Canada’s election campaign is in its second week, and new Nanos polling released this morning shows the Liberals are up eight points over the second-place Conservative party.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney campaigned in the Greater Toronto Area today. During a campaign stop in Vaughan, Ont., he announced that a Liberal government would create a new federal housing entity as part of his plan to double Canada’s rate of residential construction housing over the next decade.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre visited voters in New Brunswick. This morning in St. John’s, Poilievre promised that a Tory government would fast-track approvals for transmission lines, railways, pipelines and other infrastructure projects and create a national energy corridor.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh started his day in Victoria, B.C., where he announced that his government would end the consumer carbon tax “for good” and eliminate public subsidies and tax breaks for oil and gas companies, redirecting that money to retrofit more than 3 million homes. He later travelled to Edmonton, Alta.
WHAT ELSE TO KNOW ON DAY 9 OF THE CAMPAIGN:
- Amid calls to drop him, Carney defended Markham Liberal candidate Paul Chiang who suggested people try to claim a Chinese bounty on Conservative candidate Joe Tay. Read story here.
- Poilievre is standing by his campaign team and their election strategy, which has been criticized for not focusing on the issue of U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs.
- Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research and official pollster for CTV News and the Globe and Mail, says there is a “dramatic reversal” in battleground Ontario that has resulted in the Liberals leading the Conservatives by eight points with less than a month until election day. Read story here.
Here’s a recap of what happened on Day 9 of the election campaign:
Alberta Premier Smith blames Trudeau-Carney ‘switcheroo’ for Liberal popularity
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, appearing alongside conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, told a Florida gala last week the federal Liberals’ upswing in public support can be attributed to a change in leadership.
“When I was down before, we were talking about the potential for a total wipe-out of the Liberal party. That’s how unpopular they had become,” Smith said, when asked whether she’s seeing an “upswing” in conservatism in Canada, after what Shapiro called “a long time in the wilderness for conservatives in Canada.”
“That’s why they booted their leader out in order to choose a new one,” Smith added, comparing the replacement of former prime minister Justin Trudeau with Liberal leader Mark Carney to the American Democrats replacing former U.S. president Joe Biden with former vice-president Kamala Harris as nominee in the last U.S. election. “And when you do a quick switcheroo on a brand-new face, sometimes it gives you a little bit of a surge. That’s the point that we’re at in Canada right now.
CTV News obtained a video of Smith’s conversation with Shapiro.
While the Conservatives were poised for a majority election win at the beginning of this year, Trudeau’s resignation, coupled with a surge in national pride facing Trump’s tariffs, have benefitted the Liberals.
Spencer Van Dyk and Stephanie Ha, CTV News parliamentary bureau
Majority of Canadians support Carney disclosing assets, Poilievre getting security clearance: Nanos Research
Most Canadians support Liberal Leader Mark Carney disclosing the financial assets he’s placed in a blind trust while in office, as well as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre obtaining security clearance to receive briefings about foreign interference, according to new data from Nanos Research.
Both leaders have faced persistent questions over those respective issues, including pressure from each other, with both accusing their opponent of “hiding” things from Canadians.
According to the new numbers from Nanos Research — as part of a survey conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail — 53 per cent of survey respondents said they “support” Carney “disclosing the value and details of his financial assets that he put in a blind trust,” while 10 per cent of people said they “somewhat support” it.
Eighteen per cent of respondents said they “oppose” the push for disclosure, four per cent of people said they “somewhat oppose,” and 16 per cent answered “unsure.”
Meanwhile, most survey respondents told Nanos Research they believe Poilievre should receive “a national security clearance, as other federal party leaders have done, so he can receive briefings on foreign interference from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS).”
Fifty-nine per cent of people said they “support the move,” and seven per cent of people said they “somewhat support” it. On the other side, 18 per cent of respondents said they “oppose” Poilievre getting the security clearance, two per cent said they “somewhat oppose,” and 14 per cent said they were “unsure.”
Spencer Van Dyk, CTV News parliamentary bureau
Poilievre to cap government spending, cut back on foreign aid to pay for capital gains tax deferral
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would cut back on foreign aid and cap government spending to pay for his capital gains tax deferral measure that would cost $10.5 billion over two years.
Speaking to BNN Bloomberg on Monday afternoon, the Conservative leader was asked what federal programs would be cut for his campaign pledge, which would allow the deferral of capital gains tax if reinvested in Canada. He made the promise during a campaign stop in Toronto on Sunday.
“We will get rid of bureaucracy, consultants, handouts to corporate insiders that ship jobs overseas. We will also cut back on foreign aid. We’ll bring in dollar-for-dollar law that caps government spending, requiring we find equal savings for every new expenditure,” Poilievre said.
Capital gains are incurred when an individual or business sells an asset, like a stock or piece of property. Right now, Canadians must pay capital gains on 50 per cent of those earnings.
“If you invest abroad, you’ll pay the capital gains tax on your disposition, but if you invest here at home, you’ll pay no capital gains tax. This is going to mean this is going to be economic rocket fuel to launch our economy over the Americans.” Poilievre said.
Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
Three-quarters of Canadians favour using tariffs on energy and critical minerals in trade war with U.S.: survey
When it comes to combatting threats to Canada’s economy, a majority of Canadians think energy and critical minerals should be part of Canada’s arsenal, a new Nanos Research survey suggests.
Three out of four Canadians are in favour of putting tariffs on oil, natural gas and electricity, potash and other critical minerals if the U.S. goes ahead with tariffs, according to the survey by Nanos Research conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail.
It found that 68 per cent would support the action, while eight to nine per cent would be somewhat supportive. About 17 per cent would oppose or somewhat oppose the move, while five to six per cent were unsure.
The survey was conducted March 28-30 and included 1,264 random Canadian adults across the country by phone. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
3:10 p.m. EDT: Singh says NDP needed in ‘storm’ brought by Donald Trump
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is framing the election as a decision about “who will fight for you” in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariff threats and he says his party remains a strong option, despite their sagging poll numbers.
“It’s really about who do you want fighting for you with the storm that Donald Trump presents,” Singh said during a campaign stop in Victoria, B.C. “We are in this storm. You don’t have to choose between a leaky roof or a cracked foundation.”
He added that the Liberals “have let you down,” while the Conservative campaign “seems to be falling apart from the inside because they’re more busy fighting each other than they are fighting for Canadians,” referring to calls among Conservatives for their campaign to focus more on the tariff threat.
Liberal support in the polls has surged over the past two months. While Conservative support has declined in that period, the NDP has also lost support to the Liberals.
The latest Nanos Research tracking of the federal election campaign shows the Liberals at 43.6 per cent support, compared to 36.1 per cent for the Conservatives and just 10.5 per cent for the NDP.
A Nanos poll conducted in mid-January put the Conservatives at 47 per cent support, followed by the Liberals at 19.6 per cent, and the NDP at 17.9 per cent.
Singh has been battling to demonstrate that his party remains an option for voters and that Canadians still need them in Parliament in order to ensure that their interests are represented.
Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
On the trail at 12:30 p.m. EDT: Singh promises to end consumer carbon tax ‘for good’
Hello from the NDP campaign trail, I’m Rachel Aiello, coming to you today from Victoria, B.C. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is making his first major climate announcement of the campaign.
Framing his plan as protecting Canadians amid Trump’s trade war and its associated rising costs, Singh is promising to scrap the consumer carbon tax “for good.”
While Liberal Leader Mark Carney has effectively done away with the consumer carbon price already, the NDP say they’d make that change permanent. At the same time, New Democrats would protect the industrial portion of the pollution pricing program, which Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to scrap.
The NDP are pitching their climate change approach as one that focuses on making big polluters pay so that Canadians can save. It also includes a pledge to keep the emissions cap in place, while promising to protect workers through the transition.
New Democrats also want to eliminate public subsidies and tax breaks for oil and gas companies and use that funding -- which they peg at $18 billion over 10 years -- to implement a major home retrofit program to equip 3.3 million homes with energy-saving upgrades, at limited or no cost to low-income households.
Singh is also promising to introduce a “Border Carbon Adjustment” so overseas polluters “don’t undercut Canadian workers,” and so industries like Canadian steel and cement can “stay competitive.”
The NDP would also support Canadian-made solutions such as heat pumps as well as union jobs in installation, in partnership with training facilities. “This is how we fight the climate crisis and protect Canadians from the effect of Trump’s trade war at the same time,” Singh said in a statement provided in advance to reporters attending the event on the island.
Rachel Aiello, CTV News national correspondent
10:30 a.m. EDT: Poilievre says he won’t shift focus, despite criticism
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is defending his campaign team and their strategy following criticism from some Conservatives that they should be more focused on the tariff threats coming from U.S. President Donald Trump.
“All the things that we need to do to respond to the economic aggression of the Americans are things I’ve been talking about for 10 years,” Poilievre said when asked by a reporter what his plan is to turn around his campaign and whether he still has faith in his campaign leadership.
The question, asked during a campaign stop in Saint John, N.B., comes as the latest polling from Nanos Research shows the Liberals with an eight-point lead over the Conservatives in a stunning reversal.
It also follows vocal criticism from high-profile Conservatives over the past week that Poilievre needs to shift focus to the tariff threats, which are top-of-mind for voters.
But Poilievre said Monday that he has no plans to stop focusing on “the lost Liberal decade” as he vies to become Canada’s prime minister.“
Some people have said that I should stop talking about the doubling housing costs that have denied an entire generation the chance to own a home after the lost Liberal decade, they say that we shouldn’t be debating why single moms are lined up at food banks in record numbers,” Poilievre said, also blaming the Liberals for a runaway opioid crisis, crime and a “falling economy” that has kept Canada “under America’s thumb.”
“(Some people) say that we should just ignore all of those things. I disagree. My purpose in politics is to restore Canada’s promise so that anyone from anywhere can achieve anything,” Poilievre said.
Introduced by local candidate John Williamson as “the only man who can stop Mark Carney,” Poilievre opened with a lengthy attack on his Liberal rival, calling him a “globalist elitist” and saying that both he and Trump “agree” on wanting to tax Canada.
The announcement itself was about creating a plan to create a national energy corridor.
Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
9:50 a.m. EDT: Carney defends Liberal candidate Paul Chiang
Liberal Leader Mark Carney was asked why he didn’t drop Paul Chiang, the Liberal candidate in Markham who suggested people try to claim a Chinese bounty on Joe Tay, a Conservative candidate running in the riding of Don Valley North.
Carney said the comments were “deeply offensive” and a “terrible lapse of judgment,” but that Chiang has apologized for his comments and has also apologized directly to Tay for the remarks he made during a Chinese-language news conference in January.
Carney said he spoke with Chiang and pointed out he is a veteran police officer with 25 years of service, “28 years of defending rights in this community and he will continue with his candidacy going forward.”
Chiang is running for the Liberals in the riding of Markham-Unionville.
“To everyone here, you can claim the $1-million bounty if you bring him to Toronto’s Chinese consulate,” said Chiang, according to the Toronto Association for Democracy in China.
Phil Hahn, CTVNews.ca election editor-in-chief
9:30 a.m. EDT: Canada could be a leader in pre-fab housing, says Carney
Liberal Leader Mark Carney says his government would “flip the script” on housing in Canada, vowing to double the rate of new home construction.
His government would create “an entirely new entity,” called “Build Canada Homes,” which would serve as a developer and financer for affordable housing construction projects.
Pre-fabricated and modular housing will be a big part of the country’s future neighbourhoods, which Carney said are about 20 per cent cheaper and 50 per cent faster to build.
“We want Canada to be a world leader in this new, innovative industry.”
Carney made the announcement during a campaign stop in Vaughen, Ont. surrounded by his candidates in Greater Toronto Area.
Former Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson was in attendance, along with candidates Francesco Sorbara, Leah Taylor Roy, Jennifer McLachlan, Tim Hodgson, Helena Jaczek, Gregor Robertson, Nate Erskine-Smith, Jennifer Keesmaat, Majid Jowhari, and Mubarak Ahmed.
Luca Caruso-Moro, breaking news assignment editor and Judy Trinh, CTV News national correspondent
9:15 a.m. EDT: Conservatives promise national energy corridor
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to create a “Canada First” national energy corridor.
In a news release, the Conservative party said their plan would fast-track approvals for energy infrastructure in a “pre-approved” energy corridor entirely within Canada.
The party said “all levels of government will provide legally binding commitments to approve projects” within the corridor.
In a video posted to X Monday morning, Poilievre said that getting Canadian energy to market more easily could help Canada make “hundreds of billions of dollars piping western oil to the East Coast and then shipping it over the Atlantic, breaking European dependence on Putin.”
Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca election writer. Read the full story here.
9 a.m. EDT: Nanos: Mark Carney’s Liberals open up 8-point lead over Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives
The federal Liberals have opened up an eight-point advantage over the Conservatives in the latest Nanos Research tracking on Day 9 of the federal election campaign.
A three-day rolling sample ending March 30 has Mark Carney’s Liberals at 44 per cent, leading Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, who are at 36 per cent. Compared to the previous day, the Liberals are up two points while the Conservative are down by one.
The New Democratic Party is unchanged at 11 per cent, followed by the Bloc Quebecois (five per cent), Green Party of Canada (two per cent) and the People’s Party of Canada (two per cent).
“The Poilievre Conservatives are losing ground to the Carney Liberals,” according to Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research and official pollster for CTV News and the Globe and Mail.
Phil Hahn, CTVNews.ca election editor-in-chief
Groups call for Liberal incumbent’s resignation
The festering issue of foreign interference is dogging Liberal Leader Mark Carney as he begins week two of the federal election campaign. Carney could be knocked off message by growing calls to remove Liberal incumbent Paul Chiang from running in the riding of Markham-Unionville.
In January, in an interview with Chinese-language media, Chiang suggested that Conservative rival Joe Tay should be turned over to the Chinese Consulate in Toronto. Last year, Hong Kong police offered a HK$1-million reward for information leading to the arrest of Tay for violations of the National Security Law.
Tay, a democracy activist, has been an outspoken critic of Hong Kong’s violations of civil rights. Politicians of all stripes condemned the bounty when it was first announced in December 2024.
Tay last week declared that he was running in the neighbouring riding of Don Valley North. That was the riding formerly held by then-Liberal MP Han Dong. Whether China meddled in that riding was studied by the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference. The inquiry did not find definitive links.
This morning, 13 groups representing Hong Konger-Canadians across the country issued a statement condemning Chiang’s actions.
“This speaks to the perspective of the government,” said Katherine Leung of Hong Kong Watch. She says if Chiang is allowed to stay, it shows that the Liberals “might be putting someone’s ability to get out the votes” and “win the ground game” over Canadian values to protect human rights.
Later Monday morning, the Conservative party released a statement demanding the Liberals drop Chiang.
“Paul Chiang’s support for the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party’s) illegal and unjust bounty on a Canadian citizen is shocking, particularly to the countless Canadians of Chinese descent who have been targeted and harassed by the communist regime,” reads a statement attributed to Michael Chong, Conservative candidate for Wellington-Halton Hills North.
According to Statistics Canada, 70 per cent of the population of Markham, where Chiang is based, consists of people of colour. Of those visible minorities, more than half are ethnic Chinese. One in five residents immigrated from China.
“If Mark Carney would allow his Liberal MP to make a comment like this, when would he ever protect Canada or Canadians against foreign hostility?” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asked on Sunday.
Human rights groups say China has a history of kidnapping dissidents overseas and bringing them back to the country to imprison them indefinitely without due process.
Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that Beijing had executed four Canadians since the beginning of the year.
Chiang, a former officer with York Regional Police, was first elected in 2021. He was the parliamentary secretary to the minister of diversity and inclusion in Justin Trudeau’s government.
Chiang first spoke in an interview with Ming Pao News in January, but his comments did not surface in English media until the Toronto Association for Democracy in China flagged it to reporters on the campaign trail.
Judy Trinh, CTV News national correspondent
