OTTAWA — The Liberal and Conservative leaders are both in British Columbia today, where the Liberals are promising environmental conservation measures and support for seniors, while the Tories are offering more efficient approvals for resource projects.
At the start of the third week of the federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Mark Carney is in Victoria, where he is expected to meet with B.C. Premier David Eby.
B.C. is a battleground province where the Liberals and Conservatives find themselves in closer competition than in many other parts of the country. Meanwhile, Eby has thrown his support behind NDP incumbents seeking re-election, which includes NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who represents Burnaby South.
At a press conference in Victoria, Carney outlined a number of conservation measures, including creating at least 10 new national parks and marine conservation areas, as well as 15 new urban parks.
He also pledged to invest $100 million into a "strategic water security technology fund" to advance Canadian research and development, artificial intelligence, monitoring and data tools.
The Liberals also said Monday they would temporarily give seniors more flexibility to draw from their retirement savings and, for a period of one year, increase the guaranteed income supplement for low-income seniors.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is in Terrace, B.C., where he's announcing a plan to speed up approvals for major resource projects.
Poilievre says each project would have one application and one environmental review. He says he would work with the provinces to create a single office that would coordinate project approvals across all levels of government.
Singh, who met with Hudson Bay employees in Toronto, says workers should be compensated for unpaid wages, benefits and severance ahead of creditors when companies like Hudson Bay file for bankruptcy.
Singh is also promising $16 billion over four years to build three million homes by 2030.
The funds would be split evenly between two programs. One would “reward” cities that build more multi-unit homes in all neighbourhoods, build more homes near transit hubs and speed up permitting, while the other would help provinces expand the water and sewage infrastructure needed to support housing.
In Ottawa on Monday, federal security officials said they found an online information operation targeting Carney that they linked to the Chinese government.
The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force said "contrasting narratives" were spread on the social media platform WeChat "amplifying" Carney's stance on the United States and targeting his experience and credentials.
It traced the operation to the news account Youli-Youmian, which intelligence reports have linked to the Chinese Communist Party's central political and legal affairs commission.
- With files from David Baxter in Toronto, Craig Lord and Jim Bronskill in Ottawa, and Chuck Chiang in Terrace, B.C.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2025.
Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press
