Canada election: Party leaders make their pitches as snap campaign kicks off

Well, that was an absolute whirlwind of a day in politics. Thanks for following our live updates as the federal election campaign got underway.

A few of the party leaders have events around the country this evening, but we're closing this live page for now.

If you're just getting here, scroll down to get an overview of how the election call unfolded.

We'll have plenty more daily coverage and analysis of this high-stakes campaign all the way through to election day, so be sure to check out cbcnews.ca for the latest developments.

A clear throughline emerged today.

For the next few weeks, it looks like campaign messaging will be largely focused on protecting Canada from Donald Trump’s threats against the country’s sovereignty, and addressing a longstanding affordability crisis that could be made worse by the ongoing trade war.

Carney and Poilievre are each positioning themselves as the best person to deal with Trump — while Singh, Blanchet, Pedneault and May will punch up at the Liberals and Conservatives, who are currently neck and neck in the polls, according to CBC’s Poll Tracker.

Despite the tight race, there were calls among the leaders for national unity in the face of U.S. aggression.

The major party leaders are now boarding planes and buses to make their first campaign stops across the country, and where they end up may give Canadians a sense of where the parties think the election’s battlegrounds are.

Want to know what you can expect from CBC News during this federal election campaign?

Brodie Fenlon, general manager and editor in chief of CBC News, has a new post up in his editor’s blog about that.

“Helping Canadians understand what's at stake in a federal election as they contemplate where to place their vote is among the most important things we do as a public service news organization,” he writes.

You can read the post here.

The campaign officially starts today, but the Liberals already had some help from Canadian comedian Mike Myers in a video Carney posted yesterday on social media.

My colleague Ashley Burke has some details from the Carney campaign on how it came together.

Myers appeared in the closing credits of a Saturday Night Live episode a few weeks ago wearing a shirt that said “Canada is not for sale” (Myers has been playing Elon Musk in SNL sketches).

Carney’s team re-posted that. Then, Myers reached out to the Carney camp and asked how he could help. Myers came to Montreal to film the video with Carney earlier this week.

The video has about 6.6 million views on X (Musk’s own social media platform).

If you're hearing comments from Carney and Poilievre talking about Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, here's why.

Earlier this month, she went on the right-leaning U.S. media outlet Breitbart News Network to chat all things politics. The interview was posted on March 8. Smith was asked: "Are the Canadian people ready to go back the other way here, and go away from the Liberal side under Trudeau and whoever replaces him?"

This was the first part of Smith's answer: “Before the tariff war, I would say yes. I mean, Pierre Poilievre is the name of the Conservative Party leader, and he was miles ahead of Justin Trudeau. But because of what we see as unjust and unfair tariffs, it’s actually caused an increase in the support for the Liberals. And so that’s what I fear, is that the longer this dispute goes on, politicians posture, and it seems to be benefiting the Liberals right now.

“So I would hope that we could put things on pause, is what I’ve told administration officials. Let’s just put things on pause so we can get through an election. Let's have the best person at the table make the argument for how they would deal with it — and I think that's Pierre Poilievre.”

CBC News has reached out to Smith's office to clarify the comments.

The NDP and Singh could be in for their toughest election battle in recent memory.

Recent polling suggests the New Democrats' popularity has fallen to its lowest level in decades. Our Poll Tracker suggests that the party could lose several seats, and if that bears out on voting day, it would mean the NDP would have lost MPs in every election Singh has helmed.

Singh has been dismissive of the polls in recent weeks and was so again on Sunday.

“I’m very familiar and comfortable being [an] underdog. I think a lot of Canadians can relate to that,” he told reporters at his campaign launch.

“I know that folks like Pierre Poilievre and Mark Carney would want nothing better than for New Democrats to disappear … but news to them: we’re not going anywhere.”

Our colleagues Marina von Stackelberg and David Thurton have written about the tough spot the NDP is in, and you can read more here.

The Liberal plane isn’t wrapped with its logo yet. The campaign says the plane will be fitted next weekend with the Liberals’ branding.

Asked about his party’s stance on Quebec sovereignty, Blanchet said that “no one doubts independence for Quebec.”

“But if you think that the Bloc is going to organize a referendum on that — well, the fact is that as people who support independence, we have a chance to ensure that the economic system is something that works for us,” said Blanchet.

He added that some members of the Bloc Québécois will help the Parti Québécois, a provincial party that advocates for Quebec’s separation from Canada, elect sovereigntists during its own provincial election.

“Once there are sovereigntists in Quebec, I imagine that [Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon] will be establishing his strategy, and we will support it,” he said.

“When the big question comes up, they’ll be saying, we’re going to trust those people. So our job is to ensure there is that confidence.”

Let’s talk about this claim that Singh made in his launch speech today.

“Donald Trump has come out and endorsed Mark Carney. Elon Musk has endorsed Pierre Poilievre,” he said. “I’m the only federal candidate that is 100 per cent not endorsed by the Donald Trump administration.”

This stems from Trump’s comments in a Fox News interview on Tuesday saying he wouldn’t mind if the Liberal Party won the upcoming election.

"I don't care," Trump responded. "I think it's easier to deal, actually, with a liberal and maybe they're going to win, but I don't really care. It doesn't matter to me at all."

On Friday, Trump took credit for the Liberals’ reversal of fortunes and echoed his earlier thought.

“Just a little while ago, before I got involved and totally changed the election — which I don’t care about … the Conservative was leading,” Trump said.

“I don’t care who wins up there. I, frankly, probably would do better with the Liberal than with the Conservative, if you want to know the truth.”

The Conservatives — and now Singh — say that constitutes an endorsement of Carney.

It is true that Musk has endorsed Poilievre. In December, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted on X saying Poilievre “should be Canada’s next leader. The sooner the better.”

Musk responded with a 100 emoji.

Asked about whether the Liberals are eating up votes in the Bloc’s home territory, Blanchet said, “The Liberals cannot take votes from the Bloc because the Bloc belongs to no one. Votes belong to the voters.”

He said there’s a sense within his party that the Liberals have “a desire to use people’s insecurity” around U.S. intimidation to introduce Carney, who he characterized as an untested and unknown leader. “You don’t know who he is, but it’s going to be fine,” said Blanchet.

The Bloc leader said part of his job is forcing Carney and Poilievre to reveal their platforms so that Canadians can make an informed decision at the ballot box.

“Quebec has seen people use fear before. So no, I’m not worried about that argument. And generally, we bring forward reason in the presence of fear,” said Blanchet.