Saturday March 22, 2025 | NATIONAL NEWS [reporting from VICTORIA, BC]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Tomorrow on Sunday March 23, Prime Minister Mark Carney will ask the Governor General to dissolve parliament.
The Writ will drop, and Canadians will be heading into the 45th Canadian general election.
It looks like the campaign will run through to a General Election Day on Monday April 28. That’s the shortest (35 day) campaign period allowed for a federal election in Canada; the longest campaign could be up to 51 days.
Advance polls are held on the 10th, 9th, 8th and 7th days before election day. Those dates will be confirmed by Elections Canada once the Writ has dropped tomorrow.
A lot for a new prime minister:
Carney has spent the last week or so covering as many bases as possible in his first week as Prime Minister:
- International – a visit to Europe to shore up support for Canada-Europe trade expansion and fortified military support
- National – meeting with Canada’s 13 Premiers to discuss a rapid dissolution of interprovincial trade barriers
- Regional – a bit of hockey on the ice with the Edmonton Oilers, and announcements in Edmonton about dropping the GST for first-time homebuyers and doing infrastructure development faster and at a different scale.
Carney has not yet revealed where he will run for a seat to become a Member of Parliament. Back on March 9 he was elected by members of the Liberal party, replacing Justin Trudeau who stepped down a few days later.
Warming up to the campaign:
- Mark Carney as the Liberal leader announced his lean ‘war-time’ cabinet on March 14, notably with sitting MPs who have been long-time ministers and who had already been leading the tariff-response file. Throughout the campaign, he will appear in Canadian media both on the campaign trail and as the current prime minister (possibly including dealing directly with Trump).
- Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been making regular campaign-style announcements for months and has been pushing the free enterprise approach. Two of his key platform planks — dropping the consumer carbon tax and dropping GST for first-time homebuyers — have now been adopted by the Liberals. He says the national media will not be invited along on his campaign airplane.
- NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has focused mainly on the need for Employment Insurance improvements in recent weeks, as well, today, highlighting how the Canadian dental care plan will be expanded to cover 18 to 64-year-olds (something the NDP fought hard for during the Liberal minority government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Now 343 ridings:
At dissolution, the seat count in the House of Commons (with 338 seats) will have been Liberal 152, Conservative 120, Bloc 33, NDP 24, Green Party 2, Independent 3, and four vacant seats.
Currently the largest number of MPs represent electoral areas in Ontario (121), Quebec (78) and BC (42).
Of the 42 MPs elected in BC in the last election (in 2021), 12 are NDP (six of whom represent Vancouver Island ridings).
Due to population growth and some boundary revisions, there will be 343 seats in the House of Commons when Members of Parliament return after the April 2025 election.
Meeting with US president:
Carney has said he will meet with US President Donald Trump once there is some respect shown for Canada’s sovereignty.
From a practical standpoint, this has meant no room for error in front of the cameras before Carney heads into his first-ever election.
===== RELATED:
- Fielding federal candidates in 343 ridings across the country (March 22, 2025)
- Liberal vision to build ‘one strong economy’ in response to trade war (March 21, 2025)
- Carney & Premiers discuss interprovincial trade, economic infrastructure, more housing & being an energy superpower (March 21, 2025)
- Carney on tariff challenge: do things faster and at a different scale (March 20, 2025)
- Bank of Canada Governor: more uncertainty, tough decisions as trade war escalates (March 20, 2025)
- Jagmeet Singh launches south Vancouver Island NDP campaign office (March 13, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION 2025 | CANADA-NATIONAL | CANADA-USA | COUNCIL OF THE FEDERATION