Sat Apr 19 2024
David Akin's Roundup
Trump focus. Voting lineups. Pope rebuke.
Canada
Liberals try to keep Trump as top election issue
With just 10 days to go until election day, Canadians aren’t wasting time. Many are taking advantage of the long weekend to cast their ballot early. Meanwhile, party leaders were back on campaign trail today after trading political blows at last night’s English language debate. The final stretch of the campaign is crucial for the Liberals as they work to maintain their lead in the polls and keep U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats as a defining election issue. David Akin has more.

An old claim by Pierre Poilievre is back under the microscope. During his Conservative leadership run, Poilievre criticized the Bank of Canada’s response to inflation and vowed to fire its governor if he became prime minister. Now, as Mackenzie Gray reports, that promise is drawing new questions and Poilievre isn’t offering any clear answers. Highly recommend Mack's piece. [Global National]
There are probably few areas of Canada where Liberal fortunes have turned as dramatically as they have in Niagara Falls. [National Post]

Vancouver voters see long waits, advance polls open
At Yaletown's Roundhouse Community Centre, staff could be heard apologizing, saying "we only have four tables." Anecdotal evidence from Ottawa -- same long waits reported by friends and family in my riding, Carleton as well as other Ottawa ridings. Let me know about your voting experience if it's unusual.

Postmedia reached out to [Conservative incumbent Ziad] Aboultaif’s office on multiple occasions, and campaign manager Don Leben told Postmedia on Thursday over the phone that the campaign is going ‘very well’ but they’re ‘too busy’ to accommodate an interview request. [Edmonton Journal]

Aboultaif

Advance polling in the federal election is now open and will remain open until Monday. Here's what to know if you plan to early vote. [GlobalNews.ca]

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From the provinces
Former Alberta minister details allegation Premier Smith purposely misled cabinet
An outspoken member of Alberta's legislature, booted from the United Conservative Party caucus, is airing more detailed allegations of what he calls government deception over a health-care contract. [CP]

Aurora
Elsewhere
JD Vance visits Vatican after Pope rebukes Trump for migrant crackdown
U.S. Vice President JD Vance met with the Vatican’s No. 2 official after a remarkable papal rebuke of the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants. [Christian Science Monitor]

Science and Tech
Silicon Valley’s bet on Trump isn’t paying off
The president’s decision to put across-the-board tariffs on virtually all foreign imports — and 145 percent duties on Chinese ones — has already cost many tech investors and founders dearly. Startups reliant on Chinese inputs have found themselves abruptly on the brink of insolvency. Other firms have been forced to cancel their IPOs amid bearish investor sentiment. The tech right hoped Trump’s election would clear the way for a wave of mergers, enabling venture-funded startups to cash out by selling their businesses to Big Tech firms. Yet his tariffs have eroded the value of major US tech companies, sapping their interest and capacity to buy out startups (while his administration’s approach to antitrust enforcement has proven more adversarial than anticipated). [Vox]

The Calendar
  • 0930 ET: Whitby, ON - LPC Leader Mark Carney speaks about the LPC election platform.
  • 1130 ET: Magog, QC - BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet makes an announcement and speaks to reporters.
  • 1130 ET: Burnaby, BC - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks about the NDP election platform.
  • 1145 ET: Newcastle , ON - LPC Leader Mark Carney campaigns in the riding of Northumberland--Clarke
  • 1330 ET: Surrey, BC - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh attends the Khalsa Day Vaisakhi Parade 2025
  • 1330 ET: Peterborough, ON - LPC Leader Mark Carney speaks to supporters.
  • 1530 ET: Richmond, BC - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre makes an announcement and speaks to reporters.
  • 2130 ET: Victoria,  - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks to supporters.
  • 2245 ET: Richmond, BC - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre campaigns in the riding of Richmond East--Steveston

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