Conservatives and Liberals kick out more candidates as 2nd week of election campaign comes to a close

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Pollster Nik Nanos looks at seat projections across Canada at the end of week 2 of the campaign

CTV National News: Singh claims a Carney-led Brookfield avoided paying $5B in taxes

CTV National News: Poilievre's answers to combat intimate partner violence

CTV National News: How the NDP is using influencers to promote campaign

Local Conservative candidate facing criticism

The second week of the federal election campaign, which saw the Liberal and Conservative parties remove candidates over controversial remarks, is coming to a close.

On Friday, the two parties each kicked out one more candidate. Rod Loyola was dropped as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Edmonton Gateway after an old video resurfaced in which he showed support for terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah during a protest.

Simon Payette, who was running as a Conservative in the Quebec riding of Berthier—Maskinongé, was ousted from the party’s roster over Facebook comments accusing Liberal candidate Nathalie Provost, who survived the Ecole Polytechnique massacre and is advocating for tighter gun rules, of playing the “victim game.”

So far, a total of seven candidates were let go by the two parties this week.

Meanwhile, all three main party leaders unveiled more campaign promises during respective stops in Quebec.

In Montreal, Liberal Leader Mark Carney pledged to bolster CBC/Radio-Canada’s funding, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh outlined his party’s plan to stop Canadian companies from using offshore tax havens to avoid paying fees.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Trois-Rivières, Que., where he vowed to toughen penalties for intimate partner violence.

Here’s a recap of what happened on Day 13 of the campaign:

7:08 p.m. EDT: New Nanos seat projections show some leaders at risk of losing

If the election is held today, the Liberal party is projected to win a majority with 176 seats, while the Conservative party will form the official opposition with 107 seats, according to Nanos Research’s latest projections.The figures project the latest polling numbers, which have the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives by 10 points.

In an interview on Power Play, Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research, tells CTV News chief political correspondent Vassy Kapelos that the latest projections show some party leaders appear to be at risk of losing their seat.

Nanos has the ridings of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Quebecois (BQ) Yves-Francois Blanchett, and Green Party co-leader Elizabeth May as too close to call.

In Beloeil—Chambly, Blanchett is being challenged by the Liberals, Nanos said.

“Shows you just what’s happening overall with the Bloc and the Liberals in Quebec,” he added. Before the election was called on March 23, BQ was poised to gain seats in the province, but Nanos said that has since changed, with the Liberals poised to make pickups.

In the B.C. riding of Burnaby Central, Singh’s riding, Nanos has the Liberals ahead outside of the margin of error and they would win if the election was held today.“Jagmeet Singh’s got a fight on his hand,” Nanos said, noting that it reflects the lack of NDP support nationally.

“They’re at nine per cent nationally. That’s kind of like the 25-year low mark for the New Democrats,” Nanos said. “They hadn’t had that bad a showing since the 2000 election.”He noted that strategic voting is hurting the NDP and benefitting the Liberals.

Meanwhile, in May’s B.C. riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands, it is also too close to call, with the Liberals and Conservatives both in play, according to Nanos.

“For Elizabeth May, co-leader of the Green Party, she’s got to watch out in terms of what’s happening in her riding,” Nanos said.

He noted that Poilievre and Carney will win in their respective ridings.

In the battleground of the Greater Toronto Area, Nanos said the Liberals are back in the driver’s seat.With three weeks left until election day, Nanos said things could still change, given that there are still the televised French and English debates coming.

“Mark Carney is going to be in a pressure cooker because he’s been picking up steam; he’s going to be the target for everyone,” Nanos said.

“They’re going to be after him, and it will be interesting to see whether he can hold up or whether he has a misstep. Too early to tell.”

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist.

4:39 p.m. EDT: Who Canadians think will more likely to keep their campaign promises

When it comes to keeping campaign promises, Canadians are more likely to trust Liberal leader Mark Carney than his Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre, according to the results of a new survey.

Commissioned by CTV News and The Globe and Mail, the survey by Nanos Research found that 48 per cent of respondents trust Carney to keep campaign promises, compared with 27 per cent who trust Poilievre.

Undecided voters were also more likely trust Carney, with 32 per cent saying they trust the Liberal leader to keep campaign promises versus 10 per cent for Poilievre. Nearly one-third of undecided voters, or 31 per cent, trust neither.

“Overall, Liberal leader Carney has a trust advantage over Conservative leader Poilievre when it comes to keeping promises,” Nanos Research founder and chief data scientist Nik Nanos said.

This is an excerpt from a full story. Continue reading here.

Daniel Otis, CTVNews.ca journalist

4:32 p.m. EDT: Conservatives drop Quebec candidate

Liberal candidate Nathalie Provost says she wants to see Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre call out “shameful” comments by a Conservative candidate Simon Payette who accused her of playing the “victim game” in her quest for stronger gun regulations.

A Conservative spokesperson confirms the party has now dropped Payette as a candidate — just the latest in a slew of candidates shed by the Liberals and Conservatives this week over contentious comments, ahead of Monday’s nomination deadline.

Provost, who survived the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, says she was left speechless by some of the comments that tarnish the memory of her classmates subject to the worst mass-murder of women in Canadian history.

Payette left a series of comments on Provost’s Facebook page in French, often taunting her to participate in a live debate with him.

Read more here.

The Canadian Press

3:37 p.m. EDT: Few Conservatives voting for the party based on ability to manage Trump: poll

A new poll suggests more than one in five people planning to vote for the Liberals are being motivated by their belief that leader Mark Carney is the best option to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump.

But it suggests Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s ability to stand up to Trump is motivating the vote of only a small number of people who said they’re voting for his party.

Conservative voters appear to be more motivated by anti-Liberal sentiment and a desire for change.

This is an excerpt from a Canadian Press story. Continue reading here.

3 p.m. EDT: How federal parties are leveraging social media this election

While elections can be won or lost based on a party’s ground game, in this campaign some leaders are also leveraging social media in new ways, in hopes voters will “like” and “subscribe” to what they have to say.

But, as the NDP have learned early on, new approaches can bring new risks.In a federal election first, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is bringing online content creators aboard his campaign bus, to film content between campaign stops.

To recruit these influencers, the party has been posting callouts on social media flagging where the bus is heading next, and featuring Singh saying they “have reserved a spot for you.”

The aim is to reach people who may not typically follow politics. So far, Singh has spoken with social media personalities with accounts of varying sizes on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, to cover a range of topics, from fitness and health, to community-based issues.

This is an excerpt from a full story. Continue reading here.

Rachel Aiello, CTV News national correspondent

2:45 p.m. EDT: Manning’s ‘dramatic’ comments ‘unhelpful,’ Carney says

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is responding to an op-ed by Preston Manning published in The Globe and Mail earlier this week, in which he warned that another Liberal win could result in a “Western secession” crisis.

Manning, the former leader of the Reform Party of Canada, one of the predecessors of the modern federal Conservative party, wrote, “large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government, no matter who leads it.”

“I think such dramatic comments are unhelpful at a time when Canadians are coming together, and that is the sense in the West as well. I would note, the Leader of the Opposition encouraged greater unity,” Carney said, referring to Poilievre’s call for unity when he was asked about the opinion piece on Thursday.

Carney also echoed the Conservative leader’s sentiments, saying that Canadians need to come together as a country in the wake of the ongoing trade war with the United States.

Carney is running in the Ottawa-area riding of Nepean. However, he pointed out his connections to the West are strong, having been born in the Northwest Territories and raised in Alberta, and said he understands Western Canada.

Carney described the Liberal Party’s plan as positive and something all Canadians, including those in the West, can rally behind.

“And I look forward to seeing you out West on Sunday,” Carney added, responding to a question about why why he hadn’t campaigned west of Winnipeg yet.

According to the latest Nanos Research tracking, Carney’s Liberals are leading in every region except the Prairies, where the Conservatives are ahead.

Read more here.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist. With files from The Canadian Press

12:10 p.m. EDT: Poilievre promises tougher sentencing

From the campaign trail in Trois Riveres, Que. today, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised tougher sentences for people who abuse an intimate partner. The plan includes:

• The creation of a new offence of “assault of an intimate partner”
• Require the strictest bail conditions for anyone accused of intimate partner violence, including GPS ankle bracelet monitoring.
• End the practice of downgrading the murder of an intimate partner to manslaughter.

“Government has failed the most vulnerable Canadians,” said Poilievre. “Those who abuse their partners or their children should be off the streets and behind bars where they can’t harm their victims or anyone else. A new Conservative Government will make sure our justice system always puts victims, not criminals, first.”

Mike Le Couteur, CTV News national correspondent

11:30 a.m. EDT: Liberal Party drops Alberta candidate

The Liberal Party has dropped its candidate from an Edmonton-area riding, CTV News has confirmed.

In a statement, the party confirmed Rod Loyola is no longer a candidate for the riding of Edmonton Gateway. It did not provide a reason.

Loyola is the second Liberal candidate to exit the race this week.

On Tuesday, incumbent candidate Paul Chiang stepped down.

Community advocates and his political rivals had demanded his campaign be ended after he suggested, earlier this year, that people should try to claim a Chinese bounty on a Conservative candidate.

Luca Caruso-Moro, breaking news digital assignment editor. Read the full story here.

10:50 a.m. EDT: NDP says it would close offshore tax loopholes

The NDP outlined their plan to stop Canadian companies from using offshore tax havens to avoid paying fees during a campaign stop in Montreal.

Under the NDP proposal, corporations would only be able to set up offshore accounts if they can prove they have a “genuine business reason” to do so.

It would also enforce public, country-by-country financial reporting and review the tax code to close tax-evasion loopholes.

Perhaps most pointedly, the party wants to end agreements with “known havens like Bermuda.

”The party singled out Bermuda because that’s where Brookfield Asset Management, the global investment giant, had registered business entities. Carney served as chair of Brookfield’s board from August of 2022 until mid-January of this year when he resigned to run for the party leadership.

CTV News reported this week that Brookfield had registered several entities to an address in Bermuda that also houses a local bike shop.

One of the significant advantages of registering business in Bermuda is the country’s tax regime; until this year, the country did not have a corporate income tax. Comparatively, the federal corporate income tax rate in Canada is 15 per cent.

The NDP accused Brookfield of avoiding $5.3 billion in taxes between 2021 and 2024. CTV News has reached out to Brookfield and the Liberal Party to respond.

Asked today about Brookfield’s registrations in Bermuda, Carney said “their arrangements follow the rules, including the tax rules of this country and other countries.”

He also said the company had been set up in such a way to maximize earnings for pension funds.

Luca Caruso-Moro, breaking news digital assignment editor

9:40 a.m. EDT: Liberals promise more money for CBC

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is promising to bolster the CBC with an additional $150 million funding increase if the Liberals are re-elected, and to make the public broadcaster’s funding statutory so that it can’t be easily cut without approval from Parliament.

He made the announcement during a campaign stop in Montreal Friday morning.

In a statement, Carney said “protecting Canada’s identity is part of securing Canada” in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada.

“With this plan, we will protect a reliable Canadian public forum in a sea of misinformation, so we can tell our own stories in our own languages,” Carney said.

He said the plan would include more local bureaus and reporters to strengthen local news. The Liberals would also “equip” CBC to combat disinformation and promote Canadian culture, including “Québec’s unique culture which is at the heart of our national identity.”

They would also modify the CBC’s mandate to include “the clear and consistent transmission of life-saving information during emergencies.”

Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist

7:50 a.m. EDT: Liberals now 10 points ahead of Conservatives

The federal Liberals now have a 10-point advantage over the Conservatives on Day 13 of the federal election campaign, while Mark Carney has opened up a 20-point lead over Pierre Poilievre when it comes to Canadians’ preferences for prime minister.

A three-day rolling sample by Nanos Research ending April 3 has the Liberals at 46 per cent over the Conservatives at 36 per cent.

The New Democratic Party remains at nine per cent, followed by the Bloc Quebecois (5 per cent), Green Party of Canada (two per cent) and the People’s Party of Canada (one per cent).

“The Liberal advantage on the first tracking report was five percentage points and it is now 10 percentage points. This is in the wake of Liberal leader Mark Carney responding to the Trump ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcements,” said Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research and official pollster for CTV News and the Globe and Mail.

Read the full story here.

Phil Hahn, CTVNews.ca election editor-in-chief

On the trail: Packed Conservative rally sees several medical episodes

I’m Abigail Bimman following the Conservative campaign. I was inside the packed airplane hangar during one of Pierre Poilievre’s biggest rallies yet in Oshawa, Ont. Thursday night, where three people had some kind of medical trouble.

In the first case, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre referenced a “terrible medical emergency,” describing a man who collapsed but was helped by a nurse in the crowd. He brought that nurse onstage and thanked her, calling her a “great Canadian hero.”

About 25 minutes later while Poilievre was speaking, people in the crowd started yelling “doctor, doctor!”

This incident happened towards the back of the room and closer to where the media were held in a cordoned-off area, and I could see people trying to clear space around whoever was having trouble, but I couldn’t see what actually happened.

Poilievre eventually heard the calls and called for a medic on the microphone. He paused momentarily and then the rally continued.

The party said while the first case was more serious, two other people either got lightheaded or fainted. There is no update on any of their conditions.

It was very difficult to see what happened in any of these cases due to the crowd. The space was packed but not hot. The Conservative Party estimates more than 6,000 people were in attendance. Some of those people stood in line for hours to be among the first to get into the rally scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Abigail Bimman, CTV News national correspondent

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Meanwhile, here’s a recap of Day 12 of the campaign:

Leaders pitch tariff response plan

Carney, in his role as prime minister, announced that Canada would impose a 25 per cent tariff on non-Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) compliant vehicles imported from the U.S. to counter Trump’s auto levies. The tariff will also apply to non-Canadian and non-Mexican content of CUSMA-compliant vehicles.

READ MORE: Mark Carney says Canada to match vehicle tariffs in response to Trump levies

Poilievre promised to remove federal sales tax from Canadian-made vehicles and set up a fund to loan money to businesses impacted by the tariffs.

READ MORE: ‘We need to unite the country,’ Poilievre says after Manning warns of looming crisis

Singh pledged a tax-free “Victory Bonds” that would be available in five-year and 10-year terms and pay a compounding interest rate of 3.5 per cent.

READ MORE: Singh proposes Canada Victory Bonds to bolster the country in face of U.S. tariffs

Poilievre on candidate vetting

Despite dropping four candidates in two days, the Conservative leader stood by his party’s vetting process, claiming that it was “stronger than all other parties.”

Poilievre also defended the candidacy of Bryan Paterson in the Ontario riding of Kingston. Peterson has been criticized for former ties to a church that performed so-called “conversion therapy” to try to change someone’s sexual orientation. He later told CTV News that he was not currently a member of a church and does not support conversion therapy.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist. With files from CTVNews.ca election desk and The Canadian Press.