THURSDAY RECAP: Carney pausing election campaign again after rally in Hamilton
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Follow the Toronto Sun’s live coverage of Canada’s 45th general election and tariff-related news, with contributions from Brian Lilley, Bryan Passifiume, Lorrie Goldstein and columnists Joe Warmington and Warren Kinsella, as well as contributions from the Sun’s editors and reporters covering the election ahead of the April 28 vote. Plus, you can find all of our election coverage here.
PRIME MINISTER RETURNING TO OTTAWA TO MEET WITH CABINET
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THURSDAY RECAP: Carney pausing election campaign again after rally in Hamilton Back to video
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Liberal Leader Mark Carney has paused his campaign for a third time, returning to Ottawa after his Thursday evening rally in Hamilton.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office says Carney will chair a meeting of the Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security Cabinet Committee in Ottawa Friday at 10 a.m.
PROTESTERS INTERRUPT LIBERAL LEADER’S SPEECH IN STEELTOWN
The main difference in attending a rally for a banker instead of one for a drama teacher is less theatrics.
Or at least that’s how it was supposed to be for Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Joe Warmington writes.
Every time Carney started to get on a roll by slagging U.S. President Donald Trump, someone would scream and start to heckle the former chair of Brookfield Asset Management. He was a trooper and tried to stay on script as security moved into the packed room and dragged people out. At least four times it happened.
While this used to happen to former prime minister Justin Trudeau all the time, you can see it’s new to Carney who is used to hanging out with royalty, presidents and prime ministers.
SASKATCHEWAN SEATS UP FOR GRABS?
For a few hours this week, Saskatoon was the centre of Canada’s political universe, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix reports.
Liberal Party Leader Mark Carney and federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh both made their pitch to Saskatchewan voters personally. The two party leaders each made stops in Saskatoon Wednesday to speak to supporters, as polling shows the Liberals in particular picking up steam in the province.
Carney drew somewhere between 800 and 1,200 people at a Wednesday rally. An overwhelming majority were supporters, anxious to hear his messaging on how Canada should fight back against U.S. tariffs and become an energy superpower.
Singh spoke to supporters at the campaign office of Saskatoon West candidate Rachel Loewen Walker. In the packed office space, Singh touched on a number of his party’s pledges to support workers.
CARNEY’S ‘GENOCIDE’ RESPONSE SLAMMED BY ISRAELI PM
Mark Carney’s response to a heckler asking about the “genocide” in Gaza is more than just a campaign issue now.
The Liberal leader earned a sharp rebuke Thursday on social media from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called on Carney to “backtrack your irresponsible statement” while quote-tweeting on a post about the incident from the Toronto Sun‘s Bryan Passifiume.
Carney’s response to the heckler raised eyebrows after he said he was “aware” of the situation in Gaza, whose Hamas rulers are at war with Israel since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. He also erroneously claimed that Canada has an arms embargo on Israel.
He later walked back some of the comments by saying he didn’t hear genocide mentioned and was instead referring to the situation in Gaza.
Carney, however, didn’t retract his arms embargo claim, saying Canada had cancelled a number of permits allowing arms exports to Israel with exceptions to those maintaining Israel’s Iron Dome defence system.
At a campaign stop in Hamilton, Carney was asked by the Toronto Sun‘s Joe Warmington if he would withdraw the genocide statement, but didn’t answer.
OUR EDITORIAL: LIBERALS’ $200B CLIMATE PLAN NEEDS FORENSIC AUDIT
The Liberal government’s latest report on Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions raises serious questions about what we’re getting for the Liberals’ $200-billion-plus program, ostensibly to fight climate change, our editorial department writes.
Something we’ll never get the answers to if Mark Carney and the Liberals win the April 28 election.
Reports on Canada’s emissions are always two years after the fact and last month the feds said Canada’s industrial greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 totalled 694 megatonnes, 8.5% below 2005 levels.
While that’s slightly down from the 2022 level of 700 megatonnes, the Liberal government’s target is to cut emissions to at least 40% below 2005 levels in 2030.
CARNEY CAMPAIGN MAKES STOP IN STEELTOWN
Mark Carney is visiting Hamilton this afternoon and our Joe Warmington will be reporting from there.
Follow his updates here:
KEY PLANK IN CARNEY’S CRIME PLATFORM ALREADY LAW
It’s a bold plan to protect victims of intimate partner violence from guns – but it’s been on the books for decades.
During his campaign stop Thursday in Brampton, Liberal Leader Mark Carney unveiled his crime platform – anchored by plans for legislation to automatically revoke firearm licences for those convicted of intimate partner violence.
“If elected, my government will automatically revoke gun licences for individuals convicted of violent offences, including intimate partner violence,” Carney said.
But under Section 109 of the Criminal Code of Canada – introduced into law in 1985 – anyone convicted of violent indictable offences against a person is already subject to a mandatory prohibition on possession weapons.
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KINGSTON CANDIDATES TALK HEALTH CARE, HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS
Long before Canadians’ attention was focused on tariffs and before the leader of Canada’s closest ally started talking about destroying its economy as a prelude to annexing the country, there were issues that were, and still are, important.
And there is a good chance many of those issues will remain after the current trade crisis passes.
In fact, candidates in the federal election in Kingston and the Islands said many of those issues — health care, housing, homelessness, infrastructure and the cost of living and the environment — have been put into even starker relief amid the current trade crisis.
“Housing, health care and affordability are the biggest crises facing Canadians,” said Green Party candidate Fintan Hartnett. “People can’t find places to live, food costs are skyrocketing, and access to health care is worse than ever. Meanwhile, the major parties have failed to deliver real solutions.”
New Democratic candidate Daria Juüdi-Hope, a registered nurse by trade, said Canada’s health-care system continues to crumble.
“We must defend the Canadian value of going to the doctor’s office with your health card not your credit card.”
Incumbent Liberal candidate Mark Gerretsen said the country’s relationship with the United States has dominated discussions with voters in this election but other issues are still important.
“For Kingston and the Islands, housing, infrastructure development, health-care access, and education are key concerns,” Gerretsen said, and those issues require targeted investment to keep them relevant on a national stage.
— Elliot Ferguson, The Kingston Whig-Standard
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LILLEY: CARNEY SNAPS AT REPORTER OVER CHINA QUESTIONS
China is an issue that won’t leave Liberal Leader Mark Carney alone and it’s clearly getting to him.
On Thursday, he snapped at a reporter and disparaged a major daily newspaper for their coverage of his campaign and connections with China.
“Well, I’m sorry, but you can’t believe everything you read in The Globe and Mail,” Carney said.
His remarks were nasty in tone, he was snarky. He also seemed to be channeling Justin Trudeau.
LIBERTARIAN LEADER WARNS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
The leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada warned Wednesday of civil disobedience if the Liberals are returned to power in the April 28 election.
Jacques Boudreau, Libertarian party leader since 2021 and a resident of the Petrolia area, was speaking at a Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong all-candidates meeting by the Lambton Federation of Agriculture at the fairgrounds in Wyoming.
“I’m fearful to say that if the Liberals are re-elected, we may have no choice but to consider civil disobedience to protect our rights,” Boudreau said in his closing statement at the meeting where questions focused on agriculture.
Farming is already “a tough game” because of volatile prices and unpredictable weather, “yet our government piles on with excessive taxation” and “endless red tape,” he said.
“If they win again, we must resist, peacefully but firmly because freedom demands it,” Boudreau said. “If we don’t act, civil disobedience might be our last stand against a government that has forgotten who keeps this country running.”
— Paul Morden, The Sarnia Observer
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SASK. MLA’S TERRORIST REMARK ABOUT SINGH WRONG: MOE
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says one of his legislature members made “very, very inappropriate comments” by calling federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh a terrorist, as a national organization representing Sikhs demands more accountability.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada said in a statement Thursday that more needs to be done to repair relations after the remark from Saskatchewan Party MLA Racquel Hilbert.
The organization called for Hilbert to be removed from her committee assignments and for all Saskatchewan Party members to undergo anti-racism and cultural sensitivity training.
“These comments are an insult not just to Jagmeet Singh but also contribute to the stigmatization and marginalization of Sikh Canadians,” the group’s president, Danish Singh, said in a statement.
NO RETALIATORY TARIFFS: PPC’S BERNIER
Canada must do whatever it takes to get U.S. President Donald Trump back to the table to negotiate a new trade deal if the tariff war between the two countries is to end and auto jobs are to be saved, says People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier.
Speaking with reporters and then to a crowd of about 75 people at the Windsor Club Wednesday, Bernier said Canada must not retaliate with tariffs against the U.S., but instead must negotiate with Trump by putting everything on the table, especially the supply management system that protects dairy, poultry and eggs.
Trump campaigned on lower inflation but his tariffs are driving up prices, about $4,000 on imported cars, so he will be well motivated to end the tariff war negotiate with Canada because his party cannot win in the 2026 midterm election with high inflation, said Bernier.
“When you impose counter tariffs, that is not helping Canadians. That’s Canadians who will pay for these tariffs. It’s a new tax on Canadians,” he said.
— Brian MacLeod, Windsor Star
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TORIES PROMISE LESS BUILDING TAX ON NEW HOMES
The Conservatives announced their latest plan to make homebuying more affordable to Canadians.
Speaking at a campaign stop in Milton, Ont., Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre revealed a plan they say will help potential homebuyers save $100,000 on a new home.
“If you work hard, you can afford a beautiful home on a safe street in a thriving community under our proud flag,” Poilievre said.
“We will restore the promise of home ownership, we will remove the bureaucracy to make it happen.”
SINGH GETS SUPPORTERS TO JUMP, DISABLED ATTENDEE WATCHES
Jagmeet Singh managed to get his supporters to jump in the air during a small rally in Saskatoon while a disabled attendee watched on.
The New Democratic leader made an appearance at Saskatoon West candidate Rachel Loewen Walker’s campaign office Wednesday and spoke about the important choices Canadians are facing.
After wrapping up his speech, Singh said he wanted everyone in the office to jump in unison as music that was barely audible began to play.
“We’re going to jump together at the chorus,” Singh said. “When the chorus comes, I want this floor to shake.”
POILIEVRE CONDEMNS TRUMP FOR EXCLUDING CANADA FROM TARIFF PAUSE
It was a “historic mistreatment” of Canada.
That’s how Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Thursday described U.S. President Donald Trump’s sudden reversal of many of his previously announced tariffs — announcing a 90-day reprieve on most of the nations that conspicuously left out Canada.
“I condemn President Trump for keeping the tariffs on Canada, all while offering a 90-day pause on tariffs of dozens of other countries,” Poilievre said Thursday during a campaign stop in Milton.
“It remains a mystery why the President treats Canada worse than dozens of other faraway countries who are not America’s best friend.”
GUNTER: FOOLISH FAITH IN GRITS FOR RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Of course, I’ve noticed the huge crowds Pierre Poilievre has been attracting to his rallies. They are the biggest campaign rallies for any Canadian politician in more than 50 years. Perhaps ironically, the only rallies as large or larger were those held by Pierre Trudeau’s in the late 1960s and early ‘70s.
The big difference is that during Trudeau’s campaigns, the polls and the rallies aligned. He was ahead in both. Poilievre only leads in rallies. Liberal Leader Mark Carney leads in polls by as much as nine points.
The pollster I trust the most, Abacus Data, shows the Liberals and Conservatives tied at 39 per cent each. However, as Abacus CEO David Coletto, said last weekend, “because of the efficiency of the Liberal vote,” a tie means at least a Liberal minority government. (The Liberal vote is spread more evenly across high-population regions.)
Do I trust the voting-preference polls? Not entirely. They tend to oversample older voters, who favour the Liberals, and under-sample younger voters who prefer the Conservatives. But when nearly all major polls show similar results, you can ignore the specific numbers but not the trends.
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE TACTICS ALWAYS CHANGING: FORMER MP
The Chinese Communist Party is always changing the way it interferes in elections in Canada and other countries, says former Steveston-Richmond MP Kenny Chiu.
The Conservative party politician was the target of a smear campaign during the 2021 election, which took place when many Chinese-language media outlets in Canada labelled him “anti-Chinese” and a “race traitor.”
Now, says Chiu, China is trying a different tactic. It is amplifying what he considers favourable messages on the Chinese-language social-media platform WeChat about federal Liberal party leader Mark Carney.
China “will never repeat the same tactic,” Chiu said in an interview. “They won’t spread the same kind of misinformation that they did against me. They are smart. They are resourceful.”
WHERE THE FEDERAL PARTY LEADERS ARE TODAY
Two federal party leaders will be campaigning in the Greater Toronto Area on Thursday.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney is slated to make an announcement in Brampton, Ont., this morning and meet with supporters and volunteers in Hamilton, Ont., in the afternoon.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is scheduled to hold a press conference in Milton, Ont., in the morning and a rally in Woolwich, Ont., in the evening.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will be in Saskatoon, Sask., on Thursday, where he will make an announcement and meet with Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.
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