Skip to main content
politics briefing newsletter

Hello,

If you like numbers, this is the day for you.

Both the NDP and the Conservatives are releasing their full costed platforms today. Both releases come the day after the final televised debate, meaning that the party leaders won’t have to take questions on their numbers. (Though the NDP released their full list of promises back in the summer.) As well, the releases come the day before the Thanksgiving long weekend.

The New Democrats were first up to release their costing this morning. The party revealed it would pay for its promises through a range of tax measures aimed mostly at corporations and wealthy Canadians. The party expects to raise an extra $30-billion a year. The NDP also says its plan would run smaller deficits than that of the Liberals.

The Conservatives will follow with their release this afternoon, at noon PT near Vancouver (3 p.m. ET).

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

DAILY TRACKING OF PUBLIC OPINION

  • Liberals: 35 per cent
  • Conservatives: 33 per cent
  • NDP: 15 per cent
  • Green: 9 per cent
  • Bloc Québécois: 5 per cent
  • People’s Party: 1 per cent

Analysis from Nik Nanos: “Voters remain gripped by indecision between Liberals and Conservatives. Trudeau ahead of Scheer by 6 points as preferred PM but Singh trending up as third.”

The survey was conducted by Nanos Research and was sponsored by The Globe and Mail and CTV. 1,200 Canadians were surveyed between Oct. 8 and 10, 2019. The margin of error is 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Respondents were asked: “If a federal election were held today, could you please rank your top two current local voting preferences?” A report on the results, questions and methodology for this and all surveys can be found at https://tgam.ca/election-polls.

TODAY’S HEADLINES

The party leaders are preparing for the final stretch of the election campaign. Advance voting starts this weekend, with regular voting on Oct. 21. Last night was the final debate of the season, a consortium-organized French-language debate in Gatineau, Que. This one was more focused than the chaotic English-language affair of Monday, with party leaders appealing to the hearts and minds of Quebeckers. The Bloc Québécois, which appears poised to return to a level of prominence in Parliament it hasn’t seen in nearly a decade, was the target of the other major parties. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer made the traditional appeal that Quebeckers would have more influence by voting for a party that actually could form government. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he was bothered by the Bloc’s policies, such as support for Bill 21 in Quebec. Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said only his part could truly represent Quebeckers.

Mr. Scheer said he is not bothered by suggestions that other Conservatives are already jockeying behind the scenes to make leadership bids if he loses the election. “We’re going to win on Oct. 21,” he told reporters.

The leader of an Indigenous group that wants to buy a majority stake in the government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline says he is getting ready to make a deal, whichever party wins the election. “Does it matter to First Nations whether it’s the Liberals or Conservatives? I don’t have a preference,” said Michael LeBourdais, a director with the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group and also the elected chief of the Whispering Pines/Clinton Indian Band near Kamloops, B.C.

The federal government says it has been in touch with Kurdish forces in Syria about the status of Canadians as the Turkish military rolls into the country.

The Canadian embassy in China has deleted a lighthearted tweet about avoiding jail in the country.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says he is optimistic a Brexit deal could still be reached by the Oct. 31 deadline.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has won the Nobel Peace Prize as the country readies for a tense election.

And a Toronto restaurant owned by Syrian refugees that had said it would close earlier this week because of death threats will now reopen. “We do not want to set an example for future immigrants and refugee business owners as the business that gave in to hate,” said Husam Al-Soufi, the family patriarch.

Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on the French-language debate: “A key question that emerged from Thursday night’s French-language debate is whether the purchase of a pipeline to the Pacific will be the thing that weighs Justin Trudeau down in Quebec.”

Aisha J. Silim (The Globe and Mail) on the lessons to draw from a Syrian-family-owned restaurant receiving death threats: “Here, as much as in the United States, rhetoric against refugees and immigrants is premised on the false belief that they are expensive drains on society, rather than productive citizens. They are burdened with the need to prove their humanity and economic worth in their host country.”

Rob Carrick (The Globe and Mail) on a demographic that is being ignored in the election: “Just more than one in four people who are 65 and up live alone, far more than any other age group. Solo seniors will become even more common as the percentage of the population in retirement soars in the decades ahead, yet politicians seem oblivious.”

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi (The Globe and Mail) on why his city needs more help to build flood protections: “But we can’t get what we need built. And the blame can largely be laid at the feet of the federal government, through its inability to get the regulatory system for major projects right. In July, for the third time in two years, the regulator responsible for reviewing the project said the application needs just a little more work.”

Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe