Canada’s Political Parties Gear Up Ahead of Expected Election Call
With a federal election expected to be called on Sunday, Canada’s political parties were out campaigning and making policy announcements in the preceding days.
The program was rolled out for seniors in December 2023, and has since expanded to include children and those with disabilities. Eligible Canadians can start to apply on May 1, with coverage beginning in June.
Also on March 22, the Liberals said they would continue to support indigenous children by extending funding of Jordan’s Principle into 2026.
In the previous days, Prime Minister Mark Carney made other announcements including getting rid of the consumer carbon tax and capital gains tax. He also committed to removing the federal barriers for internal trade and made new announcements for relief for workers and businesses in the face of tariffs, which includes waiving the waiting period for EI, and additional loans for indigenous groups.
He also announced a $6 billion purchase of Australian radar technology to boost security in the Arctic.
Conservatives Prepare
The Conservative Party has been rolling out its own policy promises prior to the election campaign.
“Let’s be clear, this cap is a cap on Canadian energy production. So as the US is going after our energy sector and Canadian markets more broadly, the Carney Liberals would like to cap Canadian energy production and block exports of our oil and gas to the world,” the Conservatives said.
It includes bringing back apprenticeship grants up to $4,000. The Conservatives said the Liberal Party will be cancelling the grants at the end of March.
The Conservatives said they will pay for training halls to get 350,000 young workers job-ready through the Union Training and Innovation Program. The party says it will also create a special class of “rapid EI payout” for tradespeople, and work with the provinces to develop standard health and safety regulations to allow those in the trades to work anywhere in Canada without additional retraining.
The Conservatives said they will pay for the measures by reducing the number of federal government employees.
Poilievre has also said he would scrap the industry carbon tax and the Impact Assessment Act, which requires federal environmental assessments on major infrastructure projects. He has also said he would speed up mining projects to increase Canada’s GDP.
NDP Gets Election Ready
While preparing for a possible election call, the NDP has criticized some moves by the Liberals and applauded others. They have also taken shots at the Conservatives, saying both the Liberals and the Tories are looking after the interest of the rich.
