Sunday marked one week since Prime Minister Trudeau triggered an election, sending Canadians to the polls on September 20th. The first week of the campaign was not the easy ride the Liberal Party expected, with the ongoing crisis on the ground in Afghanistan unfolding, no clear ballot question forming and attacks on the Conservatives falling flat. August 17th also saw the election of a PC led government in Nova Scotia, following surprising results that saw the Ian Rankin-led Liberals become the first sitting government in Canada to not be re-elected during the pandemic.
The Liberal government spent the first week trying to focus the message on mandatory vaccinations for federal works, as well as mandating all travelers on planes and trains be vaccinated. The Conservatives have had to balance the message to their supporters between the importance of vaccinations and curbing individual freedoms.
Polls continue to move, with some showing a significant tightening of the race between the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP. All three leaders spent time in the West, with Erin O’Toole focusing on the prairie provinces where he hopes to maintain the CPC’s stronghold and make some additional gains.
Days until E-day: 27 Days
Conservatives:
Day 2 On the second day of the campaign, Erin O’Toole launched the full CPC platform, “the Recovery Plan for Canada’s”, giving Canadians a clear look at the Leader’s vision for Canada, and what he will be talking about on the campaign trail.
Day 3: From Toronto Erin O’Toole presented the Party’s campaign promise to remove the GST for the month of December, creating a “GST holiday” for Canadians.
Day 4: In Quebec City, the Conservative leader focused on the Party’s plan to restore accountability to the federal government, including passing an Anti-Corruption Act to strengthen legislation on ethics, lobbying and transparency, which would increase fines for violations to a maximum of $50,000
Day 5: From Ottawa, Erin O’Toole held a news conference to discuss the CPC’s plan for affordable housing, which includes a ban on home purchases by foreign investors not living in or moving to Canada, letting go of at least 15 per cent of the federal government’s real estate portfolio for housing, and his vision to build one million homes in the next three years.
Day 6: In Winnipeg Erin O’Toole announced the Conservative jobs plan, a key plank of Canada’s Recovery Plan. The Canada Job Surge Plan proposes to pay up to 50 per cent of the salary of net new hires for 6 months in all sectors.
Day 7: From Edmonton, Alberta Erin O’Toole spoke to the CPC plan to support Canadians with disabilities, including doubling the disability support in the Canada Workers Benefit, overhauling disability supports for employment and providing additional funds for small businesses and community projects to improve accessibility.
Day 8: Erin O’Toole was in New Westminster, British Columbia outlining the Conservative Party’s plan to address the opioid crisis and support Canadians struggling with addictions.
Liberals
Day 2: In Longueuil, Quebec, Justin Trudeau spoke on the Liberal’s promise to extend a hiring credit, thatwas a part of Budget 2022. They also announced they would launch programs to support Canada’s hardest hit industries, including through creating the Arts and Culture Recovery Program to support live-performances.
Day 3: In Markham, Ontario, the Liberal leader spoke from a supporters home about the Party’s $10 a day childcare plan.
Day 4: From Vancouver, Justin Trudeau announced that a Liberal government would invest in training for 1,000 new firefighters and equipment to fight wildfires.
Day 5: In Victoria, Trudeau put forward the Liberal plan to hire up to 50,000 new personal support workers and guarantee them a minimum wage of at least $25 an hour, as well as doubling the Home Accessibility Tax Credit for seniors to be able to upgrade their homes
Day 6: In Winnipeg, Justin Trudeau announced that if re-elected a Liberal government would introduce 10 days of paid sick leave for all federally regulated workers.
Day 7: There was no announcement or events held.
Day 8: Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was in New Brunswick and PEI, where he met with supporters, making a speech but no announcement. This was the first time since the campaign launched that any leader has visited the Maritimes.
NDP
Day 2: On the second day of the campaign, from Toronto, Jagmeet Singh announced that he would claw back the money that corporations used from COVID-19 supports to pay their CEOs
Day 3: While campaigning in British Columbia, Singh announced that an NDP government would invest in small and community-based businesses, including expanding domestic manufacturing capacity, in order to create jobs.
Day 4: Still in BC, while in Burnaby, the NDP leader announced the Party’s housing plan to help young Canadians buy affordable homes. An NDP government would put a 20% Foreign Buyer’s tax on the sales of the homes of those who aren’t Canadian citizens or permanent residences and proposed to build 500,000 affordable homes in 10 years.
Day 5: From Edmonton, Singh spoke about the NDP’s health care plan, attacking Premier Kenney, he promised to create a $250 million Critical Shortage Fund to address the shortage of nurses and health-care workers.
Day 6: In Saskatchewan, Jagmeet Singh visited Cowessess First Nation, to visit the gravesite of the former residential school and speak about reconciliation.
Day 7: While in Toronto, the NDP leader announced his commitment to make rent more affordable, with a promise to provide up to $5,000 a year to families struggling to find affordable housing.
Day 8: While still in the GTA, to mark the anniversary of the passing of Jack Layton, Jagmeet Singh announced that an NDP Government would table legislation to rename the Toronto-Danforth riding to Danforth-Layton.
