Latest news with #OntarioPCParty
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Poilievre's home turf under siege; Liberals threaten upset in Carleton
Live Events Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre finds himself in an unexpected battle for his political survival as the Liberal Party mounts a serious challenge in his long-held riding of Carleton, according to multiple sources within both the Conservative and Liberal the Liberals gaining momentum nationally, the potential loss of Poilievre's seat would not only be a significant blow to the Conservative Party but also cast serious doubt on his future as the leader of one of Canada 's major political situation has become so precarious that Conservative Party headquarters has reportedly diverted significant resources, including experienced campaigners typically deployed to other tight races, to shore up support in strategic shift, confirmed by four sources, two from the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party and two from the federal level, underscores the gravity of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that the party's Ottawa war room has also been mobilized to defend Conservative-held ridings, suggesting a broader vulnerability in the polling paints a concerning picture for Poilievre. While he secured comfortable victories in Carleton in 2019 and 2021, recent surveys indicate a dramatic shift in voter from both the Ontario PC Party and the federal Liberals, who have access to these polls, report that Poilievre is now locked in a tight race with Liberal candidate Bruce Liberal insider even claimed a statistical dead heat, with Poilievre leading by a mere one percentage point within the poll's margin of Ontario PC Party's internal polling suggests a wider Liberal surge in the Ottawa area, with the party holding a commanding 53% lead compared to the Conservatives' 31%.While this poll did not specifically target Carleton, the trend is alarming for the Conservative Senate leader Marjory LeBreton, a veteran of Canadian politics, warned of dire consequences should Poilievre lose his riding and the election."All hell will break loose. The party will fracture," she stated, highlighting the potential for internal the mounting evidence, Conservative Party spokesman Simon Jefferies downplayed the concerns, expressing confidence in Poilievre's pollster Nik Nanos echoed LeBreton's sentiment, stating that Poilievre's leadership would be untenable in the event of a Liberals' resurgence in Carleton appears to be part of a broader trend, with national polls showing them leading the shift in the political landscape has forced Poilievre to play defense in the final days of the campaign, including a rally in Saskatoon, a city traditionally considered a Conservative stronghold.
CBC
26-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
What the federal parties can learn from Doug Ford's election win
After a provincial election campaign fought in the shadow of U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of tariffs and annexation, federal parties could draw some lessons from the way Doug Ford and his Ontario PC Party romped to victory. Ford pitched himself as the best leader to protect the province against those threats and even made "Protect Ontario" his campaign slogan. His campaign focused almost exclusively on that one issue and he was rewarded with a third straight majority government, something no leader has accomplished in Ontario since 1959. It's a formula that strategists of all political stripes say the federal leaders should emulate if they hope to win the general election on April 28. Kory Teneycke, who managed all three of Ford's provincial campaigns and advised Stephen Harper during his time as prime minister, says the federal parties must acknowledge what matters to voters right now. "The number one issue driving voter intent in the Ontario provincial campaign was clearly Trump and tariffs," said Teneycke in an interview. "There's a lot of national polling data that would indicate that the same is true now in the federal election campaign, only even more so." WATCH | What Doug Ford's election win can teach the federal leaders: It's almost impossible to win federally in Canada without winning Ontario. Over the past 50 years, the party that took the most seats in Ontario won 14 of the last 15 elections. The only exception: when Stephen Harper's Conservatives won their first minority, in 2006. 'The only issue in this election' It's rare to have a federal election follow so closely on the heels of an Ontario election; rarer still to have the same political theme resonate so profoundly in both contests. "The only issue in this election is protecting Canada and Trump and tariffs," said Marion Nader, co-founder of consulting firm Nexus Strategy Group and a veteran adviser to New Democrat politicians in Ontario and Alberta. "If any party tries to make the ballot question anything other than Trump, then they're going to get drowned out and they're going to be irrelevant," Nader said in an interview. Nader says a key to the election will be how each federal leader frames their message on the Trump and tariffs issue. "I think what what Canadians want is someone who's going to unify, talk about solutions, be the adult in the room," she said. Teneycke believes the Trump presidency and his repeated threat of tariffs poses a particular challenge for Poilievre, but not an insurmountable one. Poilievre's Conservative team did "an incredible job" in laying the groundwork over the past two-plus years to fight an election against Justin Trudeau on the carbon tax, affordability and housing, says Teneycke. Many Ontario voters strongly against Trump "The situation has changed," he said. "You've got to fight the campaign that's ahead of you, not the one that you wanted to fight necessarily." Teneycke says the Ontario PC campaign's research found large numbers of voters vehemently opposed to Trump and everything about him. He says the only time he saw the party's polling numbers dip during the campaign was after a camera caught Ford saying he was "100 per cent" happy that Trump had won the presidential election last November. The lesson for Poilievre, according to Teneycke: avoid sounding anything like Trump, whether in words or tone. "Talking about your big, beautiful, bring-it-home tax cut, talking about sneaky Carney, talking about fake news, these are all lines pulled from the lexicon of of Trump," he said. "Probably the worst of them is saying Canada First, which sounds, I think to a lot of voters, like America First." WATCH | Compare the income tax cut promises from the Liberals and Conservatives: How do Carney and Poilievre's income tax cuts compare? | About That 12 hours ago Duration 8:30 The federal election campaign is officially underway and among the first promises of the leading parties is an income tax cut. Andrew Chang breaks down the math behind the two plans to explain how much you would save, and why experts are skeptical about how either would pay for it. CBC News asked the Conservative Party to respond to Teneycke's comments. "Pierre Poilievre has been talking about his plan to put Canada First and make Canada stronger in order to stand up to Trump, and will continue to do so," said a party spokesperson in an email. While the CBC Poll Tracker suggests the Conservative Party has lost more than seven percentage points nationally since Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, Teneycke thinks it's not impossible for Poilievre to win back those voters. 'Hard to change a ballot question' Ashley Csanady, who worked as an adviser on the Ontario Liberal campaign, saw firsthand how difficult it is to fight an election on any issue other than tariffs at this time in Canada. "It's pretty hard to change a ballot question when you have something that's as big and as looming as the shadow of Donald Trump and our largest trading relationship," said Csanady, a vice-president at McMillan Vantage, a public affairs firm. In the past Ontario election, Bonnie Crombie's Liberals campaigned largely on fixing the health care system, and although they attracted nearly 30 per cent of the vote provincewide, that only translated into 14 of a total 124 seats. "The overall take away is that when voters are are looking at Trump and tariffs and they're scared about what's going on, they're voting based on who they think is the best option to take on that threat," Csanady said. In the federal election, Csanady believes this gives the advantage to Liberal Leader Mark Carney. "The fact that he sort of presents as this kind of boring dad, technocrat, smart guy economist is actually a superpower right now, she said. "I think with all the bombast coming out of the States, that calm presentation is the sort of thing that Canadians are looking for." Nader, the NDP strategist, says a key lesson for the federal party from the Ontario election is the value of targeting key ridings with extra campaign support. The Ontario New Democrats won 27 seats — nearly double the Liberal total — with less than 19 per cent of the vote share province-wide. She also says NDP leader Jagmeet Singh can win over voters by pitching his campaign message in a way that speaks to people's concerns. "It is about Trump and who's going to be best to stand up to Trump, but reframe it," said Nader. "Who is going to be prioritized in that battle? Who's going to stand up for families and workers?" There's a long-held notion in politics that incumbency is an advantage when contesting an election in times of crisis. The Progressive Conservative victory in Ontario — in which only two of the party's incumbents seeking re-election lost their seats — would appear to bolster that notion. The federal Liberals, who took 78 of Ontario's 121 seats in the last federal election, will be hoping that pattern from the provincial election in late February repeats itself come voting day in late April.
CBC
27-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Meet 3 Londoners volunteering to get people casting ballots on election day
Social Sharing If it's election season in London, it's a guarantee you'll find small armies of unpaid volunteers knocking on doors, making phone calls and getting the word out about voting day. Volunteers are an integral part of any election, either in support of a particular candidate or party, or to be more involved in the democratic process and helping boost voter turnout. Such a boost may be needed in London. Only four to six per cent of eligible voters cast early ballots in its three urban ridings, rising to nearly nine per cent in Elgin—Middlesex—London. Ken Cossoy Among those pitching in is Ken Cossoy. The longtime Ontario PC Party member has been volunteering with a local campaign doing "basically anything that's needed to be done." "I'm more or less the assistant office manager and chief bottle washer," he said with a chuckle. Having joined the party in 1951, Cossoy said he's volunteered with numerous campaigns over the years and managed a handful. He's currently CFO of a London riding association. As residents head to the ballot box, he and other volunteers will be driving voters to polling locations with their own vehicles, something he said he's done for decades. "It's what we call 'GOTV' — get out the vote," he said, adding most requests come from seniors who can't drive. Anyone can request a lift, regardless of the party, he said. "We do not ask them if they're a supporter … We do not ask them what party they're in favour of," he said. "Voting is sacred in this country. There are too many countries in the world that you can't do something like this." Rides to the polls are also being offered by other campaigns and parties to make the voting process as accessible as possible. Shelley O'Connor Shelley O'Connor, who has been volunteering for a Liberal Party candidate, said their office has received phone calls from other party supporters seeking information about voting day. "If they need a ride, I [say], 'Absolutely. We don't discriminate. We prefer that you're a Liberal, because you're calling the Liberals, but if you're not, that's fine. We will give you a ride.'" she said. It doesn't bode well for the country when people don't go out and vote. - Shelley O'Connor Of the more than 10,000 phone calls made by the campaign's volunteers, she said up to 3,000 were made by her alone. A retiree, O'Connor's first time volunteering was in 2015 for former Liberal MP Kate Young in London West. "It gives you an idea of what the process is and how government works. It gives you a better understanding of why people take on the challenge and why other people say, 'No,' she said. "It's a privilege to have the ability to vote … It doesn't bode well for the country when people don't go out and vote." GTA students push to boost young voter turnout in provincial election 18 hours ago Duration 2:23 In the final days of the provincial election campaign, representatives for Elections Ontario have been striving to educate post-secondary students about voting. CBC's Tyler Cheese has more on why youth voter turnout matters. There are concerns about a low turnout in this provincial election, as it was in 2022 when London's three urban ridings clocked an average turnout of roughly 42 per cent. Alex Wild A student political organization has been working to entice younger voters to cast a ballot, using social media outreach and by canvassing student neighbourhoods. "In general, there's a lot of apathy. I don't think that's specific to students," said Alex Wild, co-chair of NDP Western. "Overall, we're seeing a lot of disengagement, a lot of being disconnected from politics as a whole. But students are really at the centre of a lot of things we're struggling with." At the federal level, young voters aged 18 to 24 had the lowest turnout in the 2019 and 2021 elections at 54 and 46 per cent, according to Elections Canada. To get students involved, the group has arranged for candidates from several parties for a meet and greet on campus. They've also provided rides to students who want to canvas but don't drive. If we vote or not, decisions still get made. But if we vote, decisions can be made with student input. - Alex Wild "Politics has always been a passion of mine, but I know some people might not have the same knowledge," said Wild, a second-year student majoring in political science and gender studies. Polls open at 9 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday.
CBC
20-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Which Ontario party would make your life more affordable? Depends who you are
Social Sharing Ontario's main political parties are competing for the hearts of voters by appealing to their wallets, with a mix of tax cuts and money-back rebates pitched as helping with the cost of living. Doug Ford and his Ontario PC Party is campaigning off the one-time $200 cheque that his government is sending to every Ontarian, a $3 billion spend. Marit Stiles of the NDP is promising an ongoing monthly "grocery rebate" that would put about $4.9 billion per year back into the pockets of low-to-moderate income earners Bonnie Crombie's Liberal Party and Mike Schreiner's Green Party are both promising income tax cuts. The Liberals are targeting the middle-income bracket with about $2.8 billion in annual tax relief, while the Greens' proposal would cut about $4.7 billion from the the income taxes of both middle- and low-income earners. Here's a comparison of each party's promises to make your life more affordable. WATCH | Duelling affordability measures make for heated debate: Ontario's major party leaders debate their plans on improving affordability 2 days ago Duration 3:25 Ontario's four main party leaders went head to head on their plans to tackle the province's affordability crisis — and things got heated. PC: $200 cheques, gas tax cut Ford — who had not taken questions from reporters in Ontario for nine straight days as of Wednesday — spoke to factory workers about the $200 cheques during a campaign stop in Waterloo on Feb. 6. "The banks told me it was the largest cheque run they've done in the history of this country," Ford said of his government's decision to put some 15 million cheques in the mail starting in January. "It's not our money, it's your money. You paid it," said Ford, adding that his party's philosophy is to "give it back to the people that paid it." Ford, whose government was running a $6.6-billion deficit when he called the election, has repeatedly denied the rebate was designed as an election gimmick. "We were going ahead no matter if there was an election or no election," Ford said during a campaign news conference in Ottawa on Feb. 4. Ford's rivals are attacking him for sending an identical rebate to every Ontario taxpayer, regardless of their income. "Mr. Ford has handed out $200 cheques to millionaires and billionaires like (Loblaw chairman) Galen Weston, the guy gouging you at the grocery store," said Schreiner during a segment on affordability in Monday's televised debate. "Let me tell you, I am not going to be giving a $200 cheque to Galen Weston," Stiles chipped in shortly afterward. The other broad-based cost relief measure in the PC platform is a promise to make the ongoing 5.7 cent per litre cut in the provincial gas tax permanent. The PCs say it saves the average household $125 per year and costs the treasury roughly $620 million per year. NDP: Means-tested grocery rebate The NDP's promised grocery rebate would provide $40 monthly per adult and $20 monthly per child to all families with annual net household income of $65,000 or less and all individuals with annual net income of $50,000 or less. It is a means-tested rebate, so individuals and households earning more than those thresholds would receive smaller rebates. The rebate shrinks to zero for households with $100,000-plus or individuals with $65,000-plus annual incomes. During the Feb. 8 news conference in Toronto when she unveiled the promise, Stiles described it as one of the most important announcements of her election campaign. "This is going to help people every month, not just one time, one year, before an election, like Doug Ford just did," Stiles told reporters. "It's also going to help those people who need it the most." A family of four eligible for the full amount would receive $1,440 annually. The measure would cost the treasury $4.9 billion per year. A background document provided by the NDP says around 3.7 million households would receive some rebate, and roughly 30 per cent of Ontario families would be eligible for the maximum amount. The NDP is also pitching its rent control promises as an affordability measure. Stiles would rein in how much landlords can increase rent between tenants and also impose rent control on units built since 2018, which are currently exempt.. Liberal: Middle-income tax cut The Liberals released their tax cut plan in November, before the campaign began. It would reduce the provincial tax rate on income between $51,446 and $75,000 to 7.15 per cent from the current rate of 9.15 per cent. In a background document, the Liberals say this would save an average household $950 per year. Along with a promise to remove the HST from home heating and hydro bills — saving each household an average of $200 per year — the Liberals say the measures would cost the treasury $2.8 billion per year. The income tax cut would not do anything for anyone earning less than $51,446 per year. In response to a question on that during Monday's debate, Crombie responded by pointing to the promised HST cut and her promise to double Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) rates. "I ask people, 'Is your life more affordable today than it was before Doug Ford?' Clearly the answer to that is no," Crombie said Wednesday at a campaign event in the eastern Ontario riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. "We're going to put money back in your pocket," Crombie said, echoing a line that Ford used frequently in previous campaigns. Green: Income tax cut Schreiner's Greens are proposing an income tax cut that would apply to all individuals earning less than $65,000 and all households with joint income less than $100,000. The promise would deliver as much as $1,700 per person in annual tax relief, according to Schreiner. The Green Party is the only one of the four major parties that has released full costing details of its promises. The document shows the incom tax cut would cost the treasury $4.7 billion, which would be offset by a roughly identical increase in annual revenue from a new wealth tax on households with $10 million or more in assets.
CBC
28-01-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Why calling an election now helps Doug Ford and his Ontario PCs
While Premier Doug Ford insists that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threat is why he's calling an election 15 months ahead of schedule, there are plenty of reasons why the timing is politically advantageous to Ford and his Ontario PC Party. Ford will visit Ontario's lieutenant-governor today to make the formal request that kickstarts the provincial campaign, with election day set to be Feb. 27. Here's why calling the election now helps the Progressive Conservatives, with insights from party insiders. 1. Campaign readiness Even though the early election rumours began swirling last May when Ford first refused to rule out a snap vote, there's evidence the other parties are nowhere near as ready as the PCs to contest an election. The PCs blew the other parties out of the water in fundraising in 2023 and 2024. That money helps pay for the advertising needed to reach voters during the campaign and supports the voter outreach and data gathering work that is crucial to winning elections. As for polling, PC campaign organizers would not have pushed for the early call if they felt their poll numbers were not in strong shape relative to Marit Stiles's NDP and Bonnie Crombie's Liberals. Ontario announces new primary health-care plan 2 days before election call 11 hours ago Duration 2:25 Ontario has announced $1.4 billion in new funding to connect every Ontario resident with a primary health-care provider by spring 2026. That comes two days before Premier Doug Ford is set to trigger a 28-day election campaign. CBC's Lorenda Reddekopp has the details. "Anytime you are leading in the polls is a good time to call an election," said Andrew Brander, a former campaign manager for Ontario PC and federal Conservative candidates, now vice president at public affairs firm Crestview Strategies. "Probably the biggest advantage to Doug Ford calling an election now is that we haven't seen much from the opposition in terms of being able to really define themselves," said Brander in an interview. The PCs "have been election-ready since the first day of this mandate," said Laryssa Waler, Ford's former director of communications, now leading the public affairs firm Henley Strategies. "The PCs are ready to go," said Waler in an interview. "They've been knocking on doors every day for years." Ford's party has nominated more candidates than any of its rivals. (No party has nominated a full slate for all of Ontario's 124 ridings yet. There's still time: the nomination deadline to get on the ballot will be Feb. 13.) 2. Justin Trudeau's resignation Multiple sources inside the PC party say as late as early January, Ford was reluctant to call an election early. This was weeks after Trump won and began talking about slapping tariffs on Canada. What tipped Ford from reluctance to enthusiasm: Justin Trudeau's Jan. 6 announcement that he would resign as prime minister and was proroguing Parliament. Trudeau's announcement not only created a leadership vacuum in Ottawa that Ford could exploit, it also guaranteed there would be no federal election to interfere with a provincial campaign until at least late March, and kicked off a federal Liberal leadership race. Because of the strong overlap between the federal and provincial Liberal parties, that leadership race is now absorbing resources — experienced political organizers, volunteers and donations — that could otherwise help Crombie's Ontario Liberals. "There are only so many people in Ontario who know how to run elections and who know how to raise money and who know how to be campaign managers," said Waler. Tom Allison, a veteran Liberal campaign organizer, was set to be campaign chair for the Ontario Liberals but is now managing Chrystia Freeland's leadership campaign. Ontario's booze expansion rollout could cost taxpayers $1.4B, FAO says 17 hours ago Duration 3:49 3. Ford vs. Trump The role of chair of Canada's premiers rotates every year. The timing for Ontario's premier to take a turn at the head of the table couldn't have worked out better for Ford. In response to Trump's tariff threat, Ford has emerged as a protector of not only Ontario, but also Canada, says Waler. "I think that even voters who were maybe not previously accessible to the Ontario PC Party have looked at Doug Ford and said, 'He's got our best interests at heart. He's going toe-to-toe with Donald Trump.'" Trump will hardly be negotiating with a mere premier of a province in a country that he often dismisses as the 51st state. Still, Ford is scheduled to travel to Washington twice during the election campaign, and that's a visual the PCs will want to use in their efforts to portray him as the leader Ontario needs. Also, if Trump follows through on his tariff threat and Ontario's economy is badly damaged, by the time the province's regularly scheduled election date rolls around in June 2026, voters could be in a mood to take it out on Ford. 4. Advertising advantage By calling the election early, the PCs benefit from pre-campaign advertising in a way that they couldn't on Ontario's normal election timetable of a vote every four years. Provincial election law caps party spending on ads during the six months before the start of a scheduled general election campaign. In the case of a snap election like this, the pre-campaign spending cap doesn't apply. The cash-flush PCs have flooded the airwaves over the past year with party-funded ads promoting Ford and attacking Crombie. "The PC's have have poured millions of dollars into these advertising campaigns," said Brander. "The Liberals really didn't have the resources to push back on that hard enough, early enough." The PCs also get a potential boost from the taxpayer-funded government ads promoting Ontario that have appeared over the past year. Provincial law prohibits government advertising for a 60-day period before each scheduled election campaign, but that prohibition doesn't apply in this situation, when an election is called early. Ontario's auditor general found the government spent a record $103.5 million on advertising in the 2023-24 fiscal year. 'We need a mandate from the people,' Ford says as he confirms snap election 4 days ago Duration 3:57 CBC's Lane Harrison breaks down highlights from Premier Doug Ford's election announcement — plus, we hear from Toronto residents about how they feel heading to the polls early. 5. Getting ahead of potential Poilievre victory Over the past 65 years, through 17 provincial elections, there's been just one time that an Ontario party formed government when its federal political cousins were in power in Ottawa. That was 2003, when Dalton McGuinty's Liberals won in Ontario while Jean Chrétien was prime minister. That long-running historical trend is not the only reason why some Ontario PC organizers were leery of waiting for a provincial election, in the event that Pierre Poilievre leads his Conservatives to victory in a federal vote that must be held this year. PC organizers also feared if Ford had stuck with the fixed-date election timetable, that some policies brought in by a Poilievre government could spark a backlash that would hurt the provincial party in 2026. 6. Getting ahead of potential Greenbelt charges The early call means that unless the RCMP announces something in the next four weeks, Ford's PCs will have sent Ontarians to the polls without the spectre of any charges related to the Greenbelt affair. The Ford government's move to allow a handpicked group of landowners to build homes in the protected Greenbelt — boosting the potential value of that land by upwards of $8 billion, according to the auditor general — dominated the first year-plus of this mandate. While Ford eventually scrapped the plan, the RCMP is investigating how it came about, looking for any evidence of corruption. 7. Timing is everything It also doesn't hurt Ford politically that a $200 cheque is landing in the mailboxes of pretty much every single voter in Ontario right now. If Ford wins another majority on Feb. 27, he will be the first Ontario premier to lead their party to three straight majorities since the 1950s, when Leslie Frost did it for the PCs.
