Vassy Kapelos: This isn’t just another election campaign
By Vassy Kapelos
March 23, 2025
CTV News Channel
Vassy Kapelos is the Chief Political Correspondent for CTV News.
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'We are stronger together': Carney launches election campaign
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'Change and hope are both on the way': Poilievre kicks off election campaign
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Nanos: Election 'a real horse race' as Liberals close the gap with Conservatives
I was seven years old the last time an election in this country centred around a single issue. Then, it was free trade; nearly four decades later – almost my entire lifetime – it’s about freedom. Freedom from Donald Trump.
Let’s just lay it all out there. I have never seen anything like this. Not politically, or otherwise. Would you have thought a year ago we’d wake up to a nightmare wherein the president of the United States wanted to take us over and planned to do it by bludgeoning an entire nation into submissive poverty? And that those threats would coincide with the resignation of a prime minister who never wanted to go but finally did? If you had that all on your bingo card, you’re way ahead of the rest of us.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 21, 2025. (Pool via AP) (\)The rest of us could never have predicted the degree to or cruelty with which Trump would take aim at Canada, and that it would coincide so specifically with Justin Trudeau’s decision to exit stage left. In just eight short weeks, the combination of those two events have taken this campaign from a Conservative cakewalk to the most competitive in a generation. A double-digit lead for the Tories is no more, and every single issue driving public sentiment last year--lack of housing, immigration policy, expensive groceries--has been displaced with an entire country’s anxiety over Trump coming for us.
(Nanos Research)
In short, the world we lived in last year is no more. And the politics of last year have largely disappeared with it. Now, instead of a trouncing - public opinion polls in the aggregate have the Liberals and Conservatives within the margin of error. Their polling numbers aren’t the only thing moving closer together; the two main parties’ policies are converging like at no other point in the last decade.
For the Liberals, gone are the days of talking up NDP-driven policy (pharmacare, dental care) and gender balance. Even those policies and their politics aimed at putting Tories on the spot--the consumer price on carbon, the capital gains tax changes --gone and gone. Now it’s about (loosely defined) ‘fiscal responsibility,’ getting conventional and other types of energy to markets outside of the U.S. and breaking down trade barriers between provinces.
If that all sounds familiar, it’s because it is. The Conservatives were so successful in their opposition to the carbon tax and Trudeau, they will no longer be able to fight an entire election against them. They’ve been talking about getting oil and gas out of Canada for years, and though Tories will argue the Liberals won’t actually do it, the fact the now Mark Carney-led party is talking about it – even that is not something imaginable in this way just a year ago
In short, the world we lived in last year is no more. And the politics of last year have largely disappeared with it. Now, instead of a trouncing - public opinion polls in the aggregate have the Liberals and Conservatives within the margin of error. Their polling numbers aren’t the only thing moving closer together; the two main parties’ policies are converging like at no other point in the last decade.
For the Liberals, gone are the days of talking up NDP-driven policy (pharmacare, dental care) and gender balance. Even those policies and their politics aimed at putting Tories on the spot--the consumer price on carbon, the capital gains tax changes --gone and gone. Now it’s about (loosely defined) ‘fiscal responsibility,’ getting conventional and other types of energy to markets outside of the U.S. and breaking down trade barriers between provinces.
If that all sounds familiar, it’s because it is. The Conservatives were so successful in their opposition to the carbon tax and Trudeau, they will no longer be able to fight an entire election against them. They’ve been talking about getting oil and gas out of Canada for years, and though Tories will argue the Liberals won’t actually do it, the fact the now Mark Carney-led party is talking about it – even that is not something imaginable in this way just a year ago
.
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a rally in Ottawa, on Sunday, March 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
What Trudeau’s resignation did
So where has it left the parties? And what does it mean for how they will court your vote?
Liberals I speak with are less surprised by what’s happening to them than media and the punditry class are. Of more than a dozen MPs I spoke with on background in writing this, all but one thought Trudeau’s resignation would give them a fighting chance. The difference? They thought they’d be fighting to be a bigger opposition – not in majority territory. The Trump factor, on the other hand, did surprise most of those MPs. They largely felt the party’s previous attempts to link Trump and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre--particularly around the issue of Ukraine--had some payoff but not enough to move a campaign.
Those MPs, and a handful of staffers I spoke with, now feel it will be the deciding factor in this campaign. That despite their differences and the recent rebuke of Poilievre by Trump himself, Canadians are so consumed with their disgust of the U.S. president, even a whiff of a Musk-laced endorsement is enough to poison the well.
As a result, you’ll see an amplified version of the online Liberal Party ads running in the weeks leading up to the campaign--Trump and Poilievre side by side--sliced into mirror images. They believe they can drive up the perception Poilievre is a risk when their candidate--in their view--is the opposite.
The proposition is entirely unique to the times. A year ago, Canadians did not feel their lives were better off - they wanted to take a risk to change that. Now, in the face of Trump, they appear to just want to keep hold of what we have – blemishes and all.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, centre, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left, and Premier of Quebec Francois Legault, right, take part in the First Minister Meeting at the National War Museum in Ottawa on Friday, March 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Watching Mark Carney become prime minister and take the helm of the Liberal Party, it’s hard not to be reminded of Stephen Harper. Serious, economically focused, and prickly at times. Listening to his press conferences this week I felt a distinct sense of déjà vu to more than a decade ago, listening to the then prime minister. Liberals feel like the moment was created for Carney--that his brand of “boring” as one staffer put it--is exactly what Canadians want right now, and perhaps only right now.
Poilievre ‘is who he is’: Conservative MP
Tories, conversely, cannot believe their luck. I spoke with almost a dozen Conservative MPs in writing this and none of them think they will handily win their ridings anymore – they believe any wins will be hard fought. Their leader--once revered by them for being a ‘true’ Conservative, for refusing to moderate in the name of broader public support that never materialized for his predecessors--they are less sure of.
“Pierre is who is he is,” one MP told me, with a sigh. Six months ago, the same line would have been (and was) delivered with excitement and optimism. MPs who willingly stayed away from public comment out of deference to a leader they thought would finally bring true Conservatism to the halls of government, are now resentful they aren’t allowed to speak their minds.
Those MPs are also incredulous at the thought Canadians will believe the Liberals with a new leader are different than the Liberals of the last decade. They support messaging to the contrary and they think if Canadians are reminded, they too will remember. That’s why their ads will focus on links between Carney and Trudeau and past Liberal policies.
Watching Mark Carney become prime minister and take the helm of the Liberal Party, it’s hard not to be reminded of Stephen Harper. Serious, economically focused, and prickly at times. Listening to his press conferences this week I felt a distinct sense of déjà vu to more than a decade ago, listening to the then prime minister. Liberals feel like the moment was created for Carney--that his brand of “boring” as one staffer put it--is exactly what Canadians want right now, and perhaps only right now.
Poilievre ‘is who he is’: Conservative MP
Tories, conversely, cannot believe their luck. I spoke with almost a dozen Conservative MPs in writing this and none of them think they will handily win their ridings anymore – they believe any wins will be hard fought. Their leader--once revered by them for being a ‘true’ Conservative, for refusing to moderate in the name of broader public support that never materialized for his predecessors--they are less sure of.
“Pierre is who is he is,” one MP told me, with a sigh. Six months ago, the same line would have been (and was) delivered with excitement and optimism. MPs who willingly stayed away from public comment out of deference to a leader they thought would finally bring true Conservatism to the halls of government, are now resentful they aren’t allowed to speak their minds.
Those MPs are also incredulous at the thought Canadians will believe the Liberals with a new leader are different than the Liberals of the last decade. They support messaging to the contrary and they think if Canadians are reminded, they too will remember. That’s why their ads will focus on links between Carney and Trudeau and past Liberal policies.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh speaks to reporters as he leaves the Prime Minister's office in the West Block after taking part in a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and fellow opposition leaders on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
What does the NDP do?
The NDP, for its part, is harder to gauge. The half dozen members of caucus I spoke with felt deflated by their own significant losses to the Liberals in recent public opinion polls. They are worried their leader can’t get in on what seems like a two-way race. They plan to characterize the battle as two Conservative candidates versus just one progressive option. Most of those MPs admit, though, that many of their own constituents have told them in recent weeks they will vote for Carney.
The result--the ads, the mud slinging, the campaign stops--might at times feel like just another election campaign. Make no mistake: it is anything but.
This is the beginning of what will define the future for us as Canadians – and our kids. Our beautiful country, under direct threat, has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to face down that threat and become something better. I take great comfort (and I hope you will, too) in the fact every party’s leader is seized with that and understands the significance of the moment. This won’t be just another campaign – it will be the campaign of our lifetime.
CTVNews.ca will have in-depth coverage on Sunday and exclusive reporting throughout the campaign. A CTV News Special Report will be hosted by CTV News Chief Anchor & Senior News Editor Omar Sachedina and Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos on Sunday and will be streaming on all platforms.
Vassy Kapelos
CTV News Chief Political Correspondent
Election campaign begins, as leaders start making their pitches to Canadians
By Spencer Van Dyk and Rachel Aiello
Updated: March 23, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney has called the 2025 federal election, sending the country into an early campaign, six months ahead of the fixed date.
Carney paid Gov. Gen. Mary Simon a visit Sunday to ask that she issue the writs of election.
It’s his second trip to Rideau Hall in 10 days, with his last historic visit happening March 14 for the swearing in of his new and now potentially short-lived ministry. Now, instead of returning to Parliament on March 24 as scheduled, MPs and the candidates looking to unseat them are off to the races, now with 343 seats up for grabs after the last electoral district redistribution.
“We’ve done a lot in the nine days to put in place many of the foundations,” Carney said from outside Rideau Hall Sunday. “But what’s important is that the government has a mandate from the Canadian people to finish the job, to finish the job of building that Canadian economy, to finish the job of diversifying our trading partners, and to have a strong mandate to stand up to (U.S. President) Donald Trump and the Americans and negotiate the best deal for Canadians.”
Making it a five-week campaign, Canadians will head to the polls April 28. The date means Carney has opted for the shortest possible campaign period allowed under Canadian law.
It also means advance polls would take place over Easter weekend.
Liberals look to leverage leadership momentum
The Liberals selected Carney as leader on March 9, after a two-month race to replace former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Without a seat in the House of Commons, the former central banker would not be able to participate in the chamber. This was seen as potential motivator for him to trigger a snap vote rather than try to navigate an already unstable minority government from the sidelines.Complete federal election coverage
One day before kicking off the campaign, the Liberal party announced what many in Ottawa long speculated, that Carney would be running for a seat in the nation’s capital. Carney is seeking his first ever seat in the House of Commons in the riding of Nepean, which neighbours Poilievre’s long-held riding.
Confirming the news in a post online, Carney said he was “honoured” to seek election in that constituency, and called this election “one of the most consequential in our lifetimes.”
Meanwhile, despite nearly two years of a Conservative double-digit lead in public opinion polling, the Liberals started to gain ground and close the gap around the end of January, following Trudeau’s resignation earlier that month.
By mid-February, data showed the Liberals and the Conservatives would be neck-and-neck if Carney were chosen as the next Liberal leader.
Now, some of those same pollsters have the Liberals pulling slightly ahead, a widely unanticipated turnaround for a party that’s been in power for nearly a decade.
In his speech outside Rideau Hall Sunday, Carney pointed to his following through on Liberal leadership campaign promises in the last week to try to make the argument that he now needs a mandate from Canadians to continue making progress.
Carney cited his pledge to scrap the consumer carbon tax and the capital gains inclusion rate increase, and to work to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers, as examples .
If he wins the election, he’s vowed to eliminate the GST for some first-time homebuyers, a move Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised last October.
The Liberal leader also announced Sunday that if he becomes prime minister at the end of April, he’ll implement a middle-class tax cut, which he says will save dual-income families up to $825 a year.
Poilievre blames Liberals for ‘lost’ decade
Opposition party leaders, meanwhile, are also launching their campaigns today.
The election is the first with Poilievre as leader of the Conservatives. He took over in September 2022, after his party’s three consecutive general election losses to the Liberals, and is now looking to end early ten years of Liberal rule.
In a press conference ahead of Carney’s trip to Rideau Hall, Poilievre pitched himself to Canadians, blaming the Liberals for the cost-of-living crisis, and referring to Trudeau’s tenure as “the lost Liberal decade.”
With some polling showing the Liberals and Conservatives in a statistical tie, the leaders of both parties took shots at the other in their speeches on Sunday, setting up the next five weeks as a potentially antagonistic race.
In his speech, the Conservative leader also laid out a slate of policy planks, including scrapping the industrial carbon tax, eliminating the sales tax on some new homes, and freeing up land and cutting development charges, among other promises.
“We don’t go looking for a fight, but we’re ready if one comes looking for us,” Poilievre said. “None of this will be easy, but making and defending Canada wasn’t easy either, and with change, there’s hope.”
“Change and hope are both on the way,” he also said. “A new Conservative government will restore Canada’s promise, the promise that anyone from anywhere can do anything, that hard work gets you a great life in a beautiful home on a safe street under a proud flag.”
He officially kicked off the 37-day campaign with an event in Manotick, Ont., in the riding he’s held for nearly 21 years.
NDP, Greens and Bloc look to improve their standings
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who launched his campaign from Ottawa today, and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet were both at the helm of their respective parties during the last two elections. Heading into this one, they — and Green party co-leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault — are all hoping to improve their standings.
Singh is campaigning on policies advanced by the longstanding supply-and-confidence agreement between the Liberals and the NDP — such as dental care and pharmacare — highlighting them as progressive moves his party “forced” the government to implement.
“You deserve a prime minister you can trust to make decisions in your best interest,” Singh said, before taking aim at Carney, Poilievre, and Trump.
“People who are afraid at a Pierre Poilievre government might think they have no choice but Carney,” Singh also said. “But this is like being told you have to pick between a house with a leaky roof or a cracked foundation, one patched together with empty Conservative slogans, the other rotting from the inside after years of Liberals protecting the most wealthy.”
In a press release Sunday, the NDP says that Singh and New Democrat candidates are ready for this election: “this time around, they’ve got more money, they’re better prepared and they’ve got strong candidates.” The release also states, “This is the first time in a decade the NDP will spend the maximum allowed under Elections Canada’s limits.”
The Bloc and the Greens launched their campaigns from Montreal.
At the start of the year, polling suggested the main rival to Blanchet’s Bloc Québécois was the Conservatives.
Trudeau’s decision, however, to step down as Liberal leader — and Carney’s rise as his replacement — coincided with a Liberal resurgence in the polls.
“What goes up goes down. If that’s good for me, that’s good for Mr. Carney. Let’s see,” Blanchet told reporters at his party’s campaign launch.
“I do not have the feeling that Quebecers trust so much Mr. Poilievre, and I do not have the feeling that Quebecers know so much about Mr. Carney,” said Blanchet.
The Bloc leaded added that while he’s not running to be prime minister, he’s running to be a strong leader to promote Quebec interests.
Also speaking to reporters in Montreal, the Green Party leaders — which held two seats in in the House Commons before dissolution — were asked directly about their electoral prospects and whether they can make any gains.
“Actually, I think (the Green Party has) done extremely well. We now have more candidates nominated than others of the main parties,” May said, adding they are aiming to win “as many (seats) as we can.”
“The role for the Green Party right now is to stand up for every single Canadian that’s having a hard time because of politicians and career politicians standing up in front of them and consistently, constantly lying to them. We’re not politicians,” Pedneault added.
Campaign kicks off amid trade tensions
This election — the first in 12 years without Trudeau at the helm of the Liberals — will get underway at a time when Canada’s relationship with the United States is being severely tested, and amid unpredictability about what the American administration might do next.
During the leadership race Carney played coy about his potential post-victory electoral intentions, noting the underlying uncertainty of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
After taking office, the two-time central banker made it clear that he thought it was important that at a moment like this, Canadians need to have their say about the path ahead and who should be leading the way.
This campaign is being called with cross-border tariffs in place. Trump has hit Canada with 25 per cent import tariffs on non-trade-exempt goods and followed it up with further levies on steel and aluminum. The federal government has hit back with reciprocal countermeasures, targeting $60 billion worth of U.S. products.
And still looming is the president’s threat of what he has called “the big one:” reciprocal tariffs, which he says are coming April 2.
It’s set to be the big ballot question, with Canadians being asked to vote for who they think is best placed to steer the country through these choppy and chaotic waters.
Both Carney and Poilievre took aim at the commander-in-chief in their campaign-launch speeches Sunday.
“I know a lot of people are worried, angry and anxious, and with good reason, as a result of the president’s unacceptable threats against our country,” Poilievre said. “You worry about your job and the sovereignty of our nation, and you’re angry at the feeling of betrayal that these unacceptable words and tariffs have made us all experience.”
“I share your anger and I share the worry for our future, but I also draw great resolve in knowing that we can transform the anxiety and anger into action,” he added, insisting Canada will never become the 51st state, an ongoing threat from the U.S. president amid the trade war.
The Liberal leader also framed many of his policy proposals as geared at pushing back against Trump and helping Canada become less reliant on its southern neighbour.
“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” Carney said. “Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada President Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us.”
Poilievre, Carney, and Singh are set to host more campaign launch events Sunday night.
With files from Stephanie Ha and Brennan MacDonald
Spencer Van Dyk
Writer & Producer, Ottawa News Bureau, CTV News
Redrawn ridings could give Conservatives an advantage, say pollsters
By The Canadian Press
March 23, 2025
By Spencer Van Dyk and Rachel Aiello
Updated: March 23, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney has called the 2025 federal election, sending the country into an early campaign, six months ahead of the fixed date.
Carney paid Gov. Gen. Mary Simon a visit Sunday to ask that she issue the writs of election.
It’s his second trip to Rideau Hall in 10 days, with his last historic visit happening March 14 for the swearing in of his new and now potentially short-lived ministry. Now, instead of returning to Parliament on March 24 as scheduled, MPs and the candidates looking to unseat them are off to the races, now with 343 seats up for grabs after the last electoral district redistribution.
“We’ve done a lot in the nine days to put in place many of the foundations,” Carney said from outside Rideau Hall Sunday. “But what’s important is that the government has a mandate from the Canadian people to finish the job, to finish the job of building that Canadian economy, to finish the job of diversifying our trading partners, and to have a strong mandate to stand up to (U.S. President) Donald Trump and the Americans and negotiate the best deal for Canadians.”
Making it a five-week campaign, Canadians will head to the polls April 28. The date means Carney has opted for the shortest possible campaign period allowed under Canadian law.
It also means advance polls would take place over Easter weekend.
Liberals look to leverage leadership momentum
The Liberals selected Carney as leader on March 9, after a two-month race to replace former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Without a seat in the House of Commons, the former central banker would not be able to participate in the chamber. This was seen as potential motivator for him to trigger a snap vote rather than try to navigate an already unstable minority government from the sidelines.Complete federal election coverage
One day before kicking off the campaign, the Liberal party announced what many in Ottawa long speculated, that Carney would be running for a seat in the nation’s capital. Carney is seeking his first ever seat in the House of Commons in the riding of Nepean, which neighbours Poilievre’s long-held riding.
Confirming the news in a post online, Carney said he was “honoured” to seek election in that constituency, and called this election “one of the most consequential in our lifetimes.”
Meanwhile, despite nearly two years of a Conservative double-digit lead in public opinion polling, the Liberals started to gain ground and close the gap around the end of January, following Trudeau’s resignation earlier that month.
By mid-February, data showed the Liberals and the Conservatives would be neck-and-neck if Carney were chosen as the next Liberal leader.
Now, some of those same pollsters have the Liberals pulling slightly ahead, a widely unanticipated turnaround for a party that’s been in power for nearly a decade.
In his speech outside Rideau Hall Sunday, Carney pointed to his following through on Liberal leadership campaign promises in the last week to try to make the argument that he now needs a mandate from Canadians to continue making progress.
Carney cited his pledge to scrap the consumer carbon tax and the capital gains inclusion rate increase, and to work to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers, as examples .
If he wins the election, he’s vowed to eliminate the GST for some first-time homebuyers, a move Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised last October.
The Liberal leader also announced Sunday that if he becomes prime minister at the end of April, he’ll implement a middle-class tax cut, which he says will save dual-income families up to $825 a year.
Poilievre blames Liberals for ‘lost’ decade
Opposition party leaders, meanwhile, are also launching their campaigns today.
The election is the first with Poilievre as leader of the Conservatives. He took over in September 2022, after his party’s three consecutive general election losses to the Liberals, and is now looking to end early ten years of Liberal rule.
In a press conference ahead of Carney’s trip to Rideau Hall, Poilievre pitched himself to Canadians, blaming the Liberals for the cost-of-living crisis, and referring to Trudeau’s tenure as “the lost Liberal decade.”
With some polling showing the Liberals and Conservatives in a statistical tie, the leaders of both parties took shots at the other in their speeches on Sunday, setting up the next five weeks as a potentially antagonistic race.
In his speech, the Conservative leader also laid out a slate of policy planks, including scrapping the industrial carbon tax, eliminating the sales tax on some new homes, and freeing up land and cutting development charges, among other promises.
“We don’t go looking for a fight, but we’re ready if one comes looking for us,” Poilievre said. “None of this will be easy, but making and defending Canada wasn’t easy either, and with change, there’s hope.”
“Change and hope are both on the way,” he also said. “A new Conservative government will restore Canada’s promise, the promise that anyone from anywhere can do anything, that hard work gets you a great life in a beautiful home on a safe street under a proud flag.”
He officially kicked off the 37-day campaign with an event in Manotick, Ont., in the riding he’s held for nearly 21 years.
NDP, Greens and Bloc look to improve their standings
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who launched his campaign from Ottawa today, and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet were both at the helm of their respective parties during the last two elections. Heading into this one, they — and Green party co-leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault — are all hoping to improve their standings.
Singh is campaigning on policies advanced by the longstanding supply-and-confidence agreement between the Liberals and the NDP — such as dental care and pharmacare — highlighting them as progressive moves his party “forced” the government to implement.
“You deserve a prime minister you can trust to make decisions in your best interest,” Singh said, before taking aim at Carney, Poilievre, and Trump.
“People who are afraid at a Pierre Poilievre government might think they have no choice but Carney,” Singh also said. “But this is like being told you have to pick between a house with a leaky roof or a cracked foundation, one patched together with empty Conservative slogans, the other rotting from the inside after years of Liberals protecting the most wealthy.”
In a press release Sunday, the NDP says that Singh and New Democrat candidates are ready for this election: “this time around, they’ve got more money, they’re better prepared and they’ve got strong candidates.” The release also states, “This is the first time in a decade the NDP will spend the maximum allowed under Elections Canada’s limits.”
The Bloc and the Greens launched their campaigns from Montreal.
At the start of the year, polling suggested the main rival to Blanchet’s Bloc Québécois was the Conservatives.
Trudeau’s decision, however, to step down as Liberal leader — and Carney’s rise as his replacement — coincided with a Liberal resurgence in the polls.
“What goes up goes down. If that’s good for me, that’s good for Mr. Carney. Let’s see,” Blanchet told reporters at his party’s campaign launch.
“I do not have the feeling that Quebecers trust so much Mr. Poilievre, and I do not have the feeling that Quebecers know so much about Mr. Carney,” said Blanchet.
The Bloc leaded added that while he’s not running to be prime minister, he’s running to be a strong leader to promote Quebec interests.
Also speaking to reporters in Montreal, the Green Party leaders — which held two seats in in the House Commons before dissolution — were asked directly about their electoral prospects and whether they can make any gains.
“Actually, I think (the Green Party has) done extremely well. We now have more candidates nominated than others of the main parties,” May said, adding they are aiming to win “as many (seats) as we can.”
“The role for the Green Party right now is to stand up for every single Canadian that’s having a hard time because of politicians and career politicians standing up in front of them and consistently, constantly lying to them. We’re not politicians,” Pedneault added.
Campaign kicks off amid trade tensions
This election — the first in 12 years without Trudeau at the helm of the Liberals — will get underway at a time when Canada’s relationship with the United States is being severely tested, and amid unpredictability about what the American administration might do next.
During the leadership race Carney played coy about his potential post-victory electoral intentions, noting the underlying uncertainty of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
After taking office, the two-time central banker made it clear that he thought it was important that at a moment like this, Canadians need to have their say about the path ahead and who should be leading the way.
This campaign is being called with cross-border tariffs in place. Trump has hit Canada with 25 per cent import tariffs on non-trade-exempt goods and followed it up with further levies on steel and aluminum. The federal government has hit back with reciprocal countermeasures, targeting $60 billion worth of U.S. products.
And still looming is the president’s threat of what he has called “the big one:” reciprocal tariffs, which he says are coming April 2.
It’s set to be the big ballot question, with Canadians being asked to vote for who they think is best placed to steer the country through these choppy and chaotic waters.
Both Carney and Poilievre took aim at the commander-in-chief in their campaign-launch speeches Sunday.
“I know a lot of people are worried, angry and anxious, and with good reason, as a result of the president’s unacceptable threats against our country,” Poilievre said. “You worry about your job and the sovereignty of our nation, and you’re angry at the feeling of betrayal that these unacceptable words and tariffs have made us all experience.”
“I share your anger and I share the worry for our future, but I also draw great resolve in knowing that we can transform the anxiety and anger into action,” he added, insisting Canada will never become the 51st state, an ongoing threat from the U.S. president amid the trade war.
The Liberal leader also framed many of his policy proposals as geared at pushing back against Trump and helping Canada become less reliant on its southern neighbour.
“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” Carney said. “Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada President Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us.”
Poilievre, Carney, and Singh are set to host more campaign launch events Sunday night.
With files from Stephanie Ha and Brennan MacDonald
Spencer Van Dyk
Writer & Producer, Ottawa News Bureau, CTV News
Redrawn ridings could give Conservatives an advantage, say pollsters
By The Canadian Press
March 23, 2025
People arrive to cast their ballots on federal election day in Montreal on September 20, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Canadians across the country will be voting in new ridings in the coming election.
Pollsters say that the updated districts could give the Conservatives a slight advantage in the race, though the boundary changes shouldn’t affect the election’s overall results.
How many ridings are there?
The country has added five new ridings, bringing the total to 343.
Three of the new seats are in Alberta, one is in British Columbia and one is in Ontario.
Many ridings saw their boundaries changed and some, including one in Toronto, were eliminated completely. Of the 338 old ridings, only 48 remain unchanged.
Why were the ridings updated?
Federal electoral districts need to be reviewed after every 10-year census to reflect changes in Canada’s population, says Elections Canada.
As a result of the review, electoral district boundaries can be changed and new districts can be created. The last federal redistribution process began in October 2021.
Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara and former pollster for the Trudeau Liberals, said that while the redistribution process is nonpartisan, one party can expect to benefit from the recent changes.
“The Conservatives will benefit from this new map, but the reason they’ll benefit is because they have more support in the parts of the country that are growing faster, and those changes should be made to our maps,” Arnold said.
How will the new boundaries affect the election results?
Two pollsters say that while there have been several changes to the map, the changes shouldn’t seriously benefit one party over the other.
Philippe Fournier, a polling analyst with 338Canada, said that while the changes to the map are “relatively minor,” there is a “small advantage” for the Conservatives because of the three new seats in Alberta.
“Every party can look at parts of the map that are better or worse for them. Overall, the changes were not that big,” said Fournier.
In some ridings, the changes will be noticeable.
Fournier said the Bloc Quebecois has an advantage in Quebec under the new map, which expands the old Gaspesie--Les Iles-de-la-Madeleine riding, held by former fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier, and merges it with a Bloc-leaning area.
Lebouthillier defeated the Bloc candidate in the last election by only 2,618 votes.
“That’s a cabinet minister that is going from a favorite to an underdog just because of the way they drew the map,” Fournier said.
He pointed out that a seat was also added to the northern suburbs of Montreal, which went “wall-to-wall” Bloc in the last election.
The riding of Desnethe--Missinippi--Churchill River in northern Saskatchewan has been redrawn in a way that likely will benefit the Liberals, Fournier said, now that it has removed a portion that voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Conservatives.
“The riding is mostly First Nations,” Fournier said. “The Conservatives are still the favorite, of course, in Saskatchewan, but not in that riding because of the new boundaries.”
Arnold said it’s “simplistic” to just look at the results of the last election and attempt to make predictions by comparing them to the new map - because people change their party preferences, new voters are registered with every new election and people do move from riding to riding.
He noted that while Toronto is losing its Liberal-held Don Valley East seat and the suburbs around Toronto that lean Conservative are getting extra seats, a lot of people -- who tend to vote Liberal -- have moved from the city centre into those areas.
“Any shifts that happen because of boundaries are going to pale in comparison to shifts that happen because of the Trump factor or the new leaders for the Conservatives and Liberals, or other factors that are also going to come into play,” Arnold said.
Arnold said he believes the overall impact of the new map will be “minimal,” with some benefits for the Conservatives.
“No matter how you draw the boundaries in Alberta, at the end of the day more seats there is going to be good for the Conservatives, regardless of how boundaries shift and populations move and things like that,” Arnold said, noting the addition of a seat in the B.C. interior is also probably good for the Conservatives.
Arnold said the NDP may be in trouble in northern Ontario, a region the Conservatives have been targeting heavily over the past year.
He said that, based on a mathematical redistribution of 2021 results, the NDP would still win Timmins by about 10 points but MP Charlie Angus, who has said he won’t run again, “would have been a big part of that.”
“If the NDP are down nationally, if they don’t have that incumbent to anchor their vote, the riding becomes very difficult for them,” Arnold said. “Even though the board has been shaken up, losing a seat in Northern Ontario is generally bad news for the NDP, just like losing a seat in Toronto is generally bad news for the Liberals.”
How have politicians reacted to the boundary changes?
Several members of Parliament have expressed discontent with the boundary changes - including Liberal MP for Sydney-Victoria Jaime Battiste, who argued the changes were unconstitutional.
Both Battiste and Mike Kelloway, the Liberal MP for the federal riding of Cape Breton-Canso, announced plans to run in the newly created Sydney-Glace Bay riding.
In February Battiste said on social media that most of his riding will form part of the new riding and that he has satisfied the criteria for acclamation as the Liberal candidate for the riding.
In his own social media post around the same time, Kelloway said the new riding had no incumbent and called on the Liberal party to choose which candidate to nominate. He said the new riding is where his hometown of Glace Bay is located.
On Saturday, Kelloway said he’d been told by the Liberals he would be the candidate for Sydney-Glace Bay.
Battiste confirmed in a written statement posted on his Facebook page that he will be the candidate in Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish.
Arnold said there’s always going to be “points of friction” when boundaries change.
Michael Coteau, who represents the disappearing riding of Don Valley East, said in 2023 that the redrawing process is “flawed” and the results are “inconsistent with Toronto’s economic, social and political role in Canada.”
The MP held a news conference at the time, where he raised concerns about the changes and said constituents were not happy with the decision.
The Liberal party website says Coteau is now running in Scarborough--Woburn, a new riding where no Liberal incumbent exists.
When will the full list of federal candidates be available?
Fournier said the full list of candidates isn’t usually shared until the very last day during the campaign. He said parties are still recruiting and still vetting, noting that they will have to prioritize the ridings “they have a chance in.”
As of mid-March, the Conservatives had nominated 275 out of 343 candidates. As of Friday, the Liberals had nominated 195 candidates and the NDP had nominated 230 candidates.
As of mid-March the Green Party had 208 nominated candidates. The Bloc, which only runs candidates in Quebec, had 11 candidates confirmed as of Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2025.
Canadians across the country will be voting in new ridings in the coming election.
Pollsters say that the updated districts could give the Conservatives a slight advantage in the race, though the boundary changes shouldn’t affect the election’s overall results.
How many ridings are there?
The country has added five new ridings, bringing the total to 343.
Three of the new seats are in Alberta, one is in British Columbia and one is in Ontario.
Many ridings saw their boundaries changed and some, including one in Toronto, were eliminated completely. Of the 338 old ridings, only 48 remain unchanged.
Why were the ridings updated?
Federal electoral districts need to be reviewed after every 10-year census to reflect changes in Canada’s population, says Elections Canada.
As a result of the review, electoral district boundaries can be changed and new districts can be created. The last federal redistribution process began in October 2021.
Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara and former pollster for the Trudeau Liberals, said that while the redistribution process is nonpartisan, one party can expect to benefit from the recent changes.
“The Conservatives will benefit from this new map, but the reason they’ll benefit is because they have more support in the parts of the country that are growing faster, and those changes should be made to our maps,” Arnold said.
How will the new boundaries affect the election results?
Two pollsters say that while there have been several changes to the map, the changes shouldn’t seriously benefit one party over the other.
Philippe Fournier, a polling analyst with 338Canada, said that while the changes to the map are “relatively minor,” there is a “small advantage” for the Conservatives because of the three new seats in Alberta.
“Every party can look at parts of the map that are better or worse for them. Overall, the changes were not that big,” said Fournier.
In some ridings, the changes will be noticeable.
Fournier said the Bloc Quebecois has an advantage in Quebec under the new map, which expands the old Gaspesie--Les Iles-de-la-Madeleine riding, held by former fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier, and merges it with a Bloc-leaning area.
Lebouthillier defeated the Bloc candidate in the last election by only 2,618 votes.
“That’s a cabinet minister that is going from a favorite to an underdog just because of the way they drew the map,” Fournier said.
He pointed out that a seat was also added to the northern suburbs of Montreal, which went “wall-to-wall” Bloc in the last election.
The riding of Desnethe--Missinippi--Churchill River in northern Saskatchewan has been redrawn in a way that likely will benefit the Liberals, Fournier said, now that it has removed a portion that voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Conservatives.
“The riding is mostly First Nations,” Fournier said. “The Conservatives are still the favorite, of course, in Saskatchewan, but not in that riding because of the new boundaries.”
Arnold said it’s “simplistic” to just look at the results of the last election and attempt to make predictions by comparing them to the new map - because people change their party preferences, new voters are registered with every new election and people do move from riding to riding.
He noted that while Toronto is losing its Liberal-held Don Valley East seat and the suburbs around Toronto that lean Conservative are getting extra seats, a lot of people -- who tend to vote Liberal -- have moved from the city centre into those areas.
“Any shifts that happen because of boundaries are going to pale in comparison to shifts that happen because of the Trump factor or the new leaders for the Conservatives and Liberals, or other factors that are also going to come into play,” Arnold said.
Arnold said he believes the overall impact of the new map will be “minimal,” with some benefits for the Conservatives.
“No matter how you draw the boundaries in Alberta, at the end of the day more seats there is going to be good for the Conservatives, regardless of how boundaries shift and populations move and things like that,” Arnold said, noting the addition of a seat in the B.C. interior is also probably good for the Conservatives.
Arnold said the NDP may be in trouble in northern Ontario, a region the Conservatives have been targeting heavily over the past year.
He said that, based on a mathematical redistribution of 2021 results, the NDP would still win Timmins by about 10 points but MP Charlie Angus, who has said he won’t run again, “would have been a big part of that.”
“If the NDP are down nationally, if they don’t have that incumbent to anchor their vote, the riding becomes very difficult for them,” Arnold said. “Even though the board has been shaken up, losing a seat in Northern Ontario is generally bad news for the NDP, just like losing a seat in Toronto is generally bad news for the Liberals.”
How have politicians reacted to the boundary changes?
Several members of Parliament have expressed discontent with the boundary changes - including Liberal MP for Sydney-Victoria Jaime Battiste, who argued the changes were unconstitutional.
Both Battiste and Mike Kelloway, the Liberal MP for the federal riding of Cape Breton-Canso, announced plans to run in the newly created Sydney-Glace Bay riding.
In February Battiste said on social media that most of his riding will form part of the new riding and that he has satisfied the criteria for acclamation as the Liberal candidate for the riding.
In his own social media post around the same time, Kelloway said the new riding had no incumbent and called on the Liberal party to choose which candidate to nominate. He said the new riding is where his hometown of Glace Bay is located.
On Saturday, Kelloway said he’d been told by the Liberals he would be the candidate for Sydney-Glace Bay.
Battiste confirmed in a written statement posted on his Facebook page that he will be the candidate in Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish.
Arnold said there’s always going to be “points of friction” when boundaries change.
Michael Coteau, who represents the disappearing riding of Don Valley East, said in 2023 that the redrawing process is “flawed” and the results are “inconsistent with Toronto’s economic, social and political role in Canada.”
The MP held a news conference at the time, where he raised concerns about the changes and said constituents were not happy with the decision.
The Liberal party website says Coteau is now running in Scarborough--Woburn, a new riding where no Liberal incumbent exists.
When will the full list of federal candidates be available?
Fournier said the full list of candidates isn’t usually shared until the very last day during the campaign. He said parties are still recruiting and still vetting, noting that they will have to prioritize the ridings “they have a chance in.”
As of mid-March, the Conservatives had nominated 275 out of 343 candidates. As of Friday, the Liberals had nominated 195 candidates and the NDP had nominated 230 candidates.
As of mid-March the Green Party had 208 nominated candidates. The Bloc, which only runs candidates in Quebec, had 11 candidates confirmed as of Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2025.
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