Election 2025: Campaign Roundup - Day 11

Welcome to Day 11 of Canada Minute’s 2025 Campaign Roundup!

With the 2025 Canadian federal election now finally underway, we'll be bringing you daily updates on all the policy proclamations, platform promises, and political point-scoring from the campaign trail.

Campaign Roundup - Day 11:

• US President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs, including a 10% baseline tariff on all trading partners, a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles, and a list of country-specific tariffs. The exact impact on Canada remains unclear, however, as there are some reports that Canada is exempt from the 10% baseline tariff. We'll be keeping a close eye on developments and will have more for you on this tomorrow.
  
  
• Liberal Leader Mark Carney paused his campaign to return to Ottawa for meetings ahead of the tariff announcement. Carney has called Trump’s economic moves the “biggest crisis of our lifetimes” and warned they could weaken Canada.
  
  
• Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged to accelerate trade negotiations with the US to resolve uncertainty over President Trump’s tariffs, proposing an early renegotiation of CUSMA if elected. He outlined key priorities, including protecting Canadian industries, securing the border, and directing new trade revenue toward defence spending. Poilievre also supported retaliatory tariffs if necessary and promised financial aid for businesses affected by the trade dispute.
  
  
• Poilievre also pledged to eliminate the automatic annual tax increases on alcohol, rolling rates back to 2017 levels to lower prices for Canadians and support businesses. He criticized the Liberals for imposing nearly $900 million in alcohol tax hikes since 2017 and vowed to end future automatic increases.
  
  
• NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced his party’s plan to protect Canada from Donald Trump’s new tariffs, emphasizing increased employment insurance, an east-west electricity grid, and reinvesting retaliatory tariff revenue into affected industries. Speaking in Winnipeg, Singh also pledged to defend public utilities and introduce a no-trade clause for critical minerals and cultural sectors.
  
  
• The Green Party has qualified for the federal leaders' debates on April 16th and 17th after meeting two of the three required criteria set by the Leaders' Debates Commission. Co-leader Jonathan Pedneault will represent the party alongside the leaders of the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, and Bloc Québécois. Meanwhile, the People's Party of Canada did not qualify.