Generational clash at forefront in federal election campaign

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Follow the Toronto Sun’s live coverage of Canada’s 45th general election and tariff-related news, with contributions from Brian Lilley, Bryan Passifiume, Lorrie Goldstein and columnists Joe Warmington and Warren Kinsella, as well as contributions from the Sun’s editors and reporters covering the election ahead of the April 28 vote. Plus, you can find all of our election coverage here.

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SARNIA CANDIDATE’S ELECTION PITCH: ‘VOTE FOR THE CLOWN’

Anthony Mitchell, a retired elementary school principal running for the Rhinoceros Party in Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong, says he has no campaign budget, just a red nose and a slogan, the Sarnia Observer reports.

“If you think politics is a joke and Parliament is a circus, vote for the clown,” says the Oil City resident representing the satirical political protest party in the April 28 federal election.

Mitchell said he has “absolutely” no experience as a politician.

Mitchell said he stopped voting a few years ago. “I was just tired of having to hold my nose and vote for somebody,” he said. “That’s when I remembered the Rhinoceros Party and looked them up.”

Read the full story here.

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ELECTION 2025: LIBERAL BOOMERS VS. CONSERVATIVE MILLENNIALS?

You could describe this election as a battle between the angry millennials and the anxious boomers. Two generations voting in the same election, on different issues, and both going against type, Brian Lilley writes.

In most elections in Canada, older voters cast their ballots for more conservative-leaning parties while younger voters traditionally cast their ballots for parties with liberal sensibilities. The 2025 election looks like it will be one that flips that on its head.

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Poll after poll shows that the Liberals are preferred option for voters over 55 while the Conservatives still hold a lead on Canadians under 55. In most regular elections, older voters lean toward the Conservatives while younger voters lean Liberal, and the middle is up for grabs.

It comes down to the issues that are motivating each group. While younger voters are concerned about the cost of living and about housing affordability, older voters are almost exclusively obsessed about U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs.

Read the full story here.

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PM CITES NEED FOR ‘RELIABLE ALLIES’ AFTER CALL WITH STARMER

Prime Minister Mark Carney says he spoke Sunday with his counterpart in the United Kingdom about the fallout from the United States’ global tariff campaign, The Canadian Press reports.

A readout from Carney’s office says he talked with U.K. Prime Minster Keir Starmer about the United States’ “unjustified trade actions” and the need to strengthen trade ties between Canada and the U.K.

In a social media post, Carney says that “partnerships with long-standing, reliable allies matter more than ever” right now.

The conversation came a few days after U.S. President Donald Trump launched a wave of “reciprocal” tariffs on nations all around the world to address what he claims are unfair trade practices.

Read the full story here.

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REVOLVING-DOOR JUSTICE A TRUDEAU LIBERAL LEGACY

If you’re a criminal, the past decade in Canada has been a low-risk, boffo-bucks time of plenty, Brad Hunter writes.

Under Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, consequences have effectively been eliminated from vast swaths of the Criminal Code.

Aided and abetted by the agreeable Supreme Court of Canada, killers, rapists, child molesters and other thugs – a.k.a. the cruel and inhumane club – have walked out of court.

And too often, they end up walking right back in again.

Read the full story here.

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PROTESTERS TELL TRUMP ‘HANDS OFF’ CANADA

Protesters rallied in several cities across the country on Sunday to demonstrate against U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to Canadian sovereignty, The Canadian Press reports.

In Montreal, hundreds gathered in Mount Royal Park in a show of solidarity against Trump’s repeated remarks about making Canada the 51st state, with many sporting signs reading, “Hands off.”

In Halifax, hundreds more braved pounding rain to attend a rally outside a convention centre, where they stood in puddles a few inches deep, singing along to a cover band playing songs by The Tragically Hip and other Canadian classics.

And in Manitoba, Premier Wab Kinew said his government helped organize a “Rally for Canada” so residents could show regional and national pride and send a message — that the country will never be an American state.

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Read the full story here.

SATIRE VOTED OUT ALREADY IN THIS YEAR’S ELECTION CAMPAIGN

The one thing the Animal Protection Party has going for it during this year’s federal election is that by virtue of its name, it comes first on the list of registered political parties. That will likely be the only first place it holds on April 28, the Vancouver Sun reports.

While the Animal Protection Party is anything but satire, their earnestness, and the dearth of novelty candidates, are a reflection of a more serious tone, and time, in politics.

Canada’s tradition of political humour and novelty candidates is a long way from what it was in its heyday when the Marijuana Party, the Rhinoceros Party, the Pirate Party of Canada and, of course, the Tuxedo Party, led by a fluffy cat named Earl Grey, offered much-needed comic relief.

Although nominations don’t close until Monday — and there is still time to nominate your favourite cat — it’s unlikely this election cycle will feature the kind of humour we have seen in the past. Only a handful of Marijuana Party, Animal Protection Party candidates and a sprinkling of Rhinoceros candidates are on the ballot.

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NDP PROMISES NATIONAL RENT CONTROL, TORIES FOCUS ON ADDICTION TREATMENT

The NDP promised Sunday to protect tenants through a program of national rent control, while the Conservatives focused their campaign trail message on addictions treatment, The Canadian Press reports. 

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in Halifax that his party would tie federal housing funding for provinces and municipalities to tenant protection policies like rent control. The party says it also wants to ban fixed-term leases, “renovictions” and other practices it says are aimed at pushing people out of their homes and driving up rents. The NDP says it would also prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to co-ordinate rent increases. 

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, campaigning in British Columbia, said at a press conference in New Westminster that he has a plan to tackle drug addiction in Canada.  Poilievre announced a Conservative plan to fund recovery treatment for 50,000 people facing addiction. 

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TARIFFS LATEST TREACHERY INFLICTED ON OSHAWA’S AUTO INDUSTRY

For more than a century, Oshawa has been the city of autoworkers.

The decades-old Canadian Automotive Museum in the downtown core, murals depicting locally made vehicles and the city’s beloved Oshawa Generals hockey team, named after one of the auto giants, are all symbols of that glorious — and often treacherous — history.

The auto industry has gone through ups and downs since its inception. Workers have weathered economic recessions, layoffs and devastating plant closures, including in 2019 when General Motors stopped production of vehicles in Oshawa for nearly two years.

But nothing has prepared them for the cloud of uncertainty brought on by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs that include 25% duties on imported vehicles, with temporary reprieve for some parts compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement.

Read the full story here.

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