In the news today: Carney, Poilievre campaigning in Montreal today

By Canadian Press on April 14, 2025.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Carney, Poilievre campaigning in Montreal today

Liberal Leader Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre are both campaigning in Montreal today, days before the federal leaders take part in debates.

Poilievre will hold a press conference in Montreal at 9 a.m. ET.

Carney will make an announcement in Dorval, Que., at 10 a.m. ET.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will be in Toronto, scheduled to appear on CTV’s Your Morning and Breakfast Television before making an announcement at 10 a.m.

As the election heads into the home stretch leading up to the April 28 vote, party leaders are looking ahead to televised debates in Montreal this week.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

LGBTQ+ groups ask parties to defend human rights

LGBTQ+ Canadians are calling on federal parties to affirm their rights during this election campaign as they face a rising tide of hate crimes.

“It’s important that leaders from all parties speak up for the rights of trans folks and queer folks,” said Fae Johnstone, head of the advocacy group Queer Momentum.

While she said she’s grateful that LGBTQ+ issues haven’t become a culture war flashpoint in the election campaign, she said federal leaders have been allowed to largely ignore those issues while campaigning.

Johnstone’s group is among 200 organizations behind a March 31 open letter urging party leaders to oppose any reversal to “human rights victories, including marriage equality, Canada’s conversion therapy ban, and transgender rights legislation.”

The letter also calls on the federal government to be “a global leader on equality and human rights for queer and trans people around the world, including refugees,” and to continue funding LGBTQ+ organizations.

Ottawa candidates look to defeat party leaders

Two local candidates are hoping to beat the Liberal and Conservative party leaders on their home turf — two ridings which just happen to be next door to each other in Ottawa’s west end.

Liberal candidate for Carleton Bruce Fanjoy said his opponent — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre — has essentially become his “personal trainer.” He said he has gone through two pairs of running shoes and has knocked on over 15,000 doors in the past two years.

Fanjoy said he’s not intimidated going up against Poilievre, despite his high profile as the Conservative party leader and the fact that’s he’s been Carleton’s MP since 2004. Fanjoy accuses Poilievre of accomplishing “nothing for Carleton” in 20 years.

While Fanjoy chose to run against Poilievre back when the polls were heavily in the Conservatives’ favour, he said he always saw a “path to victory.”

Recent polls suggest that Poilievre is likely to win again in Carleton, although the race with the Liberals is tightening.

Ontario set to choose first female Speaker

The members of Ontario’s legislature are set to make history today by selecting the province’s first female Speaker — but just who will take up the mantle remains to be seen.

Two members of provincial parliament have put their names forward to become the 43rd Speaker of Ontario, as Ted Arnott is set to retire after nearly seven years presiding over the legislative assembly. Electing a Speaker is the legislature’s first and only order of business on the first day back after the February provincial election.

Progressive Conservative member Donna Skelly and New Democrat member Jennifer French are both bidding for the job, and are keenly aware of the significance.

French and Skelly have both previously served as deputy Speakers, and say they would bring different perspectives to the role.

Skelly, who entered politics after a 30-year career in broadcast journalism, said she wants to bring a more professional tone, with “less chaos” to question period.

Interest reignited in Alaska LNG megaproject

Hundreds of kilometres up the Pacific coast from where Canada’s first liquefied natural gas export terminal is set to start up this summer, a monster lays dormant.

Alaska has long had ambitions to ship its natural gas to international markets, but the cost and scale of such an undertaking has held it back for decades.

But there’s been renewed interest in the megaproject since U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office devoted to Alaska resource development. State officials, including Gov. Mike Dunleavy, have been busy in recent weeks trying to woo potential Asian buyers of the gas under long-term contracts.

Industry experts have doubts the Alaska behemoth will awaken this time, but they say Canada must be mindful of the threat it could pose to its own nascent LNG industry.

With an estimated price tag of US$44 billion, Alaska LNG would see a 1,300-kilometre pipeline traverse the state from north to south, passing through treacherous terrain to deliver an average of 3.5 million mmBTU a day of gas to a liquefaction plant in Nikiski, south of Anchorage. The project also includes a carbon capture plant by the gas fields on Alaska’s North Slope.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2025.

The Canadian Press