CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, ahead in polls in the run-up to an April 28 election, renewed calls on Monday for voters to give him a strong mandate to deal with US President Donald Trump’s tariff threat.
Carney says Trump’s tariffs and talk of annexation pose a huge threat and mean that Canada needs to reduce its reliance on the United States and restructure its economy.
“We need a government that has a strong mandate, a clear mandate. We need a government that has a plan that meets the moment,” Carney said during a campaign event in Charlottetown in the Atlantic province of Prince Edward Island.
The 60-year-old ex-central banker, who had no prior political experience before running to become Liberal leader earlier this year, billed himself as “someone who knows how to negotiate ... (and) how to manage a crisis.”
The Liberal platform, which promises additional spending of around C$130 billion over the next four years, predicts that the 2025/26 deficit will be C$62.3 billion, far higher than the C$42.2 billion forecast in December.
Carney replaced Justin Trudeau, who had been in power for more than nine years and was the focus of opposition attacks about inflation, high immigration levels and a housing crisis.
The official opposition Conservatives had been 20 points ahead at the turn of the year but now trail the Liberals.
A rolling three-day Nanos poll released on Monday put the Liberals on 43.7 percent public support with the Conservatives on 36.3 percent. The left-leaning New Democrats, who compete with the Liberals for the center-left vote, trailed at 10.7 percent.
If repeated on election day, that would give the Liberals a majority of the 343 seats in the House of Commons.
Elections Canada said a record 2 million people had cast their ballots in the first of day of advance voting on Friday, which was a national holiday. Around 28 million Canadians are registered to vote.
Voter turnout in federal elections from the 1950s to the early 1990s ranged between 70 percent and 80 percent, but it has gradually declined. In the 2021 election, only 62.3 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.
Ipsos Public Affairs CEO Darrell Bricker said the advance polls could indicate that overall turnout will be higher, or merely reflect parties’ efforts to boost early voting.
“Too early to say which it is this time,” he said in a post on X.
The Nanos poll of 1,289 people was carried out on April 17, 19 and 20 and is considered accurate to within 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Carney ahead in polls as Canada enters last week of election campaign
https://arab.news/nmn65
Carney ahead in polls as Canada enters last week of election campaign
- Mark Carney is looking for a strong mandate to deal with Donald Trump’s tariff threat
- Mark Carney: ‘We need a government that has a plan that meets the moment’
French volunteer bakes for Ukraine amid frosts and power outages
- The French volunteer, who calls himself a “baker without borders,” wants to help them through an especially cold winter
- Loic works alone and starts early, but he still manages to bake around 700 loaves a day
BORODYANKA, Ukraine: In a truck parked in the Kyiv region, Loic Nervi kneaded the dough vigorously before sliding dozens of tins into the oven — loaves that will later be handed out to Ukrainians.
By making bread, the French volunteer, who calls himself a “baker without borders,” wants to help them through an especially cold winter, marked by repeated power and heating cuts caused by Russian strikes.
Loic works alone and starts early, but he still manages to bake around 700 loaves a day, making locals flock in lines before his white truck.
“I knew there were problems with electricity and heating in Kyiv. It’s the first time I’ve come here and worked here in the Kyiv region and in Kyiv itself,” explained the volunteer, who already did a few missions in Ukraine.
Throughout these trips, he distributed tens of thousands of loaves since the start of the war in 2022, mostly to elderly people who have no support from their families or from the state, Nervi said.
“It’s important to keep supporting (Ukrainians),” the Frenchman told AFP, while admitting that “most French people no longer want to — they’re tired and don’t want to hear about this war anymore.”
“But no, the war is still ongoing,” said the strong-armed baker, sporting a short bristle of beard.
Working in his truck powered by two generators, he makes two main types of bread: a multigrain loaf with sunflower, sesame, poppy and flax seeds, designed to be filling and nutritious, and a soft white sandwich-style bread made with milk, sugar and eggs.
“I travel frequently — so I also leave my family behind, and it’s very hard for them. It’s a sacrifice I make for Ukraine, a personal and family sacrifice,” said Loic.
“But I think it’s worth it, because if everyone only thinks about their own comfort, we won’t move forward,” he added.
Moscow has in recent months conducted a series of massive drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, causing extensive power, water and heating outages.
The attacks, which especially targeted the capital Kyiv, come at a moment of particularly biting temperatures in Ukraine, which have dropped to as low as -20C throughout winter.
Ukraine, for its part, targeted power infrastructure in the Russian border regions and oil refineries across the country.
