Pierre Poilievre to face 81 other candidates in Ottawa-area riding | Globalnews.ca
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will seek re-election against 81 other candidates in his Ottawa-area riding — while Liberal Leader Mark Carney is running for the first time against four challengers in Nepean.
A protest group called the Longest Ballot Committee has convinced dozens of candidates to register to run as Independents in the Ontario riding of Carleton, where Poilievre is the incumbent seeking re-election, in addition to the usual main party candidates.
The protest group opposes the first-past-the-post voting system and is seeking to build support for electoral reform.
The group has fielded long lists of candidates in prominent federal byelections in recent years, inflating the physical size of ballots and delaying the counts.
A representative from the protest group pledged to field candidates against Liberal incumbent Chrystia Freeland in her University—Rosedale riding in Toronto — a threat that has not materialized as she only faces five challengers.
Candidates across Canada had until 2 p.m. Monday to submit their nomination papers — confirming their names on the ballots for April 28 — and until 5 p.m. to decide to withdraw their candidacy.
The top three federal party leaders will all be in Western Canada on Tuesday.
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Poilievre is scheduled to hold a press conference in Edmonton at 8:30 a.m. local time before he makes his way to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., for a rally in the evening.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh plans to make an announcement at 9:30 a.m. in Vancouver before joining striking workers on a picket line and meeting with Stewart Philip, grand chief of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, in Burnaby, B.C., in the evening.
Carney is expected to make an announcement in Delta, B.C., this morning and will visit a business in New Westminster, B.C., before heading east for a suppertime rally in Calgary.
The Liberal and Conservative leaders both started the third week of the federal election campaign in British Columbia — a battleground province with 43 seats up for grabs when Canadians go to the polls in the April 28th vote.
The Liberals pledged environmental conservation measures and support for seniors, while the Tories offered more efficient approvals for resource projects, and the NDP promised $16 billion over four years to build three million homes by 2030.
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