TORONTO – The campaign of the two main leaders running for the federal elections (the vote is April 28) moved to Ontario today.
Mark Carney, Prime Minister and Liberal leader, speaking in Hamilton and Brampton before returning to Ottawa to get back to work on tariffs (“the stakes for our economy have never been higher”, “we will respond with determination and strength” to the initiatives of US President Donald Trump), presented the Liberals’ plan to combat crime.
Among the items on the agenda are: a law that would automatically revoke the gun licenses of those convicted of violent crimes, particularly domestic violence; hiring 1,000 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers and training 1,000 CBSA (Canadian Police Commissioner) officers; increased funding for Public Prosecution Services Canada; toughening bail laws for violent and organized crime, home invasions, carjackings and human trafficking, especially for repeat offenders.
As for the rising tide of hate crimes, particularly anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, a future Carney government would introduce legislation to criminalize willfully obstructing access to any place of worship, school or community centre, and intimidating or threatening those who are conducting religious services there.
Also the Liberal leader, therefore, promises a crackdown on crime, as Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre did yesterday, announcing his plan “Three Strikes, You’re Out Law” that would severely limit bail and probation measures. Today, Poilievre was in Milton, Ontario (and then in Woolwich, where he was expected for a rally) to present another point of his plan for housing.
Poilievre promised to incentivize municipalities to reduce construction taxes. How? The intention is to reimburse 50% of every dollar of relief offered by a city. For example, if a municipality reduced construction costs by $50,000, the Poilievre government would pay $25,000. This follows his commitment to abolish the GST (goods and services tax) on new homes with a price tag of up to $1.3 million. The party claims that these measures combined could reduce property taxes by $100,000 for the average home in high-cost markets, such as the GTA or Lower Mainland Vancouver. The budget for this operation would be $1.5 billion.
So, the promises of leaders multiply day after day and the election campaign is still long: will they be able to keep them all?
Three hundred at Singh’s rally
SASKATOON – About 300 people – according to CTV – attended yesterday the rally for Jagmeet Singh, leader of the NDP, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where Singh arrived after his tour of British Columbia.
Reminding those present that the New Democratic Party was founded in Saskatchewan, Singh encouraged people to send as many NDP MPs as possible to Ottawa. The party’s hope, also in light of the dismal polls that see it close to its worst result ever, is to – at least – be able to capitalize on the success in the 2024 provincial elections in Saskatchewan, when it obtained 13 seats in the legislature, almost doubling the number of seats it had before the election.
Today, meanwhile, Singh received an endorsement from Stewart Phillip, head of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs since 1998.
In the pics, from top: Mark Carney during his speech today (screenshot: Twitter X – @MarkJCarney) and Pierre Poilievre in Brampton (photo: Twitter X – @PierrePoilievre)
