Here are four things you need to know this morning
Poilievre to speak with BNN Bloomberg: Canada’s federal election campaign is heating up. This morning, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre announced plans to fast-track approvals for transmission lines, railways and pipelines in a pre-approved “national energy corridor.” The system would transport resources within Canada and to the world while bypassing the United States. Over the weekend Poilievre proposed a plan to scrap capital gains taxes if the proceeds from an asset sale are reinvested in Canada. The announcements are being made as the Conservatives fall behind the Liberals in some polls and amid reports of disputes over strategy within the Conservative campaign. We’ll discuss all of this – and much more – when Poilievre speaks with BNN Bloomberg’s Merella Fernandez this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. EDT on The Close.
NDP proposes grocery price cap: Meanwhile, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has announced a plan to make food more affordable for Canadians. Singh says that if the NDP were to form a government, the party would introduce an emergency price cap on basic food items. Under the proposal, the first approach would be to negotiate the caps with grocery chains, but if they face pushback, the party says an NDP government wouldn’t hesitate to legislate.
Carney watch: It was a relatively quiet weekend for Liberal party leader Mark Carney, as he met with his campaign team. Carney has a media appearance scheduled in the Toronto area today… he has not taken questions from the media since Friday.
Markets under pressure: Stock markets around the world are down sharply this morning, as investors braced for another set of U.S. trade tariffs. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened widespread new tariffs starting Wednesday – though it’s still unclear which countries he plans to target, and at what rate. Constant confusion around U.S. tariff policy, retaliatory actions by key trading partners and broader concerns about an economic slowdown have hammered stocks this month. The S&P 500 has dropped 6.3 per cent so far in March, while Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index is faring relatively better, down 2.5 per cent. It remains to be seen how Canada will be affected by this week’s ‘Liberation Day’ announcements – though Trump said yesterday the tariffs will include all nations, with few (if any) exceptions by country or sector.
