 "Though there are multiple parties in the fray, the main contest will be between the Liberals under Mark Carney and the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre. Reuters")
Canada’s federal election is here.
Though there are multiple parties in the fray, the contest will be between the Liberals under Mark Carney and the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre.
The Liberals have been in charge of Canada for a decade.
Until a few months ago, the party under then prime minister Justin Trudeau was staring at a defeat.
However, Trudeau’s resignation cleared the way for Carney’s ascension and has given the party a new lease of life.
But what are the biggest issues in the Canada election?
Let’s take a closer look
US President Trump
Until a few months ago, Justin Trudeau and his performance as prime minister was on top of voters’ minds.
Opinion polls overwhelmingly favoured the Conservative Party – which looked poised for a blowout over the long-ruling Liberals.
Then, Trudeau resigned and made way for Carney.
Since then, the polls have completely shifted in favour of the Liberals.
Follow all live updates in Canada’s federal election herePerhaps no factor is more important to this sea change than US President Donald Trump.
So much so that it is thought that Canadian election will likely be a referendum on Trump – and who Canadians think will do the job when it comes to standing up to him.
As per Sky News, Canadian broadcaster CTV News in a March poll found that Trump was the most important issue to voters (36 per cent) – ahead of the economy (29 per cent).
Sky News US correspondent James Matthews told the outlet the “Trump effect” has been key since Trump took office.
Matthews predicts it will remain among the most important issue as Canada heads to the polls.
He pointed out that though Poilievre is a masterful politician, he has felt the force of the “Trump effect”.
Matthews says Poilievre in the public mind seems to be more identified with Trump – not a good thing in Canada at the moment.
However, polls have tightened as Trump has maintained more of a silence on Canada in recent weeks – though the White House press secretary yet again made reference to how Trump wants Canada to become the “51st state.”
An April 24 CBC poll shows the Liberals at 42.4 per cent and the Conservatives at 38.5 per cent, as per Sky News.
US-Canada trade war
For many, the trade war with the US is top of mind.
As per CNN, Trump has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminium, cars and car parts.
He is also threatening to levy tariffs on pharmaceuticals and lumber.
These tariffs are fundamentally damaging to the American economy and by extension to the global economy,” Carney previously said.
“We are very dependent on the US,” Sylvanus Kwaku Afesorgbor, associate professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, told Al Jazeera. “There could be a major economic recession in Canada, because our economy depends largely on the US economy.”
Economist Randall Morck, a professor at the University of Alberta’s business school, told CNN, “I expect that [voters] are going to vote for the candidate that they think will minimise the cost of the trade war with the US.”
“I haven’t seen anything like it since the Vietnam war.”
The outlet quoted the Ontario Home Builders’ Association as saying that tariffs and counter-tariffs on steel and aluminium would increase the costs of construction materials.
Which directly plays into the next issue – housing.
Housing and cost of living
Housing is a huge issue in Canada – which is facing massive increase in the price of homes and not enough properties to go around
As per Sky News, data from the CEIC shows house prices have increased at an average of 1.8 per cent every year since 1982.
As per GlobalNews.ca, both parties have vowed to aid more homes being built.
Though both parties have vowed to do away with the Goods and Services Tax for purchases on new homes, this kicks in at different levels.
The Liberals have said they are aiming to build 500,000 homes per year for the next decade.
The party has also said it wants to create a development firm that would spur affordable housing.
The Conservatives, on the other hand, had vowed to build 23 million homes over the next five years.
They also want to sell off 6,000 federal buildings to create land for new homes.
Poilievre has said he will give set municipalities targets to meet when it comes to house building – and make allocation of federal funds contingent to meeting these targets.
Many Canadians are in despair when it comes to housing.
Leslie Macfarlane, 67, and her husband were evicted from a mobile home park in a Vancouver suburb to make away for a redevelopment.
Macfarlane and her husband struggled to find a home in the area.
“We couldn’t afford anything,” Macfarlane told Al Jazeera.
Macfarlane said they would have to pay triple the amount for an apartment half as small as their home.
They ultimately moved to Macfarlane’s hometown of Gibsons, a small coastal community in British Columbia.
“I remember when I was raising my children, if you had a job, you could afford a place to rent. It may not be a great place to rent, but you could afford something. That’s not the case anymore,” Macfarlane added.
David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, told the outlet things got “much worse” when the Bank of Canada began hiking interest rates.
“You weren’t safe anywhere,” Macdonald said. “It didn’t matter if you were renting, it didn’t matter if you owned; both sides were getting hit hard by much higher interest rates.”
Macdonald called rent increases in Toronto and Vancouver “mind-boggling”.
Cost of living is another major issue for many Canadians.
Macfarlane told Al Jazeera she has experienced this first hand.
Now living in a small town, she finds her daily expenses escalating – particularly for groceries.
“It’s getting to the point where we’re buying hand baskets of food per week instead of carts.”
Macdonald told the outlet, “people feel that inflation more personally” when it comes to groceries and petrol.
Tax cuts and defence
Both parties have vowed tax cuts for those earning the least.
As per Sky News, the Liberals have said they will cut taxes by 10 per cent, while the conservatives have said they will do so by 15 per cent.
The Liberals also claim that they will pass a 1 per cent that will benefit over 22 million Canadians – mostly those in low and middle-income families.
The Conservatives have also vowed to do away with the capital gains tax when the profits of the sale are reinvested in Canada or a business.
Defence spending is one of the less important issues – but it is a priority for some voters given the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
Both parties have vowed to meet Nato’s defence spending target for member nations of two per cent of the GDP by 2030.
They have promised to prioritise Canadian defence firms and speed up procurement of weapons.
The parties have vowed to fill vacancies in the military.
While the Conservatives have promised defence spending of $17 billion over the next few years, the Liberals have said they will spend $30.9 billion on defence.
With inputs from agencies