OTTAWA – U.S. President Donald Trump and his punishing tariffs got top billing in the federal election again Friday, as the third week of campaigning drew toward a close.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney left the campaign trail for the third time to return to Ottawa for a meeting with his cabinet committee on Canada-U. S. relations following a week of Trump-inflicted global economic turmoil.
While Carney was on Parliament Hill, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre campaigned in St. Catharines, Ont., to promote his full plan to “unleash” Canada’s economic potential.
He was unapologetic about his campaign management, after taking another public tirade from Conservative strategist Kory Teneycke, who said on the Curse of Politics podcast Thursday that Poilievre and his team had engaged in “campaign malpractice” for blowing a 25-point lead over the Liberals.
Most current polls show the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives by several points.
Teneycke just ran Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s successful re-election campaign and was the chief spokesman for former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2015. He has been heavily critical of Poilievre and his campaign team throughout this election.
Asked about the comments during a press conference Friday, Poilievre dismissed the criticism and indicated he’ll continue with his campaign unchanged.
Poilievre said “Liberals and lobbyists” want him to stop talking about issues like crime and high prices of food and housing, before he repeated his campaign slogans to “axe taxes, build homes, unleash our resources, lock up criminals, and bring home a safe, affordable country.”
Following the event, the Conservatives issued a new policy announcement, promising to require banks to make all skilled trades and apprenticeship programs eligible for Registered Education Savings Plans.
It adds to previous Conservative pledges to boost training and employment for workers in the skilled trades, including a plan would see the federal government offer apprenticeship grants of up to $4,000 and work to allow tradespeople to work anywhere in Canada.
Carney held no campaign events Friday, spending the whole day in Ottawa.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was also in Ottawa, to speak at the annual conference of the Broadbent Institute, the policy think tank named for former NDP leader Ed Broadbent.
Singh asked Canadians to give his party an influential role in Parliament and not reward either the Conservatives or Liberals with a majority government where they hold all the power.
After lagging a distant third in the polls, Singh pivoted this week from insisting he is running to be prime minister to asking Canadians to give the NDP enough seats to ensure neither the Liberals or Conservatives wield all the power.
All three party leaders commented Friday on GM’s decision to temporarily halt production at its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ont., which will mean temporary layoffs starting next week.
The company cited lower-than-expected demand for its electric delivery vehicles as being behind the decision, but the political leaders each referenced the trade war with the United States that has led to uncertainty in the sector.
Poilievre said in a statement that he was committed to protecting autoworkers.
“A Conservative government will push hard to put an end to these tariffs and get a quick but fair deal that protects our sovereignty and our economy,” he said.
Singh said in a statement that it was “time to put workers and jobs at the heart of Canada’s tariff fightback plan.”
In a post on the social media platform X, Carney said the layoffs were “deeply painful news” and that the government was “fighting to defend our auto sector, protect our workers and build our supply chains in Canada.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2025.
