiers, before holding his announcement for the day, which was about a $5 billion fund for trade corridors and infrastructure, dedicated in particular to east-west trade and ports to different destinations than the US. Today, Carney will be back in Ottawa to meet his campaign volunteers in Nepean (but no word on any actual door-knocking).
In a news conference at the port of Montreal, Liberal Leader Mark Carney proposes a plan to help diversify the country's trade, encourage cooperation between ports and bolster port security to stem the flow of drugs, illegal guns and stolen automobiles. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/Uo2pphZDfO
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, responding to a reporter's question on his earlier call with U.S. President Donald Trump, describes the conversation as "positive, cordial, constructive, focused on action—exactly what we want." #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/zAj8jvscZz
Pierre Poilievre was in Nanaimo, BC, to essentially re-announce his previously revealed, completely unconstitutional promise of locking up fentanyl traffickers for life. This is just going to capture low-level users whose lives are already miserable, but sometimes the cruelty is the point. When asked about the latest tariffs, Poilievre continues to hope for a change in tone out of Trump (and is not facing the reality of a dead relationship), but then went into a rant about how only the oil industry can make us economically viable. Poilievre will be in Winnipeg today.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promises life sentences for those convicted in serious cases of fentanyl or gun smuggling or human trafficking, saying "If you exploit & terrorize our people, you will go to jail for life & you will never come out alive."#cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/bTISef9Wx4
"We have the best trading relationship in the history of the world. Why not continue and grow that trading relationship as two separate, sovereign nations?" says Pierre Poilievre when asked how Conservatives would approach Canada-U.S. relations under Trump. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/Vmdihu1uYN
Jagmeet Singh was in Toronto to announce a policy about banning corporate landlords from buying affordable units and jacking the rents, and tried to tie it to Carney and Brookfield. Of course, Singh’s plan is mostly unworkable because much of it lies within provincial jurisdiction, so that’s not unexpected. He’ll be in Ottawa today, canvassing with local candidates.
Aside from this being weaksauce, I fail to see how they can stop corporations from buying rental properties (especially as property transactions and landlord-tenant legislation are provincial responsibilities).
I'll just point out the obvious that not-for-profit corporations are… corporations. So are condo corporations and corps that own apartment buildings since individuals rarely have the cash to build or buy them. As for the constitutional division of powers, Singh has had a longstanding problem.
In the wake of Kory Teneycke’s pillorying of Poilievre’s campaign, other Conservatives on the campaign are coming out the woodwork to talk about how the campaign is shambolic, the leader isolated, and that the wheels have already come off of it. In other campaign news, the National Post dug up Mark Carney’s PhD thesis and got an academic that they run op-eds for—and who donates to the Conservatives—to declare that aspects were “plagiarised.” They weren’t really, and the only real plagiarism here is the lifting wholesale of far-right US tactics (see: Claudine Gay at Harvard), but hoo boy, the stench of desperation coming off the Conservatives as every one of their candidates screamed over social media about this non-scandal. In a similar example of the media pushing a non-story comes word that one of the funds Poilievre invested in holds Brookfield stocks, after all of his grief about them (but again, they’re funds, he doesn’t direct them Meanwhile, Breach Media found evidence that Poilievre’s wife helped her uncle stay in the country after he was deemed inadmissible and was ordered to be deported, and contrasts it to Poilievre’s rhetoric about “illegal border crossers” needing to be deported.
Dr. Margaret Meyer, Mark Carney’s doctoral supervisor, is unequivocal: there is no evidence of plagiarism in his PhD thesis.
Despite this, the American-owned National Post ignored this evidence and ran a story based on the “analysis” of a Conservative donor and activist. pic.twitter.com/7Zba2RQplB
A Russian drone attack on Dnipro killed four late Friday, and drone attacks on Poltava damaged warehouses owned by the state gas producer, in spite of the “energy ceasefire.” Russia claims Ukraine destroyed a gas infrastructure unit in Sudzha, but Ukraine said Russia did it. Now that Ukrainians are out of Kursk region, they have started fresh incursions into the Belgorod region. Ukrainian intelligence, corroborated by two G7 allies, suggests that Putin is planning a fresh offensive on three regions in order to strengthen Russia’s negotiating position with the US.
Day five of the election campaign, and two of the three leaders changed their plans in response to Trump’s tariff announcement—the Conservatives did not, and they can’t pivot because they don’t have media on their plane who can follow them if they have to change plans to respond to events, which is all the more reason why they never should have left them off.
Mark Carney returned to Ottawa to meet with his Canada-US Cabinet committee, and call several premiers including Doug Ford, before addressing the media. There were no campaign announcements today, and said that retaliatory measures will be announced next week when more tariffs are supposed to be coming from Trump, but his remarks were stark, and have been blowing up across a segment of American media—that the relationship we used to have of deepening economic integration and cooperation on security and defence is now over. That’s going to mean a significant retooling of our economy for “strategic economic autonomy,” and that this will be difficult, with no silver bullet. That also means shifting the auto sector for more global trade, which is apparently part of what he discussed with union leaders yesterday, so we’ll see if we get more details about what that could mean. Carney did say that Trump’s office has reached out to talk, so that will likely happen in a couple of days. Afterward, he headed to Montreal for a rally, and today, he plans to have an emergency virtual meeting with the first ministers.
"Over the coming weeks, months, and years, we must fundamentally reimagine our economy. We will need to ensure that Canada can succeed in a drastically different world," says PM Mark Carney as he discusses Canada's response to U.S. President Trump's tariffs. #cdnpolipic.twitter.com/xpsLwv1VZS
"We're going to know a lot more in a week. And we will respond then. And in a negotiation it doesn't make sense to tip your hand and say what you're going to do going forward," says PM Mark Carney when asked by a reporter re: possible countermeasures to U.S. tariffs. #cdnpolipic.twitter.com/hGfqrAAVaz
Pierre Poilievre was in Surrey, BC, and his daily announcement was about raising the TFSA limit so long as it was tied to Canadian funds—but he made it sound like government would top-up funds (they won’t), it really only benefits those who can add another $5000 to these accounts, and more to the point, it adds a bunch of bureaucratic reporting mechanisms to prove the funds are Canadian. (Sounds like someone is adding red tape!) He did have a message to Trump to “knock it off,” which was weak and too late, but he keeps talking in terms that the relationship can simply go back to what it was if the tariffs get called off, when it can’t. Democracy has died in the US. There is no ability to trust this administration, and probably the next one. He is off to Nanaimo, BC, today.
“We need to reward patriotic Canadians who bring their investment home,” says Pierre Poilievre, pledging that a Conservative government would allow taxpayers to contribute an extra $5,000 a year to TFSAs for investments in Canadian companies. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/USWx8YpGcv
Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs, Pierre Poilievre outlines the Conservative plan to rebuild Canada’s economy. "The world needs our resources and our expertise. If you, Mr. Trump, don’t want them, the rest of the world does,” he says. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/jssCjkKYmT
Jagmeet Singh, having pivoted his campaign stop, went to Windsor to announce his plan for entirely Canadian-made cars, and that he’d waive the GST on Canadian-made autos. The promise is likely impossible because supply chains were integrated for a reason, and we have too small of a market to support a purely domestic auto market (and cue all the jokes about Canadian Ladas). He is headed back to Toronto today.
In other election news, former Conservative strategist Kory Teneycke ripped Poilievre a new asshole at an Empire Club event on Wednesday about Poilievre’s inability to meet the moment in the campaign, which was why his poll numbers are tanking, and why he is heading for defeat—particularly because Poilievre has adopted way too many Trump habits to appeal to a certain segment of voters he wants to keep on-side. This as Doug Ford’s personal pollster has made it known that Poilievre’s numbers are grim in Ontario.
Russia launched 86 drones plus a missile overnight Wednesday, which sparked fires and injured 21 people in Kharkiv, while shelling in Kherson killed two and damaged power supplies, in contravention of the supposed partial “ceasefire.” Russian forces have also been stepping up attacks on Sumy region. Putin wants a “temporary administration” to allow for elections in Ukraine to end the war, when all that needs to happen for him to end it is to simply send his soldiers home.
In the opinion of commanders and experts alike, systemic internal problems inside Ukraine’s military leadership consistently lead to more casualties and lost territory than necessary.https://t.co/D6OsruBkL1
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 27, 2025
It was day four of the election, and this was the day Trump made his comeback. Before that happened, Mark Carney was in Windsor, and with the Ambassador Bridge as his backdrop, promised a package of measures to help build up more of a domestic supply chain for the auto sector in the face of tariffs, as well as a $2 billion strategic response fund for the fallout of tariffs on the economy.
In Windsor, Liberal Leader Mark Carney proposes a new $2-billion "Strategic Response Fund" to protect Canada's auto sector from the impact of U.S. tariffs, saying "it will fortify the entire Canadian auto supply chain—from raw materials to finished vehicles." #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/Zg0WkWLRxg
It was in the evening that Trump made his announcement that 25 percent tariffs would apply to vehicles and major parts not made in the US, which is pretty fuzzy when it comes to the integrated nature of the industry. This was just before Carney’s rally in Kitchener, but he found an appropriate backdrop, and with Unifor president Lana Payne (whom he had already been meeting with when Trump made the announcement) came out to call this a direct attack on the country, and vowed to have a response, but also stated that he would be returning to Ottawa tonight in order to meet with Cabinet and his Canada-US committee in order to determine next steps in the response.
“We will defend our workers. We will defend our companies. We will defend our country—and we will defend it together,” said Liberal Leader Mark Carney, responding this evening to President Donald Trump’s announcement of 25% tariffs on automobiles imported into the U.S.#cdnpolipic.twitter.com/zbzZwegR5Q
Pierre Poilievre was in Montmagny, Quebec, and laid out some measures to allow working seniors to keep more income tax free, keep savings in RRSPs longer, and now says he will keep retirement age at 65 if he forms government—a pander to wealthy Boomers. He also released his Quebec-specific platform that promised “responsible federalism,” and pledges to keep Radio-Canada intact (but outside of Quebec, they rely entirely on CBC infrastructure). He then headed to Quebec City for a rally, but when the Trump tariffs were announced, he made a statement that essentially blamed the Liberals for “ten years of economic weakness” and for “pushing” investment out of the country, and demanded that any counter-tariffs go to tax cuts (which is copying Trump). Today he’s off to Surrey, BC.
In Montmagny, Qc., Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre proposes tax and retirement savings measures aimed at Canadian seniors, saying "these savings, along with my major income tax cut, will mean seniors will bring home more of their pensions and paycheques."#cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/Qc7jxU9akB
After Mark Carney’s non-partisan statement tonight calling for unity against new Trump auto-sector tariffs, Pierre Poilievre gives refers to “ten years of economic weakness,” blames Liberals for pushing investment out of the country, calls for tax cuts to counteract tariffs.
Jagmeet Singh remained in Hamilton, where he proposed his own tax cuts—increasing the basic personal amount, selective GST cut (which benefits high-income earners), restoring the capital gains increase, doubling the disability benefit (which will do little), and increasing GIS. It was entirely unspectacular, but that’s what we’ve come to expect from Singh. Post-tariff announcement, echoed Carney’s statement about it being a direct attack, then retreated to his previous canned line about needing to “fight like hell,” and complained that EI won’t do enough for any affected workers. He changed his plans to head to Windsor for the day after being called out by reporters.
"Our focus is on the middle and low income folks. We have a fair approach that helps those that need it," says NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in response to a reporter's question on the difference between his party's tax plan and those of the other main parties. #cdnpoli#elxn2025pic.twitter.com/aTuAcU9KHQ
Latest: Singh’s campaign is pivoting in light of Trump’s latest tariff plans.
His campaign will be heading to Windsor tomorrow where Singh has plans to meet with local Unifor auto leadership, make an announcement, and head to the shift change at a local auto plant. #elxn45
Let me note that the NDP-proposed GST cut sends more dollars to "millionaires and billionaires" than middle-class Canadians. Let me further note that the BPA increase doesn't benefit the 31% of low-income taxfilers who have non-taxable returns.I get it–tax policy is hard. So maybe preen less?
So far, in Canada, the magic money tree foreign aid budget will somehow fund a) a $14bn tax cut, and b) a $5-10bn Arctic military base. The core foreign aid budget is $7bn. It is not the fiscal equivalent of Mary Poppins' bag
Also, 30% of Canada's aid spending goes to Ukraine, and another 23% to in-country refugee costs. So unless you're ending all humanitarian support to Ukraine, and ending all refugee applications, you're not axing the foreign aid budget
The most surprising part of this election so far for me has been the way that the Conservatives are going hard against Brookfield engaging in capitalism. Did the sun become black as sackcloth of hair, the moon as blood? What is happening? #cdnpoli
Russia launched a mass drone attack on Kharkiv, injuring at least nine, with further attacks on Dnipro. Russia is claiming that Ukrainian drones attacked an electrical facility, while Ukraine says this is disinformation aimed at justifying continuing hostilities. Russia has attacked eight Ukrainian energy facilities since they said they were halting. Here’s an analysis of the Black Sea ceasefire, and how it is really a betrayal of Ukraine and of the US working in Russia’s interests.
Ordinary Ukrainian cities: Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipro. Ordinary life, and Russian strikes that should never have happened. Every day in Ukraine is marked by large-scale attacks with strike drones, mostly “Shaheds”—it was Iran that taught Russia how to produce such drones.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 26, 2025
Ukrainian oil and gas production facilities — which, according to the Energy Ministry have suffered the most Russian attacks as of late — weren't on Kremlin's list, the Energy Ministry told European Pravda.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 26, 2025
Good reads:
Elections Canada is hiring 200,000 temporary positions for the election.
An Access to Information request shows how Justin Trudeau was preparing for his first call with Trump after he won the election.
The summary of the Bank of Canada’s deliberations show that they were prepared to pause any rate cuts, had it not been for the tariff threats.
The Atlanticpublished more screenshots from the group chat that their editor was inadvertently added to, in order to prove their veracity and classified nature.
The Globe and Mail’s sources™ say that Chandra Arya’s nomination was revoked because of ties to the Modi government, and some “troubling inconsistencies.”
Justin Trudeau is renting a home in the same neighbourhood as Rideau Hall, while his children finish out the school year, but plans to return to Montreal.
In Avalon, the Conservatives overrode an ongoing nomination race to appoint a candidate who had to resign from a city job over harassment allegations.
Two former Conservative MPs are joining a group of traitors citizens heading to the US to try and talk about statehood for Alberta post-independence referendum.
Dominic Cardy’s vanity “Canadian Future Party” is sliding into further obscurity.
Scott Moe is aiming to remove his province’s industrial carbon price, which is jumping the gun of the election outcome (and starting the race to the bottom).
BC has introduced new framework legislation for Indigenous consultation on mining claims…which First Nations leaders say is insufficient.
A US physician who moved to Canada and now practices here describes the differences in our systems that are less obvious than just for-pay.
Odds and ends:
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