TUESDAY RECAP: White House official says Canada 'would benefit greatly' as 51st state
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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.
CARNEY CONTRADICTS HIMSELF ON PIPELINES: GUNTER
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Remember last week when Liberal Leader Mark Carney promised a Calgary audience that his Liberal government would make Canada “the world’s leading energy superpower?”
First of all, Lorne Gunter writes that he doesn’t know how many times Albertans are going to have to hear some Liberal politician come to their province and promise to advance the energy industry before they immediately break into gales of laughter.
No Liberal means it. They all either want to take over our oil and gas industry or shut it down. None of them are up to any good when it comes to Alberta or energy.
OUR EDITORIAL: PUBLIC SKEPTICAL ABOUT CARNEY’S NEW CARBON TAX
Canadians aren’t buying Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s promise that he’s working on a magical new carbon tax where “big polluters” pay the costs instead of the public for the good reason that no such tax exists, our editorial department writes.
A survey by Leger for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation of 1,631 adults from April 4-7 found that 70% of Canadians believe businesses pass along most (44%) or some (26%) of the added costs they face to the public because of the federal industrial carbon tax.
Only 9% believe businesses absorb most of the costs without hiking prices, while 21% say they don’t know.
That means among those with an opinion, 89% believe businesses will pass along most or some of their added costs to the public.
WHITE HOUSE REMARKS WILL BOOST CARNEY’S CAMPAIGN: LILLEY
Mark Carney was handed a gift again on Tuesday from the people he says he’s fighting against, Brian Lilley writes.
As the Liberal leader was busy preparing for Wednesday’s French-language leaders debate, Donald Trump’s White House put the idea of the 51st state back on the election agenda.
Trump has been quiet about Canada of late with no late-night or early morning outbursts on Truth Social, no rantings while holding court with reporters in the Oval Office.
While the words didn’t come out of Trump’s mouth, all of that changed during a press briefing Tuesday at the White House.
TRUMP STILL HAS SIGHTS SET ON CANADA: PRESS SECRETARY
For a president who typically has a whole lot to say, Donald Trump has been quiet about Canada in recent weeks.
But if the U.S. president has been toning down his Canada-U.S. relations rhetoric, it’s purely by coincidence.
So said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who during Tuesday’s press briefing was asked by the CBC’s Katie Simpson if Trump’s pause on talking about Canada becoming the 51st state was intentional.
“I would reject the president’s position on Canada has shifted,” Leavitt said. “Perhaps he just hasn’t been asked about Canada … from this group in the Oval Office. The president still maintains his position on Canada.”
TIMING OF ADVANCE POLLS STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN
What would Jesus do?
Well, if he ran Elections Canada, Warren Kinsella writes, he probably wouldn’t do what Elections Canada is doing this year. Which is conduct advance polls on some of the holiest days of the year, for Christians and Jews alike.
For Christians, the holiest days of the year are Good Friday (when Christ was crucified and died) and Easter Sunday (when he rose from the dead). For Jews, the Sabbath is always holy, and the Ten Commandments require that it be a day of rest — while Passover is holy, too (and commemorates the exodus of Jews from Egypt).
POILIEVRE CALLS ON BANKS, TELECOMS TO CRACK DOWN ON PHONE SCAMS
A Conservative government would target overseas financial scammers who prey on vulnerable Canadians with phone and email scams, Poilievre said Tuesday.
The Conservative Leader’s Tuesday morning campaign stop in Montreal was highlighted by new measures meant to protect victims — specifically seniors.
“Imagine spending your life working hard, saving carefully, preparing for your retirement — only to see it all disappear seconds after a scammer comes in and takes over,” he said.
“One call, one click — and it’s gone.”
CHARGES UNLIKELY OVER HYPER-PARTISAN BUTTONS: LAWYER
Actions by Liberal campaign workers caught in a party-sanctioned disinformation campaign could meet the threshold for charges, lawyers told the Toronto Sun‘s Bryan Passifiume.
Litigators interviewed by the Toronto Sun say the scheme — which involved planting hyper-partisan buttons at a conservative convention in Ottawa last week — could meet the threshold of offences under the Criminal Code and Canada Elections Act.
However, it’s unlikely authorities would act, said Calgary-based criminal lawyer Alain Hepner.
Hepner said that if charges were laid, prosecution would like take place under the Canada Elections Act. But Hepner stressed he’d be shocked if any charges were laid.
CARNEY PRIORITIZING SPENDING OVER CUTS
While the Conservatives talk tax cuts, Canada’s Liberal party leader insists the way forward is to spend, Bryan Passifiume writes.
Speaking Tuesday morning at a campaign stop in a Montreal suburb, Mark Carney accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of relying too heavily on cuts, particularly in the face of the American trade war.
“Our approach to this crisis, our approach to this new economy is that we are all in this together, because when we’re united, we build Canada strong,” Carney said.
“Pierre Poilievre is about everyone for themselves, he’s all about cuts — cuts to dental care, cuts to childcare, cuts to pharmacare, cuts to foreign aid, cuts to our most valued institutions.”
HOUSING STARTS SLOWED IN MARCH
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in March slowed compared with February.
The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 214,155 units in March, down from 221,405 in February.
The change came as the annual pace of starts in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater fell 2.8 per cent to 203,285 compared with 209,093 in February.
The annual pace of starts of single-detached homes in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater rose one per cent to 43,012 in March, while the rate of starts of all other homes in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater fell four per cent to 160,273.
Read the full story here.
INFLATION COOLED IN MARCH
Canadians got a break on inflation in March as gas prices fell and a slowdown in travel to the United States helped cool airfare costs, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
The annual rate of inflation slowed to 2.3 per cent last month, down from 2.6 per cent in February. A poll provided by LSEG Data & Analytics ahead of Tuesday’s release had expected yearly inflation to hold steady month-to-month.
StatsCan said gas prices fell 1.6 per cent year-over-year in March, coming off a hike of 5.1 per cent in February.
The agency also pointed to a drop of 4.7 per cent annually in prices for travel tours last month following a sizeable jump over the long weekend in February.
Airfare costs were down 12 per cent year-over-year in March, StatsCan said, and rose only slightly month-to-month.
Read the full story here.
WHERE THE LEADERS ARE TUESDAY
Federal party leaders are campaigning in the Montreal area ahead of the two election debates that will take place Wednesday and Thursday.
It will be the first time Liberal Leader Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre square off in a debate.
This morning, Carney is scheduled to make an announcement and hold a press conference in Saint-Eustache, Que., near Montreal, while Poilievre will hold a press conference in Montreal.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who is also scheduled to make a morning announcement in Montreal.
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