The three main party leaders toured Ontario and Western Canada as the campaign entered the final weekend before the election.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney started his day in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where he highlighted his party’s promises to fight U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs – but declined to provide further details on his phone conversation with Trump, in which the president raised the idea of Canada becoming the “51st state.”
He later spoke before a sizeable crowd in London.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in Ontario as well, beginning his day in Toronto, where he laid out his priorities for the first budget. He also cast doubt on whether a Carney government would ever enact electoral reform, telling the crowd, “Never trust a Liberal.”
Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre kicked off his Friday campaign in Saskatoon, Sask., pledging that if he forms government, he would keep Parliament open all summer long until three key promises become law.
He then attended a rally in Calgary before heading back to battleground B.C.
Here’s a recap of Day 34 of the campaign. All times EDT.
8:13 p.m.: Big turnout for Carney rally in London
“Don’t pull the goalie! I’m the goalie” - Mark Carney responds to supporters in London, ON after using the hockey analogy that they’re in the dying minutes of the game (election race)#elxn45 #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/JwyFuJSGwN
— Mike Le Couteur (@mikelecouteur) April 26, 2025
A sizable crowd showed up for Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s rally in London, Ont., Friday evening, where he urged supporters not to take anything for granted.
“There are only three days left in this campaign,” Carney told attendees at Fanshawe College. “To use a hockey analogy, there are three minutes left in the third period of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals – it is time to leave everything on the ice.”
When someone called out “Pull the goalie!” the Liberal leader replied, “Don’t pull the goalie! I’m the goalie!”
Liberal staff said there were upwards of 1,200 people at the event, organized in the London-Fanshawe riding that’s been held by the NDP since 2006.
Carney also took several potshots at Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre’s record and priorities.
“He’s that type of lifelong politician that worships at the altar of the free market, despite never actually having to work in the private sector,” Carney said.
“He’s got his plastic straw thing, I’ll give him that,” he later quipped.
Andrew Weichel, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
6:34 p.m.: ‘Pierre is not winning,’ Singh says in push for NDP votes
Heading into the final weekend of the 2025 election campaign, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh once again urged party supporters against casting a strategic vote for the Liberals.
“I get it, you’re worried about Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives,” Singh told a crowd in London, Ont., Friday evening. “We are, too. We don’t want them in. Here’s the good news: Pierre Is not winning this thing.”
Singh raised Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s promise to cut $28 billion in undefined “wasteful” spending, arguing a strong NDP showing in Parliament is the best hope of protecting services Canadians rely on.
“If the Conservatives are the only ones in opposition, then you’re going to have the worst of Carney and the worst of the Conservatives,” he said.
Without the NDP, Canadians would not have the Canadian Dental Care Plan or universal health-care as a whole, Singh said.
“Pensions, old age security, employment insurance – each one of these things happened when the New Democrats had power and forced the government to deliver,” he said.
Andrew Weichel, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
3:15 p.m.: Behind in polls, Poilievre again raises spectre of carbon tax
With little time remaining before Canadians head to the polls, Pierre Poilievre returned to a familiar line of attack Friday – once again raising the spectre of the consumer carbon tax.
“The Liberal carbon tax has crippled us over the last several years,” the Conservative leader told a rally in the Calgary McKnight riding. “We know they’ll put it back at the pumps the day after the next election if, God forbid, they get a fourth term.”
Days before the vote, the latest Nanos Research polling continues to show the Conservatives trailing the Liberals everywhere except the Prairies and British Columbia.
Before Liberal Leader Mark Carney cancelled the consumer carbon tax last month in his first act as prime minister, Poilievre had hammered the government on the levy for years, even calling for a “carbon tax election.”
Currently, the tax has only been halted by prime ministerial directive, though the Liberal platform promises to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to repeal it permanently on “day one.”
Poilievre also reiterated the Conservatives’ promise to remove industrial carbon pricing, which remains in place for large-scale polluters.
“Conservatives will axe the entire carbon tax, for everyone, for real, for a change,” he said.
Carney was asked about carbon pricing during a campaign event at the Algoma Steel plant in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, and whether some companies could be exempted, particularly if they are pursuing greener technologies.
The Liberal leader did not provide a direct answer, but said there is “a value to that industrial carbon tax, and the predictability of that tax,” and that it encourages companies to undergo those green transformations.
Andrew Weichel, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
Blanchet says Canada ‘an artificial country’
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet issued a scathing assessment Friday of Canada as a country, and Quebec’s place in it as he made his case to Quebecers that only he would protect their interests.
“We are, whether we like it or not, part of an artificial country with very little meaning, called Canada,” Blanchet said in English during a campaign stop in Shawinigan, Que.
He made the comment in response to a question about previous remarks he made referring to the House of Commons as a “foreign parliament” that he sits in.
“It’s a foreign parliament because this nation is not mine,” Blanchet explained. “I don’t feel more at ease in the Canadian Parliament than (Alberta Premier Danielle) Smith would feel at ease in the National Assembly of Quebec.”
Read the full story here.
Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
12:57 p.m.: Poilievre on dealing with Trump tariffs
Asked how he plans to deal with Trump differently than his rivals, Poilievre trumpeted his party’s platform of tax cuts, building pipelines and other measures that he said would make Canada self-reliant.
He also vowed to call the U.S. president and tell him to end his “damaging and unjustified tariffs.” Poilievre added that he would also ask Trump to accelerate negotiations for a new trade and security deal.
“Well, we need to take direct action to end the tariff chaos with a position of strength. Not by spreading lies to exaggerate as Mr. Carney has done, but rather by becoming more self-reliant, strong, and sovereign, so we can stand on our own two feet for a change,” Poilievre said.
The Conservative leader was referring to Carney’s exclusion of the fact that Trump made the 51st state remark during their call last month. The Liberal leader only told reporters following the call that Trump respected Canada’s sovereignty.
At the beginning of his remarks, Poilievre said that after Carney was caught lying, “We cannot trust anything he says.”
“If he’s lying about that, you can be sure he’s lying about inflation, lying about Liberal tax increases, lying about the Liberal housing crisis,” he said.
Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist. With files from Joshua Freeman
11:52 a.m.: Poilievre vows to keep Parliament open this summer until 3 laws passed
Pierre Poilievre has some bad news for incoming MPs: “Your summer vacation is cancelled.”
The Conservative leader, during a campaign stop in Saskatoon, vowed that if he is elected prime minister, he would keep Parliament open all summer long until MPs passed the following:
- Affordability for a Change Act
- Safe Streets for a Change Act
- Bring Home Our Jobs for a Change Act
All three are part of Poilievre’s campaign platform, which you can read more here.
“Until these laws are passed, Parliament will not shut down for summer vacation. We need a change. Change can’t wait, but politicians’ vacations will have to wait,” Poilievre said.
Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
11:46 a.m.: ‘Never trust a Liberal,’ Singh says
When asked to respond to Carney’s comments about electoral reform, Singh said, “Never trust a Liberal,” garnering applause from NDP supporters in a downtown Toronto convention.
“The only way, the only way and proven by our history, Liberals do the right thing are when New Democrats force them to do it,” he said.
Earlier, Carney was asked about electoral reform missing from the Liberal platform and whether he would make the same commitment as his predecessor to end the first-past-the-post system.
The Liberal leader said the issue of electoral reform could be addressed once the economic crisis is abated.
“So, there may be a point where we’ve advanced on other immediate pressing priorities, particularly the crisis; that’s our intention that those more structural issues in our democracy can be addressed,” Carney said.
The Liberal leader offered his personal views on the issue, which was that a prime minister should be “neutral” on the issue of electoral reform, so that “if a process is developed, that they are objective and not be seen to tip the scales in one direction or another.”
While electoral reform is not one of his priorities for the first budget, Singh said the issue is important for his party.
“We believe in democracy, and it’s about giving people the power to see their vote,” the NDP leader said.
“I want to see not just any old electoral reform, I want to see proportional representation where your vote is reflected directly in Parliament.”
Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
Carney won’t give more details on 51st state conversation
Liberal Leader Mark Carney declined to elaborate on his conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, a day after a key omission came to light.
Carney confirmed Thursday, following a report from Radio-Canada, that Trump had raised the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state when the two men spoke on March 28.
Carney had previously said that Trump respected Canada’s sovereignty during the call, but news of the omission this week raised questions about the actual substance of the conversation, especially since Carney has staked his campaign on being the best person to navigate Trump’s threats.
At a campaign stop in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Friday, a reporter asked Carney to reveal exactly what was said when Trump pressed his 51st state idea.
“It’s not right to provide all the details of such a conversation,” Carney said in French.
Read the full story here.
Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
11:17 a.m.: Bloc a ‘useless party’: Singh
Asked why the NDP deserves to hold the balance of power in a minority government over the Bloc Québécois, Singh says it’s because the Bloc is a “useless party.”
“They had the past three years of a minority government and literally did this much for people,” Singh said, holding up his hand to show a zero sign.
“Nothing, they can point to nothing that they achieved in a minority government where they had the balance of power, they couldn’t negotiate anything, they couldn’t enforce anything, they got nothing done for you and your families,” Singh said before touting what his party achieved through the NDP-Liberal supply-and-confidence agreement, which includes pharmacare and dental care.
He repeated his answer in French, pointing out that while his party had one MP in Quebec compared to the Bloc’s 30, the NDP did more for the province than Blanchet’s party. Singh then vowed to defend the interests of Quebec residents.
Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
10:50 a.m.: Singh stands by not helping trigger earlier election
Today, in my final media availability on the NDP campaign trail, I asked NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh if he still stood by his decision not to help trigger this election earlier, and he said, “Absolutely.”
“And I can tell you why,” Singh went on. He said there were two major reasons why. One of them was wanting more time to ensure programs such as the first phase of pharmacare and dental care could be rolled out so that the Canadians who needed them could receive those benefits.
The other reason is he “could not stomach the idea of Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives forming a majority government.”
“I knew that was going to be bad because of their cuts, because of the division… And I did not want to let that happen.”
Then, I asked him to respond to questions about the vibes on the NDP bus and how he’s choosing to dance through an arguably challenging campaign, and Singh got emotional in his response.
He spoke about choosing to be joyful through struggles, and how he’s gone through hard times in his life and how he relates to the idea of needing to find joy in the tough times.
Attendees then rose and applauded, and you could tell the NDP leader was moved.
Asked later in the Q&A what was behind that emotion, Singh said he felt the connection with people and he was thinking about how, in this election, people may be voting “to avoid a bad thing from happening, and I get that, but I want people to vote for something better.”
Rachel Aiello, CTV News national correspondent
10:08 a.m.: Singh vows to stop health care cuts in first budget
Singh is back in Toronto to start the final weekend of the election campaign. He is attending the OPSEU Convention.
The NDP leader, who, in the latter half of the campaign, has focused his message on getting as many New Democrats elected, pledged today that he would stop Mark Carney and the Liberals from cutting any health care and social programs in their first budget if they form government.
“We’ve seen this before—when the Liberals start talking about discipline, it means deep cuts to the services families count on,” said Singh. “New Democrats won’t let them balance the books on the backs of working people. We’ll be there to hold the line.”
He reiterated that New Democrats would make public health care a priority in the first budget.
The NDP has remained a distant third from the Liberals and Conservatives throughout this election campaign. Public opinion polls also suggest that the New Democrats could lose official party status after election day.
Singh is expected to campaign in Hamilton, Ont. this afternoon and meet with local supporters in London, Ont. this evening.
Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
9:57 a.m.: Carney has not looked directly at federal luxury tax
Carney on Friday said he had not looked directly at a federal 10 per cent tax on business jets made by plane maker Bombardier and other luxury goods.
“In the grand scheme of things it is not ... that important,” he told reporters during an election campaign event in the Ontario town of Sault Ste. Marie.
Reuters
9:28 a.m.: Carney in Sault, Ste. Marie as Liberal incumbent in tight race
Carney is in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where Liberal incumbent Terry Sheehan is in a three-way battle.
Sheehan narrowly won the 2021 election by less than 300 votes over the Conservatives.
The Liberal Party told pool reporters that it believes Sheehan can keep the riding. The party added that it is working hard and keeping nothing to chance in close races.
Sheehan introduced Carney during his campaign stop at Algoma Steel, which has been directly affected by U.S. tariffs.
The Liberal leader touted his plan to protect the community’s steel and forestry industries directly affected by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
He reiterated previously announced commitments, saying a Liberal government would maximize Canadian steel, aluminum, and critical minerals to construct nation-building projects, create high-paying jobs, build an all-in-Canada auto manufacturing network, and prioritize Canadian contractors in defence procurement.
Carney has centred his campaign on fighting U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
On the trail: What Poilievre’s visit to Sask. stronghold may reveal
‘With just four days left before voters head to the polls, Pierre Poilievre made his first campaign visit to Saskatchewan in a province wrapped in Conservative blue.
On Thursday evening Poilievre basked in the applause of hundreds of supporters who crowded into a warehouse in Saskatoon to hear him give his stump speech. Poilievre opened with new material after Liberal Leader Mark Carney acknowledged earlier in the day that President Donald Trump had brought up the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state in their first call in March.
“Is there a firefighter in the house?” Poilievre asked, scanning the room before delivering the punchline with a huge grin. “There’s an emergency - Mark Carney’s pants are on fire again.”
Carney told the “whopper,” Poilievre said, because he wanted to “distract from the lost Liberal decade of rising costs and crime to trick Canadians into electing Liberals for a fourth disastrous term.”
Poilievre’s flow was interrupted by three protesters waving an American flag calling for Canada to become the 51st state.
“Get them outta here,” Poilievre urged as the hecklers were escorted out to a chorus of boos. Five minutes later, the shouts of a lone pro-Palestinian activist were overtaken by the chant “we want change” led by the Conservative leader himself.
Judy Trinh, CTV News national correspondent
8:09 a.m.: Poilievre’s riding sees highest voter turnout during advance polls
The Ottawa riding with one of the longest ballots in history had the highest voter turnout across Canada in advance polls, according to Elections Canada.
Preliminary data shows 43,394 people voted in the riding of Carleton during the four days of advance polls over the Easter weekend.
There are 91 candidates on the ballot in the riding of Carleton, after the Longest Ballot Committee targeted the Ottawa riding. Eighty-five of the candidates registered to run in Carleton are associated with the electoral reform group ‘The Longest Ballot Committee’ and all have the same official agent – Tomas Szuchewycz.
The Longest Ballot Committee protests Canada’s first-past-the-post system. On its Bluesky account, the group says it is “having fun breaking records while pointing out that politicians shouldn’t be in charge of their own ethics and election rules.”
The Carleton ballot includes Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has held the riding since 2004. The Liberal Party candidate is Bruce Fanjoy and the NDP candidate is Beth Prokaska.
Josh Pringle, CTV News Ottawa Producer and Digital Lead
Liberals lead by 5 points over Conservatives
The Liberals have a five-point advantage over the Conservatives on Day 34 of the 36-day federal election campaign.
A three-day rolling sample by Nanos Research conducted on April 22-24 has the Liberals at 43 per cent over the Conservatives, who are at 38 per cent nationally.
The New Democratic Party is at eight per cent, followed by the Bloc Quebecois (six per cent), Green Party of Canada (three per cent) and the People’s Party of Canada (one per cent).
It’s a “nation divided between East and West,” said Nik Nanos, official pollster for CTV News and the Globe and Mail.
Liberals are ahead in the Atlantic, Ontario and Quebec while Conservatives remain dominant in the Prairies. B.C., meanwhile, is a “toss up,” said Nanos.
When it comes to whom Canadians prefer as prime minister, Liberal Leader Mark Carney has an 11-point advantage, with 46 per cent choosing him over Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who is at 35 per cent. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh remains a distant third at five per cent.
Read the full story here.
Phil Hahn, CTVNews.ca election editor-in-chief
Poll finds immigrants more likely to favour Liberals
A new Nanos Research survey has found people who immigrated to Canada – or are within two generations of family members who did – are more likely to support the Liberals than the Conservatives.
But the poll, conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail, found support for the two parties almost evenly split among respondents with little or no direct connection to immigration, meaning those whose entire families have been Canada-born for at least three generations.
Andrew Weichel, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist
