We’ve got less than a week to go and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh are arguing over who is the best option for progressives. In this live story, we’ll be tracking the campaign news as it happens
6:00 p.m. — Angus Reid shows NDP almost returning to 2015 support
There are two ways to view the recent NDP surge in the polls: a big boost in support since the beginning of the campaign or the party climbing out of a deep hole and returning to its 2015 levels of support.
Today’s Angus Reid poll shows the Conservatives at 33 per cent, the Liberals at 29 per cent and the NDP at 19 per cent support. The Bloc and the Green Party are tied at eight per cent support, while the People’s Party of Canada sits at three per cent.
The main reason for the NDP surge, Angus Reid says, is a big increase in leader Jagmeet Singh’s approval numbers. The top issue on voters’ minds? Climate change, followed by taxation and health care.
12:15 p.m. — Scheer pegs inter-provincial trade as a priority
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said if his party forms government after Monday’s election he will hold a first ministers meeting in the first week of January to talk about inter-provincial trade.
Scheer said he will appoint a minister of interprovincial trade whose sole focus will be negotiating and implementing a new trade deal between the provinces.
“It should not be easier to trade with other countries than between Canadian provinces,” said Scheer. “This is extremely frustrating.”
10:00 a.m. — Singh insists that he’s the real ‘progressive’ option
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in Toronto this morning to insist that Canadians looking for a progressive option should give his party a look on voting day.
Singh was responding to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s argument this morning that a vote for the NDP will make a Conservative government more likely .
Singh said the Liberals will talk like progressives during the campaign and then govern like Conservatives.
And in response to Trudeau’s repeated line that Canadians should vote for a progressive government, not a progressive opposition, Singh said, “I hope he’s encouraging people to vote for me. Because that’s the real progressive alternative for people.”
9:15 a.m. — Trudeau says ‘divisive’ political climate is his chief regret
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said his main regret as prime minister is that the country seems to be more divided and polarized than when he took office.
“Everything I tried to do in the last four years has been focused on bringing Canadians together. Yet we find ourselves in a more polarizing, more divisive election,” said Trudeau, at an announcement in Fredericton this morning. “I really hope that Canadians pull together and I hope Canadian make the choice to pull together.”
Trudeau was asked by CTV reporter Glen McGregor, in the spirit of rejecting that divisiveness, what he admired about his main opponent Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.
“He appears to be a strong family man,” said Trudeau.
9:00 a.m. — Leaders gear up for the home stretch
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau will meet with seniors in Fredericton this morning to talk about health care and take questions from reporters at 8 a.m.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer will be in Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu, and La Prairie today. He will take questions from reporters at 11 a.m.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will greet commuters at Toronto’s Broadview Station at 8:45 a.m.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May will make an announcement in Kamloops today at 2 p.m. local time.
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