Canada
Conservatives Crumble: Liberals surge past CPC into majority territory, but Grits’ vote commitment is softer
The causes are myriad, with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre losing two of his biggest targets – Justin Trudeau and the carbon tax – and U.S. President Donald Trump generating a wave of Canadian pride and nationalism with tariff and annexation threats. Over this three-month period Liberal support has jumped 30 points in the city of Toronto, 25 points in 905 ridings.
Federal Politics: Week of March 17
If a federal election were held today, 42% of Canadians would vote for the Liberal Party led by Mark Carney, while 39% would vote for the Conservative Party. The Liberal Party has seen a 5-point increase since last week, taking the lead over the Conservative Party, which has experienced a 2-point increase. This represent the first time since early 2023 the Liberals are leading the Conservatives.
Canada wants ‘most positive possible’ U.S. relations, Carney says
In joint opening remarks before their meeting in Paris, Carney stressed that Canada and France shared values of sovereignty, solidarity and sustainability and must strengthen their ties. “With you Mr. President, I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States,” Carney said in English.
Poilievre vows to repeal entire carbon price law, including for industries
Poilievre made the announcement after Prime Minister Mark Carney began the process to end the consumer carbon price on things like gasoline.
Following contest, Ryan Leef will be federal Conservative candidate for Yukon
The candidate forum wasn’t open to the media; it was for party members only, the News was told by someone involved in the party’s election process after arriving at the gathering. The News was asked to leave the event. The News has requested a breakdown of the vote and voter turnout from the party’s head media office but didn’t get a response by publication. This is standard operating practice for the CPC: They don't want constituents to know details of their candidate selection process and winners -- as with Leef here -- are discouraged from responding to local reporters who have questions. Current model has Yukon as a LPC hold right now by 12 points.
Anderson elected by Conservatives to represent Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee
Former city councillor Scott Anderson elected by party members.
Former advisor to Prime Minister Harper vying for Conservative seat
Keller’s federal political experience includes being a senior advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Chief of Staff to Rona Ambrose when she was the leader of the opposition and Chief of Staff to Minister John Baird.
Local Conservative contestants 'in limbo' waiting to learn who the candidate will be
Both Michael Gassi and Cameron Ross said they hope to know who the candidate is soon. More confusion in a local EDA that, after boundary redistribution for the next election, is the incumbent in this election. True, Liberal Terry Sheehan won the riding of Sault Ste Marie in 2021 but the Soo is now part of a bigger more rural , more Conservative riding and, after you transpose the 2021 results on to the new riding, the Conservatives start the 2025 race with the most votes! And in my model, they are still a 13-point favourite. And yet, head office keeps a local EDA that is likely to win in limbo.
Goulds man seeking nomination for federal Conservatives in Avalon
“Avalon is my home, and I’ve seen firsthand what makes our communities thrive,” said O’Brien. “I’m running to ensure our voices are heard in Ottawa and our future is secure.” The seat is currently held by Liberal MP Ken McDonald. In the fall, every riding in NL save for Cape Spear looked like easy wins for the Conservatives. Now? Not so much. Ken McDonald is not re-offering but the Liberal that runs here is looking rightnow at a 19-point win.
Gabriel Hardy est le candidat conservateur dans Montmorency-Charlevoix
Le Parti conservateur du Canada mise sur Gabriel Hardy dans la circonscription de Montmorency-Charlevoix. C’est une première expérience en politique fédérale pour lui. « C’est un honneur pour moi », a confié l’homme qui s’était présenté aux élections municipales de 2021 sous la bannière de Québec 21-Jean-François Gosselin.Équipe. Model right now has this a toss-up with the CPC prevailing in a nail-biter by 2.5 points over incumbent BQ MP Caroline Desbiens.
The Provinces
Premier Danielle Smith defends Florida speaking trip as anti-tariff effort
But Lori Williams, a political science professor at Mount Royal University, is skeptical about Smith’s claim that Ben Shapiro has influence with Donald Trump
Ford pledges to work with Carney on tackling Trump’s tariffs
Ford, whose executive council will be unveiled Wednesday, is already working closely with new Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney on a “Team Canada” approach to combating U.S. tariffs.
Elsewhere
Poland and Baltic states want to exit landmine treaty over Russia's military threat
In a joint statement, the defence ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland said they "unanimously recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention". The 1997 treaty — which prohibits the use, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines — has been ratified or acceded to by more than 160 countries.
Trump-Putin call on Ukraine war set for Tuesday
U.S. President Donald Trump will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in a possible pivot point in efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
While Trump slashes jobs, his golf trips are costing taxpayers millions
The cost to US taxpayers for Trump’s jaunts to Mar-a-Lago, which he calls his “winter White House”, far exceeds renting rooms for the president’s security entourage. A 2019 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which examined four trips that Trump took to his Palm Beach resort during his first term, put the total cost at $13.6m, or about $3.4m for each visit. That includes flying Air Force One, along with a separate cargo plane that carries the presidential motorcade, between Washington and the Palm Beach international airport. With seven trips so far into his current term, the US government has likely already spent more than $23m on Trump’s golf outings.
Science and tech
SpaceX's Starlink Turns to Trump For Aid On Trade Barriers, China Competition
The main Chinese rival is the Qianfan "Thousand Sails" satellite constellation, which is already trying to expand in over 30 countries. In contrast, Starlink is already in over 125 markets. But in some countries, the company “must pay foreign governments for access to spectrum, import duties on Starlink equipment, and other regulatory fees that substantially increase the cost of operating in these countries—artificially,” SpaceX wrote.
Wi-Fi 2.4GHz vs. 5GHz: Which Wi-Fi Band Is Better for Your Home? - CNET
Did you know that the Wi-Fi band you use can affect your internet connection's speed and overall performance? Here’s what you should know.
If You Blazed Massive Amounts of Weed as a Youth, Scientists Have Interesting News
New research is challenging the assumption that smoking too much weed as a teenager can deep-fry your brain.
The Calendar
- 0500 ET: London - PM Carney departs for Iqaluit.
- 1000 ET: Ottawa - Labour Min Steven MacKinnon makes a funding announcement
- 1100 ET: Iqaluit - PM Carney arrives at Iqaluit International Airport.
- Iqaluit - PM Carney meets with Premier P.J. Akeeagok
- 1200 ET: Toronto - Housing and Infrastructure Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith speaks to the Economic Club of Canada.
- 1445 ET: Iqaluit - PM Carney departs for Ottawa
- 1800 ET: Ottawa - PM Carney arrives at Macdonald-Cartier International Airport.
A note about sources for this section: Most of the information here is contained in media advisories distributed to the Parliamentary Press Gallery. When the House of Commons is sitting, this section will contain information about Commons' committees from the "Notices of Meetings" the committees directorate puts out.
But this section also contained information that former PM Trudeau published in his daily itinerary. So far, PM Carney has decided not to publish a daily itinerary. Trudeau's itineraries could be bare bones -- some simply listed the location he was to be in that day, i.e. National Capital Region, and "No public events" scheduled but, for those who track our leaders, this was still valuable information and posting it every day meant there was an online and searchable database of his activities.
As for other leaders: None posts a daily itinerary of their activities although both Yves-François Blanchet and Jagmeet Singh generally provide a day or more's notice if they have a public event such as a political rally or a press conference. Pierre Poilievre on the other hand only occasionally gives a day's notice of press conferences -- often reporters are given a few hours notice -- and he almost never publishes media advisories about his political activities -- campaigning with a candidate, touring a factory, speaking to supporters. Political reporters can learn about Poilievre's activities after the fact, through his social media posts.
Monitoring social media posts of other MPs will also yield the occasional itinerary item for this space.
