Liberals and Conservatives taking their federal election campaigns to Quebec

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Liberal Leader Mark Carney are shifting their campaigns to Quebec.

Poilievre, who held a rally in Hamilton on Tuesday night with thousands in the crowd, is expected at a news conference in Montmagny, Que., around noon and at a rally in Quebec City in the evening.

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He will announce a Conservative plan to help seniors be more financially secure.

A news release from the campaign says he is promising to allow working seniors to earn up to $34,000 tax-free, up $10,000 from the current amount. Seniors would also have the option of keeping savings in RRSPs until age 73, up from age 71.

Poilievre is also promising to keep the retirement age at 65 for old age security, guaranteed income supplement and Canada pension plan programs.

Carney, who spent the first few days of the campaign in Atlantic Canada, will be in Ontario today, scheduled for an announcement and a facility tour in Windsor, a facility tour in London and a rally in Kitchener.

The Liberal leader is then set to travel back east, telling reporters Tuesday morning that he would be in Quebec in two days.

Quebec is a seat-rich province with 78 federal ridings, and recent polls suggest the Liberals have reversed a lead previously held by the Bloc.

The parties’ plans to visit Quebec come as Carney is under fire for choosing not to take part in a proposed French-language leaders debate hosted by Quebec broadcaster TVA that has since been scrapped.

Other party leaders, including Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, have criticized Carney’s decision.

“The Liberals want to be re-elected for a 4th term, but their leader is too afraid to debate me in French,” Poilievre said on social media Monday. “If Mark Carney is too fragile to debate other leaders, how can he stand up to Donald Trump?”

Singh’s itinerary indicates that he will be in southern Ontario again today, beginning with an announcement at a seniors recreation centre in Hamilton. He is set to end the day with a campaign event in London.

Singh was in Montreal earlier this week.

A new Leger poll, released this week, suggests that 44 per cent of decided voters will vote Liberal in the upcoming election, ahead of the Conservatives at 38 per cent. The poll had the NDP at only six per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2025.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press