Two federal party leaders took aim Saturday at Mark Carney, whom polls suggest is the front-runner in the April 28 election, for once again skipping the campaign trail.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet accused the Liberal leader of trying to capitalize on his early momentum by coasting through the opening three weeks of the campaign.
“I believe that Mr. Carney is trying to get a free ride,” he said at an announcement in Trois-Rivières, Que., alleging the Liberals are trying to “hide him as much as possible.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, speaking in his own Ottawa riding of Carleton, also accused Carney of “hiding again.”
Carney paused his campaign for the third time Thursday to tend to his prime ministerial duties in response to the ongoing U.S. trade war.
He returned to Ottawa to convene a meeting with his Canada-U.S. cabinet council on Friday.
Afterwards, he warned there were “initial signs of slowing in the global economy” and said he’s directed officials to prepare for negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration next month.
Carney then left without taking questions from reporters.
WATCH | Blanchet says Liberals trying to hide Carney from scrutiny:
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says Liberal Leader Mark Carney is trying to capitalize on the early momentum from the beginning of his campaign by ‘hiding’ from media and limiting campaign appearances.
Spoke with NATO head
Carney isn’t holding any public events on Saturday, but in the afternoon he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he’d been speaking with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the morning.
He went on to write that “Canada’s commitment to the alliance is ironclad” and that he would boost defence spending.
That same afternoon, the Liberals quoted Carney in a party news release about a new summer discount program for national parks and free youth access to national galleries and museums.
Prior to Carney addressing his whereabouts Saturday, Blanchet said the limiting of the Liberal leader’s public appearances — combined with the short five-week campaign —means Carney is “as seldom seen as possible, saying as little as possible, and hiding as much as possible.”
Also speaking before Carney made his statements, Poilievre said the Liberal leader had been “in hiding today and yesterday.”
Carney is “trying to make Canadians forget,” Poilievre added, that housing costs have soared and food bank lineups have gotten longer.
Poilievre and Blanchet were repeating criticisms of Carney they each made on Friday.
That same day, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Carney should be coming up with a plan to boost financial aid for people who lose their jobs because of the trade war.
3rd campaign pause
Before this week, Carney had interrupted his campaign twice in order to respond to Trump’s tariff threats.
His first interruption in late March was meant to plot Canada’s response to the imposition of tariffs on automotive imports.
Carney later pivoted from the campaign trail ahead of widespread “retaliatory” tariffs Trump inflicted on dozens of countries but ultimately not Canada.
His third tariff-related campaign pause comes amid sliding stock markets but no material change to the existing tariffs hitting Canada.
Carney has also taken other days off from making public announcements, like on the first Saturday of the campaign when he met with volunteers in his riding of Nepean instead.
Other leaders have taken breaks too, including Singh, who made no announcements Saturday.
Blanchet acknowledged he may take time off himself, but also said he doesn’t need any rest.
“I sleep mostly on the bus,” he said.
Poilievre has held media availabilities every day of the campaign, but the party has been criticized for restricting access. At Conservative events, journalists are kept at a distance, often behind barriers.
They’re limited to asking Poilievre four questions with no follow-ups, and party officials decide which reporters ask questions.
As of Thursday, Poilievre had answered around half as many questions during the campaign as Carney, according to Radio-Canada.
Policy announcements
Meanwhile, the leaders of the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois each made policy announcements and answered questions Saturday.
Poilievre announced a range of supports for veterans, including streamlining disability benefits, ending the clawbacks on veterans’ pensions if they take a private sector job and prioritizing veterans for public service jobs.
Blanchet demanded Quebec be compensated for Ottawa’s upcoming carbon tax rebate since the April payout is being financed by taxpayers — rather than carbon tax revenues — as the levy has already been eliminated.
