Hello politicos!

Welcome back to Campaign Countdown, our now daily newsletter devoted to covering everything about the 2025 federal election.

Here’s our recap of the day it’s been on the trail. Want real-time updates? Check out iPolitics each day for our live blog.

(If you’re enjoying Campaign Countdown, share this link with your friends so they can get it too.)

Enough chit-chat, let’s get to the news!

Campaign Digest

Once again, U.S. President Donald Trump is stealing the headlines.

Trump said Wednesday that he is immediately pausing tariffs on most nations for 90 days following market turmoil triggered by his trade war with the world.

He said he made the decision after more than 75 countries called his administration “to negotiate a solution.” In a social media post, he said “these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what the impact would be on Canada, but a White House official said that the U.S. tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada wouldn’t be affected by the pause.

The United States’ 25 per cent tariff on goods it imports from Mexico and Canada that are not covered under the region’s USMCA trade pact remains in effect, the official said, adding that energy and potash from the two countries will also continue be tariffed at 10 per cent.

The bulk of goods from Mexico and Canada that are covered under the trade agreement have been excluded from the United States’ wide ranging tariff policies.

Now back to the trail.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney started the day in Calgary, where he said Canada needs to become an energy superpower.

He said the country needs “unionized builders” to “emerge stronger from the greatest crisis of our lifetime,” referencing the trade war with the U.S.

“As a country, we haven’t been thinking, or acting, big enough,” he said — and have depended “too much on the United States.”

He talked about the Liberals’ proposed “first to last mile” program, and a pledge to expand the clean energy investment credit to include technologies connected to defence, semiconductors and green technology. He also wants Canada to become “the global supplier of choice for critical metals and minerals,” but stressed that Canada would also choose its partners carefully, and work with those who share our values.

He said “ignoring climate change [is] not only morally wrong, but economically wrong.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where he was asked about a morning report from Global News regarding donations that friends of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made to his Conservative leadership campaign. Poilievre said his team received some 37,000 donations that were impossible to thoroughly vet but that he condemned foreign interference in all forms, and questioned why the Liberals weren’t doing enough to stop it.

“The real question you should be asking is why haven’t the Liberals got the foreign agent registry up and running?”

Poilievre mostly used his speech to recap highlights of his pledge to crack down on repeat offenders and tighten up the restrictions on early release.

Finally, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh opened his press conference in Vancouver, B.C., by talking about pharmacare and his concerns that a Liberal government will refuse to expand public coverage beyond diabetes medication and contraceptives.

Singh said the initial pharmacare legislation was “just the first step,” as New Democrats are now looking to expand drug coverage to include all essential medication, which, he noted, “are most often prescribed.”

“It’s going to save money for families and it’s also going to improve our healthcare system,” he said, adding that the cost of covering all essential medication would be approximately $3.5 billion.

Staying with the NDP leader, our very own Davis Legree has this look at new polling that found that most Canadians do not believe Jagmeet Singh’s party is focused on Trump’s trade war with Canada.

Polling talk

There’s some good news for the Tories in a new Nanos poll.

The Liberal advantage over the Conservatives has narrowed further and sits at four points — 43 to 39 per cent.

Sixty-eight per cent of Conservative supporters said their decision was final, while 61 per cent of Liberals and just 45 per cent of NDP supporters said the same.

But an Abacus poll paints a different picture. The pollster, one of the last to show the Conservatives still leading, has the Liberals now breaking away from a statistical tie to enjoy a six-point lead. The numbers look even better for the Liberals when broken down by regions — they hold big leads out east and in Quebec, a 10-point advantage in Ontario and are only seven points behind in B.C.

That’s all from us today. Watch your inbox every day for our latest campaign dispatch as we keep you posted on everything about the 2025 federal election.

Also, send us your feedback and news tips to [email protected].

Take care!