Carney returning to Ottawa after Trump announces auto tariff

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff and annexation threats are top of Canadians’ minds this election, and on Day 4 of the campaign, the issue took centre stage after a 25 per cent tariff on cars and light vehicles not made in America was announced.

The party leaders were preparing for their respective evening rallies when Trump announced the tariff and were quick to respond, calling it “unjustified” and a “direct attack” on Canada’s auto industry.

The U.S. president’s latest move prompted Liberal Leader Mark Carney to cancel his Thursday campaign event in Quebec and instead, return to Ottawa for a meeting with his Canada-U.S. Relations council.

Here’s a recap of how Day 4 of the federal election campaign unfolded:

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On the campaign trail: Singh backed by union reps talk tariffs

Rounding out his day on the trail, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh held a whistle stop at the London North Centre campaign office of candidate Dirka Proust.

There he was backed by members of Unifor and the United Steel Workers, and he and his candidate for London West, Shinade Allder, who is also the president of Unifor Local 6005 addressed the day’s tariff developments head-on.

“We all heard the news announcement today about the tariffs, and many, many of the members that I represent at Unifor are auto workers... and they will be directly affected by Trump’s threat,” Allder said.

“These thousands of families are going to face the reality of not being able to pay their bills or put groceries in their fridge all because of the reckless threats of Donald Trump. This election is about who is going to stand up and fight for working- and middle-class families, right?” she said.

Singh then reiterated his earlier remarks and added: “We’re up against a real, serious threat right now.

“We’re going to fight back and defend those jobs. We’re going to fight back,” Singh said, to cheers.

Rachel Aiello, CTV News national correspondent

7:35 p.m. EDT: Poilievre says Canada must retaliate

Before speaking to his supporters at a rally in Quebec City, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre condemned Trump’s actions, calling the tariffs “unjustified” and “unprovoked.”

“These tariffs will damage his workers and his economy, just as they will damage ours,” the Conservative leader said.“We must retaliate and target goods and services that we don’t need, can buy elsewhere, or make ourselves to maximize the impact on the Americans while minimizing the impact on ourselves.”

Trump has said the 25 per cent tariff on auto imports will be “permanent.”

READ MORE: Trump announces 25 per cent tariff on all auto imports to the U.S.

During his remarks, the Conservative leader also addressed auto workers, saying, “Canada will be there for you” as they face uncertainty due to the tariffs.“You’re afraid right now. You’re anxious. You wonder how you’re going to pay your mortgage or put food on the table,” Poilievre said.

“We will ensure that you have income replacement to put food on the table and money in your bank account. We’ll make sure that businesses directly affected will have the liquidity they need to get through this dispute, and we will unite as Canadians to protect our affected sectors.”

He went on to outline what a Conservative government would do to respond, including a “bring it home” tax cut.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist

On the trail: Carney cancels Quebec campaign, returning to Ottawa in wake of Trump auto tariff

News of Trump’s tariffs on cars and light trucks broke as Liberal Leader Mark Carney was meeting with Unifor President Lana Payne in Kitchener, Ont.

In a hastily arranged news conference, Carney said it was an appropriate time to speak with the U.S. president about the tariffs. Earlier this week, he revealed that he hasn’t talked to Trump since he was sworn in as prime minister on March 14.

“I’m sure that will happen soon. I’m not going to give you a precise timing on that,” the Liberal leader said.

Carney spoke from behind a lectern that was constructed just moments before he walked into the cramped space.

Even in “caretaker mode,” Carney said the government had anticipated the possibility of more U.S. tariffs. and put in place mechanisms to respond.

Carney was to travel to Quebec City for the next leg of his campaign, but that was cancelled after he spoke with reporters on Wednesday evening.

He will return to Ottawa and call a meeting of his cabinet council on U.S.-Canada relations to discuss next steps.

Canada has already put in place retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods and has developed a plan to hit back with counter tariffs on another $95 billion in American products.

Judy Trinh, CTV News national correspondent

6:20 p.m. EDT: Singh calls Trump tariffs a ‘direct attack’

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat targeting the auto sector a “direct attack.”

In a brief scrum before heading to his next campaign event in London, Ont., Singh expressed concern over potential Canadian job losses and criticized Liberal Leader Mark Carney for not implementing more protections for workers before calling the election.

“I grew up in Windsor. Windsor is the automotive capital of this country. I knew what it was like when workers lost their jobs during the ups and downs of the economy. Right now, what Trump has done is a full-frontal attack on auto workers,” Singh said.

“This is a direct attack on our workers, and we’ve got to fight back like hell.”

Singh then faced a series of questions about whether he missed the mark on Wednesday by not meeting with affected workers while he’s been in southwestern Ontario, and if he would change his itinerary tomorrow in light of the news, but he did not directly answer.

Rachel Aiello, CTV News national correspondent

6:23 p.m. EDT: Carney responds to U.S. auto tariffs

Liberal Leader Mark Carney says Trump’s 25 per cent auto tariff is a “direct attack” on Canada’s auto industry.

“We will defend our workers. We will defend our companies,” Carney said. “This will hurt us but through this period by being together, we will emerge stronger.”

Carney says he is waiting to see the details of the executive order and he will convene the Canada-U.S. cabinet tomorrow to discuss trade options.

Carney made the comment while campaigning in Kitchener, Ont. This morning in Windsor, Ont., he promised to create a $2-billion fund to support the auto sector if the Liberals form government.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist

5:52 p.m. EDT: Ontario premier speaks with Carney on U.S. auto tariffs

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he has spoken to Mark Carney following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on foreign-made cars and light trucks.

“We agree Canada needs to stand firm, strong and united. I fully support the federal government preparing retaliatory tariffs to show that we’ll never back down,” Ford said in a post on X.

Trump unveiled the auto tariff during a news conference in the Oval Office late Wednesday afternoon.

“What we’re going to be doing is a 25 per cent tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States,” Trump said. “We start off with a 2.5 per cent base, which is what we’re at, and go to 25 per cent.”

Ford says the tariffs on cars and light trucks will increase the costs for American families. “U.S. markets are already on the decline as the president causes more chaos and uncertainty. He’s putting American jobs at risk,” he said.

MORE: Doug Ford says he supports retaliatory tariffs in light of Trump’s 25 per cent auto levy

Earlier on Wednesday, Carney was in Windsor, Ont., the automotive manufacturing capital of Canada, and announced that he would create a $2 billion fund to support the sector if the Liberals form government.

Other party leaders are expected to respond to Trump’s auto tariffs.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist, with files from Reuters

Carney on defence over using Bermuda ‘tax havens’

Carney was pressed by other candidates and reporters on his previous job with Brookfield Asset Management.

Carney co-chaired two investment funds – worth $25 billion -- while at Brookfield. The funds were dedicated to the transition to a net-zero carbon economy.

According to information obtained by Radio-Canada, those funds were registered in Bermuda, among other locations, and allegedly allowed investors to benefit from tax advantages.

When asked by a reporter whether it was “ethical” for the funds to be registered in a well-known tax haven, Carney responded that it allowed “an efficiency of a structure” that essentially allowed them to avoid double taxation.

He denied the funds were registered in Bermuda in order to avoid taxes, adding that the funds helped millions of Canadians whose pensions were invested in them.

Poilievre slammed Carney in a post on X this morning, accusing the Liberal leader of hiding his corporate assets in Bermuda in order “to dodge taxes that Liberals force on Canadians.”

Meanwhile, at a campaign stop today in Hamilton, Ont., Singh also accused Carney of registering the two Brookfield funds “for the sole reason of avoiding paying taxes.”

Read the full story here.

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

2:20 p.m. EDT: Poilievre repeats that Trump should ‘knock it off’ with tariff threats

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would retaliate against any new U.S. tariffs if he were prime minister.

“As for President Trump, my message to him again is; knock it off. These tariffs are simply causing chaos in markets. They’re dislocating workers on both sides of the border. Stop threatening Canada with tariffs. Stop talking about our sovereignty,” Poilievre said.

He made the comment during a campaign stop in Montmagny, Que. Wednesday after a reporter asked him about news that U.S. President Donald Trump will unveil more tariffs on the auto sector later this afternoon.

“We, our two countries, have been two wonderful friends over centuries. It is better to build on that Canada-U.S. friendship as two separate and sovereign countries, and if the President does hit us with more tariffs, we will retaliate,” Poilievre said.

Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election journalist

Trump comments could be ‘poison pill’ for candidates: intelligence expert

‘A security expert is warning that while election meddling and foreign interference are a concern in the Canadian election, candidates and voters may also be influenced in another way by some of the rhetoric coming from south of the border.

Wesley Wark, an intelligence expert and senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, told CTV’s Your Morning that Canadian officials are typically on the lookout for foreign actors who are trying to sway officials and voters for their benefit.

“So the general idea is to try and get at political actors, but also to get at those who are voting or who may be influential in their communities, particularly in diaspora communities,” Wark said. “This is a particular target, of course, to states like China, India and, to I think a much lesser extent, Russia.”

While foreign state actors have been known to try and meddle in Canadian elections, Wark said Canadians are also having to grapple with an unprecedented level of rhetoric about Canada coming from officials south of the border.

“I think what we can certainly expect to see, going throughout the election period, is statements from the White House, from the President, from Trump advisors, from Elon Musk, you know, expressing their views about how Canadians should vote,” Wark said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently said that he thinks Canada should be the 51st state instead of a separate country and has said he would use economic force to try make that happen. While Wark said comments from Trump and his associates “could be a real bombardment” at some point in the campaign, he noted they are not what the intelligence community thinks of as disinformation.

“It’s not really foreign interference in the sense that it has no real deceptive or clandestine or necessarily even threatening dimension to it. Those are the essential kind of definitions, actually, in the CSIS Act and the criminal code and so on.”

However, Wark cautioned that any positive comments toward one candidate or another from Trump and his associates could be “a kind of poison pill” for that candidate given the charged atmosphere around the trade war.

So far in the campaign, the candidates have each tried to position themselves as the person who can stand up to Trump, while casting their adversaries as weak and preferred by the U.S. president. A federal government panel on Monday said they would be keeping an eye out for disinformation and foreign interference on multiple fronts.

Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election writer

On the trail: Carney highlights how he’s different from Trudeau

Liberal Leader Mark Carney announced his new auto manufacturing policy at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge -- literally the frontline in Canada’s trade war against the tariffs launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The span connects Windsor to Detroit and, in February 2002, access to the bridge was blocked by a week-long protest during the Freedom Convoy. The blockade was organized by people angry about the former Trudeau government’s COVID policies and the impact to their livelihoods.

The protesters effectively shut down the Ambassador Bridge, impeding the flow of approximately $400 million a day in goods between the two countries. Carney was asked by CTV News what he would say to those Canadians who lost trust in the Liberals back then and who don’t trust him now because of his connections to the former government of Justin Trudeau.

Carney responded that he didn’t become a politician until he ran for the leadership of the party two-and-a-half months ago.He made a point of showing how he has differentiated himself from Trudeau since he took over the helm.

“We needed big change in the economy. We needed big change in how we supported people. We needed big change to deal with Trump, and I think you’ve seen that in the short time that my government has been in place that big change,” said Carney. “We cancelled the consumer carbon tax, we got rid of the capital gains tax, we put in place a series of protections for workers with respect to the Trump tariffs.”

Carney said he wants to earn back that trust.“We understand the frustrations with respect to the cost of living. Part of the way you earn trust is by action- and what this government is all about is action.”

Judy Trinh, CTV News national correspondent

On the trail: NDP campaign releases new ads

Rachel Aiello here again on the NDP tour bus. The party has just shared two new advertisements featuring Leader Jagmeet Singh.

In one, called “Revolving Door,” the ad shows two men in suits walking around and around a revolving door, not allowing other people to get through, as the voice over talks about how the Liberals and Conservatives “have been trading power in Ottawa.” It then shows Singh opening an adjacent door to let those folks enter, as the voiceover states: “stop the revolving door, vote NDP.”

The second, called “Cozying Up,” is in black and white and shows an opulent party scene with a chandelier champagne tower, as the voice talks about Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre getting “cozy” with grocery CEOs and billionaires, and how with him, “you’ll pay the price.”

Rachel Aiello, CTV News national correspondent

12:12 p.m. EDT: Carney says China does not share Canada’s values on trade

China does not share Canadian values when it comes to trade and Canada needs to be very careful about boosting bilateral commercial ties, Liberal Leader Mark Carney said on Wednesday.

Carney made his remarks at a time when Canadian ties with China are poor. Both nations have imposed tariffs on each other’s products.

In recent interviews with domestic media, China’s ambassador to Ottawa has discussed boosting ties and raised the prospect of talks on a possible free trade deal.

“There are partners in Asia that we can build deeper ties (with) ... but the partners in Asia that share our values don’t include China,” Carney said in a press conference when asked about the envoy’s comments about boosting trade.

“There’s certain activity that we could have with China. We obviously do have a large amount of trade with them, but we have to be very careful, very deliberate, and they need to meet Canadian standards,” he said, without giving details.

Reuters. Read the full story here.

11:45 a.m. EDT: Greens want to raise Basic Personal Amount to $40k per year

The Green Party has promised to raise the federal Basic Personal Amount, the amount of money a person can make without paying taxes on it, from less than $16,000 per year to $40,000.

The party said the change would benefit 78% of taxpayers earning less than $100,000. Eligible Canadians could see savings of up to $3,675 each year.

“This is a lot of money for rent, for saving, for paying for your food, helping your kids get through school,” said Jonathan Pedneault, the co-leader of the Greens, during a campaign stop in Montreal.

”It’s high time that we have a vision and that we have real change instead of simple, small management that at the end of the day really doesn’t make a huge difference in the life of Canadians.”

The party predicts the initiative would cost the government around $50 billion annually, which it would offset with a tax hike on corporations.

Luca Caruso-Moro, breaking news digital assignment editor

11:15 a.m. EDT: Carney defends Brookfield ties, calls Poilievre ‘a conspiracy theorist’

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is responding to questions about his personal finances a day after his rivals pummeled him over his former position as chair of Brookfield Asset Management.

“What I’ve done is put all my affairs in order well in advance, I own nothing. I own nothing but cash and personal real estate and that’s not going to change in public life,” Carney said when asked if he owns any Brookfield stock. “That’s not going to change. It’s actually quite straightforward.”

He said he owns no Brookfield stock directly and all his assets were divested into a blind trust, which means he has no idea what is in there.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took aim at Carney yesterday for his ties to the company, suggesting he had negotiated a $276 million loan from the Bank of China for Brookfield at the same time that he served as an economic adviser to former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Asked Wednesday whether there was a “sweetheart loan” and whether Carney is beholden to China, the Liberal leader scoffed and said “absolutely not.”

“I’m beholden to absolutely no one except to the Canadian people,” Carney said.

He also took aim at Poilievre, calling him a “lifelong politician” who “doesn’t understand the world” and “a conspiracy theorist spends too much time with his MAGA friends.”

Linking him to U.S. President Donald Trump, he quoted Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who told Breitbart News in a recent interview that Poilievre’s perspective is “very much in sync” with America’s new direction under Trump.

“Someone who worships Donald Trump will kneel down before him, not stand up to him,” Carney said.

Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election writer

10:38 a.m. EDT: NDP would remove GST from ‘essentials’

New Democrats say they would remove the GST from “essentials” such as children’s’ clothing, heating bills and pre-made grocery meals, a promise they estimate would cost the federal government $4.5 billion and save the average family of four $448 annually.

To help pay for the party’s proposed GST break and other tax initiatives, the NDP would restore the capital gains tax increase introduced by the Liberals last year. Liberal Leader Mark Carney cancelled the capital gains tax hike before the election was called.

The Canadian Press

10:15 a.m. EDT: Carney promises $2 billion to bolster auto sector

Liberal Leader Mark Carney says his re-elected government would create a $2 billion “strategic jobs fund” to “fortify the entire Canadian auto supply chain” in the face of tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“This is a $2 billion fund that will protect the jobs of workers affected by President Trump’s tariffs, but it’ll do much more than that,” Carney said. “It will fortify the entire Canadian auto supply chain, from raw materials to finished vehicles. Because we’re not just protecting the present, we’re looking to build the future.”

Standing in front of the Ambassador Bridge to the U.S., Canadian geese honking overhead, Carney trumpeted the historical economic partnership between Canada and the U.S., particularly when it comes to the auto sector, and said “Trump’s trade war” has put that at risk.“

We have over 3,300 vehicles that roll off our assembly lines every single day, and the workers who build them contribute over $6 million in taxes every single day. Canadian Auto Workers don’t just build vehicles, they build Canada,” Carney said.

He also promised to establish a “first mile fund” that would provide capital to build infrastructure that would link extraction sites with railways and roads, and to eliminate duplication by recognizing provincial assessments for major projects.The Liberals are also promising to build an “all in Canada” network of auto parts suppliers so that Canada is less reliant on parts that have to cross the border multiple times as part of the auto manufacturing process.

Joshua Freeman, CTVNews.ca federal election writer

On the trail: Singh unveils tax plans and costing

Hi, I’m Rachel Aiello and I’m on Day 3 of NDP campaign coverage, coming to you now from Hamilton, Ont. This morning, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will be unveiling his “tax plan for working families,” but based on the details shared with reporters in advance, the NDP will, if elected:

• Eliminate the GST on essentials including home energy bills, cell and internet bills, kids clothing and shoes, as well as prepared meals from grocery stores.
• Increase the basic personal income allowance (BPA) to $19,500, meaning no one earning that much or less would have to pay any federal income tax, while decreasing the high-income BPA to $13,500.
• And, double the Canada Disability Benefit and increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors.

As for what these promises would cost, the GST relief would cost an estimated $4.5 billion, the personal income adjustments would cost $10.4 billion, and the changes to the disability and GIS benefits would cost between $3 billion and $4 billion.

The personal income adjustments would mean that individuals earning between $19,500 and $177,882 would save $505 a year, according to the party. People in high-income brackets would see their basic personal amount reduced to $13,500. Those who make over $235,632 will have no untaxed income.

The NDP’s rationale for these proposals is that Canadians are still facing an affordability crisis and now is not the time for the federal government to offer “tax cuts to millionaires.”

Later today, Singh will meet with seniors in this city, before heading to another campaign office event with a local candidate in London, Ont.

Rachel Aiello, CTV News national correspondent

On the trail: Poilievre heads to Quebec to lay out tax promises for seniors

Good morning from Day 4 of the election campaign. I’m Abigail Bimman and I will be following the Conservatives for their Quebec stops today, in and around Quebec City.

At noon EDT, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will hold an announcement focused on seniors, and take questions from the media.

The party has already released details about their plan — promising to let seniors earn more money ($34,000) before paying taxes, keep savings in RRSPs until age 73 (up from 71) and keeping the retirement age at 65 for Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement and the Canada Pension Plan.

Last fall, there was heated debate in the House of Commons over a Bloc Quebecois motion to boost OAS payouts by 10 per cent for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74. It was expected to cost $16B over five years. The Conservatives voted in favour of it, though the leader later said there were “other ways” to support seniors.

The party’s announcement so far does not mention increases to OAS. Currently, the Conservatives currently hold nine of the 78 seats up for grabs in Quebec, and have struggled to make major inroads over the last few elections.

The party has traditionally seen the most support in the ridings around Quebec City, which is where Poilievre is spending much of Wednesday.

Abigail Bimman, CTV News national correspondent

8 a.m. EDT: Barred MP Arya ousted from Liberal leadership race over India visit: sources

The Liberal Party of Canada’s decision to bar former leadership candidate Chandra Arya from running as a Liberal in the 2025 election was linked to a trip he took to India amid that country’s tensions with Canada last year, sources tell CTV News.

The ouster has prevented Arya from running under the party’s banner in the Ottawa-area riding of Nepean, where he has served as a member of Parliament since 2015.

The Globe and Mail first reported that Arya’s disqualification comes amid “alleged foreign-interference concerns involving India,” and that during a trip to the country last August, the former candidate met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sources with top national security clearance have confirmed with CTV News that a lack of communication between Arya and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) about that trip in light of the federal government’s accusations against India are the basis of the decision, and that it was the party’s decision alone.

In a social media post Wednesday morning, Arya wrote that while he has not previously sought government permission to engage with foreign leaders and diplomats, he has never been required to do so.

“At no point did former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or any cabinet minister raise concerns about my meetings or public statements,” his post to X reads.

“The sole point of contention with the Liberal Party has been my outspoken advocacy on issues important to Hindu Canadians and my firm stance against Khalistani extremism.”

Liberal leader Mark Carney is running for the Nepean seat in this year’s election.

Arya was the first member of the Liberal caucus to throw his hat into the ring for January’s leadership race, after former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced he would step down as head of the party.

Less than three weeks later, Arya took to X to reveal that the party was revoking his candidacy for the leadership, writing that the decision “raises significant questions about the legitimacy of the leadership race and, by extension, the legitimacy of the next Prime Minister of Canada.”

Then, on March 20, Arya revealed that the party had revoked his status as a Liberal Party candidate for the riding of Nepean.

“While this news is deeply disappointing, it does not diminish the profound honour and privilege it has been to serve the people of Nepean — and all Canadians — as their Member of Parliament since 2015,” he wrote in a post on X.

Days later, Carney announced his bid for the Ontario seat, telling reporters Sunday that he knew Nepean well.

“In many respects, it’s representative of many of the aspects of this country,” he said. “It’s very diverse, both has the opportunities and the challenges that we face as a country and those are the challenges I’m looking to address.”

Carney said in the Sunday press conference that he was not involved in Arya’s disqualification.

“The green light committee decides who runs in the ridings. I’m not a member of that committee,” he said.

Charlie Buckley, CTVNews.ca national digital producer. With files from CTV News Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos and CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle and William Eltherington

Here’s a recap of what happened on the campaign trail on Day 3.

Spotlight on foreign interference, national security

A Globe and Mail report – later confirmed by CTV News – that India attempted to interfere in the 2022 Conservative leadership race that Poilievre won forced him to go on the defensive.

“I won the leadership fair and square,” Poilievre said, before claiming that the report was part of a Liberal attack. Sources told CTV News that there’s no evidence the meddling affected the outcome of that race.

The Conservative leader then went on to accuse Carney of using his position with the Canadian government as leverage to secure a loan for his former firm Brookfield Asset Management. Poilievre alleged Carney held “secret talks” with the Chinese national bank’s deputy governor while he was former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s economic adviser.

In a statement, a Liberal campaign spokesperson said the allegations were a “desperate attempt” to distract from the fact that Poilievre refused to get security clearance.

The Conservative leader has previously said a security clearance would make it more difficult for him to criticize the government.

Earlier this week, Canadian Security Intelligence Service deputy director Vanessa Lloyd warned that China, India, Russia and Pakistan could attempt to meddle in the election campaign.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election writer. With files from the CTV News election desk.

Future of federal dental care and child care programs

Poilievre vowed on Tuesday that he would not cut the federal child care and dental care programs, which were part of the Liberal and NDP’s previous supply-and-confidence agreement.

“We will protect these programs, and no one who has them will lose them,” Poilievre said. Tuesday was the first time the Conservative leader offered an answer on the future of the social programs if he forms government.

However, Singh was doubtful. “I don’t believe him at all,” Singh said, warning voters that they should not trust Poilievre’s word that he would not dismantle the social programs. Both the Liberals and NDP have suggested the Conservatives would cut those programs if they were to form government.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election writer. With files from the CTV News election desk.

What leaders promised

Carney outlined his party’s defence platform, including injecting money into domestic manufacturing of defence equipment, increasing salaries of military members to boost recruitment and committing to reach Canada’s two per cent NATO spending target by 2030.

Poilievre announced that he is expanding his pledge last year to remove GST from new homes to include those priced up to $1.3 million, which he claimed would save buyers up to $65,000.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election writer. With files from the CTV News election desk.

Campaign gaffe

During a campaign stop in Musquodoboit Harbour, N.S., Carney had to apologize to Nathalie Provost, a Liberal candidate for Châteauguay–Les Jardins-de-Napierville, after he referred to her as a Concordia shooting survivor. Provost is, in fact, a survivor of the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre.

“I spoke to the candidate for Châteauguay–Les Jardins-de-Napierville this afternoon to apologize for what was clearly a slip earlier today. My respect and gratitude toward Nathalie Provost, for her commitment to our country in this critical time and for all these past years are heartfelt,” Carney said in a statement.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election writer. With files from the CTV News election desk.

What else we learned

After announcing in December that he won’t seek re-election, former federal housing minister Sean Fraser announced that he will run in this election. Fraser said Carney convinced him to return.

A new Leger poll conducted for The Canadian Press shows the federal Liberals hold a six-point lead over the Conservatives among decided voters.

Bryann Aguilar, CTVNews.ca federal election writer. With files from the CTV News election desk.

With files from The Canadian Press