Campaign Growing Pains | Your Campaign Spotlight from Summa Strategies

Leaders’ Tours

Trudeau

  • Justin Trudeau was set to make an announcement and hold a media availability at 12:00 PM ET.
  • Trudeau spent Tuesday in Hamilton. He offered voters an ambitious new plan on housing Tuesday, promising that a re-elected Liberal government would establish and enforce new rights for home buyers, provide support to first time home buyers, and build more homes. 
  • On a visit to Halifax on Monday, Trudeau pledged $6 billion dollars to help reduce health care waitlists, and $3 billion dollars towards family physicians and practitioners.
  • After sitting out the seventh day of the federal election on Saturday, Trudeau spent Sunday, August 22, touching down in the Maritimes for the first time this campaign. Trudeau held a press conference in the Miramichi-Grand Lake riding in New Brunswick, before hopping over to PEI. Liberal candidate Pat Finnigan won Miramichi-Grand Lake by less than 400 votes in 2019. 
  • Trudeau announced a new policy to introduce 10 days of paid sick leave for all federally regulated workers, on Friday, in a Winnipeg grocery store. 
  • On August 18, Trudeau continued his tour in the Vancouver South riding, announcing his plan to combat the devastation of wildfires and extreme weather by training more community-based firefighters and investing in more fire-fighting equipment in every province and territory. He was joined by Vancouver South Liberal candidate, and Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan. 

O’Toole

  • Erin O’Toole was set to appear in Brantford, Ontario, to make an announcement and answer questions from the media at 11:30 AM ET on Wednesday.
  • While discussing his plan to protect pensions in Ottawa on Tuesday, O’Toole affirmed his commitment towards all Canadians receiving access to public healthcare, and his plan to invest $10 billion dollars in health care transfers to provinces.
  • On Sunday, O’Toole indicated in Vancouver that his government would not move to block supervised injection sites, a departure from previous CPC platforms.
  • While stopping in Edmonton on Saturday, O’Toole explained his proposal to double the disability supplement in the Canada Workers Benefit to $1,500, and to bolster disability support for those particularly impacted by the pandemic. 
  • O’Toole was in Winnipeg on Friday to announce the Conservative Canada Job Surge Plan, which aims to create 100,000 jobs by subsidizing the cost of new hires for businesses based on the length of a candidate’s unemployment. 
  • On August 18th, O’Toole campaigned in Quebec City, and touted his “Contract with Quebecers”, which commits to cede Quebec control over immigration, extend Bill 101 to all federally-regulated businesses in Quebec, and amalgamate federal and Quebec provincial tax return forms. He also promised that a CPC government would avoid intervening in court to challenge Quebec’s secularism laws.  

Singh

  • Jagmeet Singh was set to appear Wednesday in Windsor, Ontario. He planned to make an announcement and answer questions from the media at 10:00 AM ET.
  • Singh spent Tuesday discussing his party’s plan to invest in the quality and availability of spots in long-term care homes, in Mississauga.
  • On Monday in Montreal, Singh announced the NDP’s climate change policies. 
  • On August 22, NDP Leader Singh campaigned in the Toronto-Danforth riding and announced his party’s intention to rename the riding to Danforth-Layton, in honour of the 10-year anniversary of the former NDP Leader Jack Layton.
  • While both the Liberal and Conservative leaders spent Friday in Winnipeg, Singh also spent the day in the prairies, commemorating the victims of the federal residential school system. 
  • Singh was in Toronto, on Saturday, promising a $5,000 supplement for those struggling to pay rent and at risk of eviction. 

Blanchet

  • On Saturday, August 22nd, Blanchet was in his own riding of Beloeil-Chambly, and promised to campaign for the newly-announced Canadian Moderna mRNA vaccine manufacturing plant to be built in Québec.
  • Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet spent Friday in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le lac, Quebec, where he discussed the Bloc’s Quebec-focused climate plan, which emphasizes Quebec’s right to retain sovereignty over the governance of its natural resources.

Platforms and Policy

  • On Sunday, August 23rd, the Bloc Québécois released their platform. The platform’s major policy planks specify compensation for farmers harmed by free-trade treaties, protections for the aluminum industry, financial grants for forestry research, the safeguarding of retirement funds, and employment insurance — up to 50 weeks in length —  for those affected by serious illness. From a cultural standpoint, the platform advocates for the extension of Bill 101 to all federally regulated sectors in Quebec, the passage of Bill C-10, and revenue from a 3% income tax on tech giants to be redirected towards the funding of French arts, media, and culture.
  • Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole announced his party’s plan to tackle the housing crisis, on August 19th, which would involve a Conservative government building a million homes within three years, adjusting mortgage housing rules, and limiting property ownership by foreign investors. 
  • On August 18, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced a housing plan to increase the affordability of house ownership and renting rates. Highlights include building 500,000 affordable new homes, placing a tax on foreign ownership, restricting housing speculation, and using the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre to combat the effects of money laundering in financial transactions related to real estate.

ICYMI

  • Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian aircrafts would begin regularly scheduled flights helping to evacuate Afghans from the Taliban-controlled nation. 
  • The Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives leapt ahead of their competition to a surprise majority win in the province’s Tuesday’s election last week, surging to 39.1% of the vote and gaining 31 seats, out of the 55-seat legislature. The Liberals had been widely projected to attain a minority government heading into the vote. Health care was the dominant ballot-box issue in the campaign, and the Progressive Conservatives successfully took aim at ambulance delays, a dearth in family physicians, a lack of availability in long-term care homes, and inadequate mental health support. It is the first election loss for the Liberals in the province since 2009.
  • Many political observers have blamed Iain Rankin’s loss in Nova Scotia to a gaffe-plagued and poorly organized campaign. Iain Rankin was widely perceived to have not connected well with voters, while an expected short-term boost in popular support, stemming from this summer’s COVID-19 ebb, did not materialize.
  • On Tuesday, August 22nd, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Francois Philippe-Charlamagne, announced a deal with Moderna to build an mRNA manufacturing facility in Canada, although the exact location of the new factory was not specified. 
  • Twitter Canada declared a video posted on Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s feed as “manipulated media.” Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau stood by the flagged video, asking Canadians to focus on the fact that “in the middle of a pandemic, Erin O’Toole came out unequivocally in support of private health care.”

Provincial updates relevant to the campaign. 

#ONPoli

  • Dr. David Fisman, an epidemiologist on Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table — which advises the Office of the Premier — has resigned, claiming that models predicting a surge in Ontario’s COVID-19 case numbers this fall are not being made public for political reasons. 

#QCPoli

  • Quebec Premier Francois Legault reaffirmed his commitment towards welcoming and settling Afghan refugees in Quebec, in a Facebook post on Saturday, following news from the federal government that Canada would be redoubling the speed of its refugee evacuation efforts. 

#ABPoli

  • Chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, told a town hall on Wednesday, August 18, that the province is exploring the legality of mandating vaccinations in certain workplaces. Members of Alberta’s provincial government are discussing the possibility of extending public health restrictions for several weeks

#BCPoli

  • BC is now requiring a new COVID-19 vaccine card to enter non-essential events. Some event types included in the passport program are indoor sports, concerts, theatres, restaurants, clubs, gyms, and weddings. By October 24th, full vaccination will be required. The number of COVID-19 cases has surged in BC’s Interior Health region, which has led to the reinstatement of mandatory mask wearing and reduced capacity limits on indoor and outdoor events.