Elections Canada signage is pictured near an advance polling station in Ottawa, on April 18.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Party leaders are crisscrossing the country this weekend in a last sprint to the finish line, spending the final hours of the federal election campaign trying to win over voters in tight races.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre started off in British Columbia Saturday and will finish out the weekend with campaign stops in Ontario.
He campaigned in the Vancouver area, including in Surrey as well as at a rally in Delta where he did not take questions from media.
“We will end tax havens and bring the money home,” he told the crowd on Saturday.
“It’s not fair that the elite – the well-connected elite like Mark Carney, get to ship his money abroad while he forces you to pay more here.”
Mr. Poilievre also held a Friday evening rally in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island where he gave a speech that covered the major themes of his campaign, pledging that a Conservative government would lead to economic growth, less crime and a stronger military.
“This room reminds all Canadians that we have hope, that we have a bright future, and that we’re going to get out and vote for that future and that change on Monday,” Mr. Poilievre said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to supporters at Arbutus Meadows farm during a rally in Nanoose Bay, B.C., on Friday.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has Saturday stops scheduled in London and Windsor, Ont. before ending the day campaigning in Vancouver and Burnaby, B.C., where he is in a battle to keep his own seat in the House of Commons.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney held his final news conference of the campaign Saturday morning at the King City, Ont. campus of Seneca college. The 905 region north of Toronto has been closely contested between the Liberals and the Conservatives, with both Mr. Carney and Mr. Poilievre making multiple visits throughout the campaign.
Where the major federal party leaders are spending the final days of the election campaign
Mr. Carney compared himself to college students who are facing crunch time at the end of the semester.
“I gotta say, I know the feeling. I’ve been on a sprint for the last 16 weeks. I have a bit of a final exam coming on Monday myself,” he said, in reference to the five-week federal election campaign that began just days after he won the Liberal leadership race.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney makes a campaign stop at Seneca College in King City, Ont., on Saturday.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The Liberal Leader’s Saturday schedule includes morning stops in Newmarket, Aurora and Markham, Ont., an afternoon rally in Mississauga and an evening rally in Windsor.
His tour is planning stops in Western Canada Sunday before heading back to Ottawa for election night.
Mr. Carney’s final news conference focused on the same singular theme that he has maintained from the start: that the federal election is about who is the best person to negotiate with U.S. President Donald Trump in a trade war.
He referenced Mr. Trump’s latest comments this week in which he repeated his view that Canada should be the 51st state and that his comments were serious.
“We need a leader that can stand up to him,” Mr. Carney said. “My question to Canadians is simple: is Pierre Poilievre the person you want sitting across the table from Donald Trump negotiating for us? Unlike Pierre Poilievre, I’m not a career politician, but I have managed budgets before. I have managed economies before. I have managed crises before this. This is a time for experience, not experiments.”
Mr. Carney was asked to respond to comments made by Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet Friday during a campaign stop in Shawinigan, Que.
“We are, whether we like it or not, part of an artificial country with very little meaning, called Canada,” Mr. Blanchet said in English.
“It’s for others to judge, to form their own opinion, of those comments. I reject them completely,” Mr. Carney said Saturday in response. “This is an incredible country. I’m incredibly proud to be Canadian.”
Following up on Mr. Carney’s comparison to Monday’s election as a final exam, a reporter asked the Liberal Leader to give himself a grade on his campaign.
“Well, all the tests that I’ve taken, the teacher gives you the grade,” Mr. Carney replied.
With a report from The Canadian Press