Poilievre ‘will not stop talking’ about Canadian issues, despite drop in polling
Speaking Friday during a campaign stop in St. Catharines, Ont., Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was asked about recent comments by conservative strategist Kory Teneycke, who said Poilievre is committing ‘campaign malpractice’ by ‘blowing a 25-point lead’ in the polls since the start of the election.
The Latest
Prime Minister Mark Carney met with the cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations today. He just spoke briefly to media.Earlier, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre re-upped his party’s economic platform in St. Catharines, Ont..He sidestepped questions about criticisms of his campaign by Conservative insiders and about why he’s limiting media access during the election.NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is currently speaking to media ahead of an appearance at an Ottawa summit hosted by progressive think-tank the Broadbent Institute.Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is in the Montreal neighbourhood of Verdun, where he called for a minister dedicated to border security.Updates
April 11
2 minutes ago
Singh says it’s best ‘one party doesn’t have all the power’
Jenna Benchetrit
Jagmeet Singh adapts his message to keep NDP relevant
The NDP is fighting for every single vote in this election campaign, forcing party leader Jagmeet Singh to adjust his message in order to remain relevant to Canadians. He’s stopped saying he’s running for prime minister and instead says he wants more NDP MPs elected.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is urging Canadians to send more New Democrats to Ottawa to hold the future government to account. In recent days, he’s stopped saying that he’s running for prime minister.
“Because people voted for us, we were able to hold the government to account,” Singh told reporters today in Ottawa. He pointed to instances when the NDP pushed for the minority Liberal government to proceed with social programs like dental care and pharmacare.
“In all of this, I think Canadians know it’s best [when] one party doesn’t have all the power,” he said.
Singh was also asked if the election is over, and if he’s conceding that the Liberals will win. According to CBC’s aggregated Poll Tracker, the NDP appears to be on track to lose most of its seats and the Liberal Party is poised to win a majority government.
Singh didn’t answer, nor did he say whether he’ll stay on as NDP leader.
“I think campaigns matter,” he said. “I want Canadians to know that your vote does matter.”
37 minutes ago
‘Our core strategy is to fight’
Holly Cabrera
Carney returns to Ottawa to discuss U.S. tariffs, financial markets with cabinet
Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking on Friday from Parliament Hill following a meeting with the cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations and national security, says the developments on the U.S. tariff policy this week, Chinese retaliation, and the financial markets were discussed at the meeting.
Carney said members of the Canada-U.S. relations cabinet committee had a “good long discussion” on reactions from other countries to U.S. tariff policy. They also discussed initial signs of slowing in the global economy and impacts on the Canadian economy.
“We reviewed our response to those [U.S.] tariffs. Our core strategy is to fight, to protect and to build,” Carney said during his brief remarks to media.
“We left instructions for officials to ensure that the next government, whichever government Canadians choose, will be in the best position for negotiations with the United States, which [U.S. President Donald Trump] and I have agreed will be from the start of May.”
45 minutes ago
Carney says tariffs already impacting Canadian economy
Jenna Benchetrit
Mark Carney, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump. (Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press/Associated Press)The prime minister, who is off the campaign trail today, just spoke after the meeting of his cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations and national security.
He told reporters that tariffs are already having an impact on the Canadian economy. We’ll have more to say on his remarks shortly.
Carney, who left the campaign trail to convene the cabinet committee meeting, didn’t take any questions from media. It’s the third time he has stopped campaigning to return to Parliament Hill.
59 minutes ago
Blanchet calls for border minister
Holly Cabrera
Blanchet speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 25, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet wants the federal government to create a border minister to oversee security.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) currently reports to the minister of public safety and emergency preparedness.
Speaking in Montreal, Blanchet said that a federal minister specifically dedicated to border control would improve accountability.
He also took aim at former immigration minister Marc Miller.
“There are many ministers whose only answer to Parliament is that [the CBSA is] an agency, it’s independent,” Blanchet said in French.
Blanchet said a new border minister would make someone “personally responsible” if they don’t do their job properly.
1 hour ago
What’s on today’s cabinet committee meeting agenda
Holly Cabrera
Today’s meeting of the cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations and national security will focus on Chinese retaliation, financial markets and the Quebec border, sources told CBC News.
Border officials said earlier this week that there has been a steady increase since the start of the year in the number of people seeking asylum at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle — a border crossing south of Montreal.
Asylum claims at that point of entry reached a high of 1,356 applications in March. For April, there were 557 claims as of Saturday.
The increase comes amid concerns that Trump administration policies could lead to a rush of crossings into Canada. It coincides with the looming expiration of the temporary status of hundreds of thousands of migrants in the United States.
2 hours ago
Today’s poll tracker update
Jenna Benchetrit
The CBC Poll Tracker’s seat projections as of April 11, 2025. (CBC)Here are the latest polling numbers from CBC’s aggregated Poll Tracker, which is managed by TheWrit.ca’s Éric Grenier.
Here’s what Grenier had to say about the provincial breakdown:
“The Liberals are very comfortably leading in Quebec and Atlantic Canada and have opened up a wide lead over the Conservatives in Ontario. They are also narrowly ahead in British Columbia. The Conservatives lead in Alberta and the Prairies,” he wrote.
“The NDP’s strongest support is in B.C. and the Prairies, but even there the party is poised to suffer significant losses. The Bloc and Conservatives are fighting for second place in Quebec.”
2 hours ago
First-time voter attended rallies for both Poilievre and Carney
Marina von Stackelberg
First-time voter attends both Carney and Poilievre rallies
Amour Baza will turn 18 just in time to vote in the federal election. Baza speaks to the CBC’s Marina Von Stackelberg about attending both Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre’s rallies. Baza says he is still deciding who he will vote for.
I’m one of the reporters covering the Conservative campaign. I’ve been to Pierre Poilievre’s rallies all week — in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.
Many of the people I spoke to at the rallies were Conservative supporters before coming.
But last night, I met 17-year-old Amour Baza, who will turn 18 just in time to vote in the federal election.
Get this: yesterday, he went to both the Poilievre rally in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., and the Mark Carney rally earlier in Hamilton.
He told me he hasn’t made his mind up yet about who he wants to vote for, but he wanted to make an informed vote — so he decided he would go hear directly from both leaders.
Baza said he’s excited to be part of the democratic process and wants to encourage other young people to do their research before casting their ballot.
In the video above, you can hear some of our conversation after the Conservative rally last night.
2 hours ago
That sounds familiar…
Michael Woods
Former prime minister Stephen Harper, right, and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre raise hands at a rally during a campaign stop in Edmonton on Monday April 7, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)If Poilievre’s announcement today of a “Canada First Economic Action Plan” sounds familiar, that’s because it hearkens back to the last time the Conservatives were in power.
The Stephen Harper government’s Economic Action Plan was its response to the 2008 financial crisis. Starting in January 2009, the government pumped stimulus into the economy by funding infrastructure projects. You might remember the ads promoting the plan and signs popping up across the country.
Harper endorsed Poilievre at a rally earlier this week just south of Edmonton.
As my colleagues have noted here, today’s announcement doesn’t include new items. It’s a combination of many of the party’s economic planks that the party says will boost Canada’s economic activity by a half-trillion dollars over the next five years.
2 hours ago
Poilievre asked about campaign criticism
Michael Woods
Conservative campaign is ‘a mess,’ party insiders say
More than half a dozen Conservative sources who spoke to CBC News described a campaign that is ‘highly disorganized’ and ‘a mess’ that is failing to meet the moment. But large crowds continue to show up at events supporting Pierre Poilievre. ”
Good morning. I’m a senior producer with the Parliamentary bureau’s digital team.
The Conservative campaign has come under considerable fire from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s campaign manager, Kory Teneycke, who renewed his criticisms yesterday, calling the party’s lost lead in the polls “campaign malpractice at the highest level.”
Poilievre was asked about this today and brushed off the question.
“No, I answered that question two weeks ago,” he said, adding that “Liberals and lobbyists” want him to stop talking about high food prices, doubling housing costs, the opioid crisis and “the lost Liberal decade.”
“We can’t afford a fourth Liberal term. We need a change.”
As of today, CBC’s Poll Tracker shows the Conservatives trail the Liberals by more than six points nationally — a dramatic reversal from the 20-point lead they held just a few months ago.
2 hours ago
No laws ‘restricting’ abortion access, says Poilievre
Jenna Benchetrit
The Conservative leader fielded a question about Bas Sluijmers, a local Conservative candidate in St. Catharines, who was part of an anti-abortion campaign. Sluijmers had talked about an exhibit that compared unborn fetuses to victims of genocide, such as the Holocaust.
Poilievre was asked if he would tolerate a private member’s bill against abortion being put forward by a member in the House of Commons.
Poilievre said he can guarantee all Canadians that there are “no laws restricting abortion passed while I’m prime minister.”
He said that has been the position of the party for more than 20 years, one that was “adopted by our members and upheld at all our subsequent conventions.”
“It will also be reiterated explicitly in my election platform,” he said. But he didn’t answer whether he would allow a private member’s bill to be put forward on the matter.
