Good evening to you.

Ahead of this week’s debates, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Liberal Leader Mark Carney spent another day in Quebec, where made respective announcements about cracking down on financial scammers and improving skills trading for workers.

Starting with Poilievre, the Tory leader proposed implementing mandatory scam detection systems for banks and phone companies in an effort to protect Canadians and, in particular, senior citizens from being defrauded.

In the ensuing question-and-answer period, Poilievre was asked about the latest developments in U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing tariff war, to which he repeated his assertion that “no one is going to be able to control (Trump),” so the answer, in his view, is to “reverse the Liberal policies” that Carney advised Trudeau to bring in. He did, however, concur that Canada should not lift any countertariffs.

Another journalist wanted to know if Poilievre will “defund the CBC within the first 100 days of his government,” and although he ignored the request to give a simple yes or no answer, he said that, while he doesn’t have a time frame to do so, he’s still planning to do so.

Meanwhile, in Saint-Eustache, Que., Carney outlined a new benefit that would provide up to $15,000 for workers in “priority sectors,” including manufacturing, healthcare, construction and artificial intelligence.

You can keep up with all the news by checking out iPolitics‘ live blog, which will run everyday until the federal election. Also, stay tuned to our daily Campaign Countdown newsletter for a recap of the day’s events. You can find that here.

Still with Carney, Edmonton Centre, a riding in his hometown, is one of a few seats across the country where all three of Canada’s major national parties are expected to be competitive.

In 2021, the Liberals picked up the seat from the Conservatives, while the NDP finished in a close third, falling short by fewer than 2,500 votes.

The incumbent, former cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault, has opted not to run again after media reports revealed a series of scandals surrounding his personal business dealings, which experts believe will tighten the race even further.

Alex Kohut, a former pollster in Justin Trudeau’s Prime Minister’s Office, called Edmonton Centre a “true three-way race.”

The polling aggregator 338Canada, which provides seat projections by combining historical results with national public opinion data, gives the Liberals a “likely” chance of keeping the riding red, but both the Conservatives and NDP have devoted time and effort into flipping the seat.

Davis Legree examines the race in our latest Battleground Breakdown.

In other news, Honda is pushing back against a report that the carmaker is considering moving some vehicle production from plants in Canada to the U.S., which could shutter a massive plant in Ontario’s Simcoe County.

Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday that the move is part of push to have 90 per cent of Honda of cars sold in the U.S. to be made locally in response to new 25 per cent auto tariffs.

Honda’s facility in Aliston, Ont., currently employs over 4,200 people. But the automaker committed last year to expand and add two new plants that will produce up to 240,000 vehicles per year and create more than 1,000 “well-paying manufacturing jobs” once fully operational in 2028.

Honda also announced that it would add two new plants elsewhere in Ontario. And as iPolitics first reported last spring, one of those new facilities will be located in the Niagara Region.

But Honda Canada on Tuesday said it’s not planning to move out of Alliston.

Marco Vigliotti reports.

In Other Headlines

Internationally

A Russian court on Tuesday convicted four journalists of extremism for working for an anti-corruption group founded by the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny and sentenced them to 5.5 years in prison each.

Antonina Favorskaya, Kostantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin and Artyom Kriger were found guilty of involvement with a group that had been labelled as extremist. All four had maintained their innocence, arguing they were being prosecuted for doing their jobs as journalists.

The closed-door trial was part of an unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has reached an unprecedented scale after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

The authorities have targeted opposition figures, independent journalists, rights activists and ordinary Russians critical of the Kremlin with prosecution, jailing hundreds and prompting thousands to flee the country.

AP has the latest.

Elsewhere, an Israeli air strike hit the northern gate of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a medic and wounding nine other people, a spokesman for the hospital said.

The strike hit the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Muwasi area, where hundreds of thousands have sought shelter in sprawling tent camps. The wounded were all patients and medics, and two of the patients were in critical condition after the strike, said Saber Mohammed, a hospital spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

AP also has more on that.

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

Sports and politics collided on Tuesday, as NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet both called for Wednesday night’s French-language leaders’ debate to be rescheduled to avoid a conflict with a Montreal Canadiens game that could have playoff implications.

The Habs are in a dogfight with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final playoff spot in the eastern conference, but a win on Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes will guarantee them a first-round date with the Washington Capitals. Alternatively, if Columbus loses to Philadelphia on Tuesday, that would also mathematically clinch a spot in the postseason for Montreal.

So, in essence, the debate could be rescheduled for a game that may not even matter!

And with that, we’ll see you tomorrow…