THURSDAY RECAP: Carney caught in 'bizarre obfuscation' about his call with Trump
Follow the Toronto Sun's updates throughout the day ahead of the April 28 election.
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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.
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CHANGING FACE OF NON-PARTISAN PUBLIC SERVICE
Public servants are running for office in record numbers this election, the Ottawa Citizen reports, with Conservative candidates outnumbering the Liberals nine to one.
The 2025 election is challenging the old myth of a Liberal-dominated bureaucracy and raising perennial questions about neutrality, non-partisanship, perceptions of bias and trust in a public service where the rules allow political activity.
The Public Service Commission, the guardian of a non-partisan public service, confirmed 65 bureaucrats sought permission to run in this election. Eleven withdrew, 54 were cleared to seek nominations, and 24 are on the ballot — for nine different parties.
The Conservatives drew the largest share with nine candidates — flipping their long-standing claim that the public service is packed with Liberal sympathizers and loyalists. Prime Minister Stephen Harper once said his power would be checked by a Liberal-dominated public service, Senate, and judiciary.
BUBBLE BURST ON CARNEY’S TOUGH TALK ABOUT TRUMP?
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Even Liberals understand that this was a prime minister not telling Canadians the full truth about what was said in a conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump where it is now known Trump mentioned his quest to encourage Canada to become America’s 51st state. Even the CBC, which have been promised a $150-million boost in funding if he wins the election, is calling Mark Carney out on this bizarre obfuscation and misdirection, Joe Warmington writes.
When the Liberal leader told the public — as the Toronto Sun‘s Bryan Passifiume reported at the time — that it was a “cordial” and “positive” call and “the president respected Canada’s sovereignty today both in his private and public comments,” he cemented a narrative in the minds of the electorate set to go to the voting booth a month later.
The narrative was that, rather than Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Carney, the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, was the man to deal with the Trump tariff issue and the best guy to negotiate with Trump himself.
CONCERNS GROWING ABOUT WESTERN ALIENATION
With national polling showing the Liberals slightly ahead in the federal election race, concerns are growing about western alienation and calls for Alberta separation. But some Calgary voters say separation isn’t the answer, the Calgary Herald reports.
The latest 338Canada projections show the Liberals with 42% of voter support, followed by the Conservatives at 38%. An Angus Reid poll released earlier this month found that 25% of Albertans support the idea of Alberta becoming an independent country, with that number rising to 30% if the Liberals form the next government.
Trevor Harrison, a retired political sociologist at the University of Lethbridge, says while those numbers reflect frustration, true support for separation would likely be smaller in the event of a referendum.
“The idea of separation is good in theory until . . . the rubber hits the road,” he said. “There’s a lot of practicalities.”
ROBBERY ATTEMPT NEXT TO CONSERVATIVE CAMPAIGN OFFICE
The Conservative candidate for Niagara West said crime is so rampant that a jewelry store next to his campaign office in Grimsby was the site of a third robbery attempt over the last few months.
Dean Allison, who is running to keep his Niagara West seat he’s held since 2004, shared a short video to social media Thursday afternoon of a vehicle that came to rest partly inside Harmony Jewellers.
“This is Canada after 10 years of total Liberal neglect of rampant crime, causing chaos all over the country, including right here in Grimsby,” he wrote.
Allison said he brought up two previous robbery attempts at the same jewelry store during a candidates debate last week.
“If you want safe streets and tough-on-crime laws, vote Conservative,” he added.
— Spiro Papuckoski
OFFENSIVE ELECTION ITEMS ON AMAZON FLAGGED
Just over 1,300 people have signed a petition on Change.org urging Amazon to cease the sale of offensive products related to Canada’s federal election, Jane Stevenson reports.
The Change.org petition highlights items such as flags with the phrase “F— Carney,” which petition starter Helen Lemon believes fuel division and undermines the integrity of the electoral process.
“Amazon, a global leader in e-commerce, plays a significant role in this disturbing trend,” she writes.
“It offers a platform where such inappropriate products can be bought and sold effortlessly. I believe this practice goes against the principles of respect, decency, and fairness that we, as Canadians, uphold.”
OUR EDITORIAL: THE POLITICAL DEMISE OF JAGMEET SINGH
Now that he’s dropped the fiction that he’s running for prime minister, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is urging voters to elect New Democrat MPs to prevent a Liberal “super majority,” our editorial department writes.
The reason that argument is falling flat is that no one has contributed more to the prospect of a Liberal “super majority” than Singh.
He propped up the current Liberal minority government under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, through the supply and confidence agreement he signed with them in March 2022.
He continued that support right up to September 2024, despite the polls showing increasing disillusionment with the Liberals and growing support for a federal election.
NOT MUCH ADO ABOUT CARNEY’S BUDGET VOODOO
Deficits, deficits and more deficits.
That’s Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s plan when it comes to budgeting, as he hopes to lead the nation for the next four years, Jay Goldberg writes.
Many Canadians are alarmed at the sheer scale at which the Liberals have piled up debt over the past decade. Since the Trudeau Liberals came to power in 2015, the federal debt has more than doubled.
Carney’s answer? He says he’ll “spend less” and “invest more.”
CARNEY’S BUDGET PLAN WORSE THAN TRUDEAU’S: TERRAZZANO
Liberal Party Leader Mark Carney’s strategy depends on being different from former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
When it comes to budget plans, Carney is not only different from Trudeau, he’s much worse, Franco Terrazzano writes.
Carney plans to add $225 billion to the federal debt over the next four years, according to his recently released platform. Trudeau planned on adding $131 billion to the debt over the same time, according to the most recent Fall Economic Statement.
Think about that: Carney plans to rack up nearly $100 billion more debt than Trudeau did. This hurts Carney for three reasons.
DEFICIT OF ATTENTION ON CANADA’S DEBT: GUNTER
Taxpayers can’t hope that any of the major parties in Monday’s election will balance the budget soon, not even the Conservatives, Lorne Gunter writes.
Indeed, in most western democracies politicians of all stripes have given up on the idea of making expenditures equal revenues. The best that can be hoped for is reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio.
Reducing the percentage of a country’s GDP consumed by government debt is important. If the national debt equals 30% of GDP versus 40%, the government will have to borrow less to pay the interest on that debt, leaving more money for banks and investment houses to lend at better rates to individuals and businesses.
A lower debt-to-GDP, for instance, should lower the cost of a mortgage, enabling more young people to buy houses.
CARLETON RIDING NO FREEBIE FOR POILIEVRE?
Long considered a safe Conservative seat, Pierre Poilievre’s long-held riding of Carleton has turned into a horse race in the final days of the federal election campaign, the Ottawa Citizen reports.
A source with the federal Liberal campaign who is not authorized to speak on the record confirmed that the party’s internal projections and polling numbers show the gap between Poilievre and Liberal challenger Bruce Fanjoy has shrunk dramatically in recent days — from 10 points to five points.
With a margin of error, he said, a five-point gap “is bringing us really close” and creates a situation where things like getting out the vote become absolutely essential.
He said it appears the Conservative party has been moving resources from other ridings, including those in Ottawa, where they are not expected to win, to shore up the vote for Poilievre in Carleton.
POILIEVRE PLEDGES NO GAS-POWERED CAR BAN
Canada’s Conservative leader is promising to scrap a contentious Trudeau-era internal combustion engine ban.
Pierre Poilievre promised to end the Liberals’ plan to outlaw the sale of gas- and diesel-engined passenger vehicles.
“The Liberals have set a deadline to ban new gas-powered vehicles altogether by 2035, but that ban will be phased in starting next year,” Poilievre said.
“This is not a tomorrow problem, this is a now problem.”
Read the full story here.
WHERE THE LEADERS ARE THURSDAY
Liberal Leader Mark Carney will deliver remarks and hold a media availability in Port Moody, B.C., in the morning and hold a rally in Winnipeg in the evening.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will make an announcement in Winnipeg in the morning before travelling to Toronto for a campaign event.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will hold a press conference in Halifax in the morning and later hold a rally in Saskatoon.
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