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And Carney did it all while acknowledging that he has barely mentioned the NDP through almost five weeks on the campaign trail, and instead asked left-leaning voters to choose him to negotiate with U.S. President Donald Trump during the trade war crisis. He also urged people to elect Liberals to prevent Conservatives from taking power with their planned cuts and small government agenda.Ìý

Twin fears, in other words, about the two enemies highlighted so often in Carney’s campaign rhetoric: the aggressive American president, and the “tired ideology” of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.Ìý

“That’s a pretty big choice,” Carney said, alleging — despite Conservative denials — that Poilievre would eliminate programs like dental care, pharmacare for diabetes medication and birth control, and the national affordable child care initiative. On top of that, he noted, the Conservatives would cut funding to the CBC.Ìý

“You can have one option where all of that goes, all of those, to use an NDP term —- there, I said ‘NDP’ for the first time in the campaign — progressive policies,” Carney said.Ìý

His comments came hours before the unpredictable U.S. president once again re-upped his complaints against Canada, even as he claimed he has no interest in affecting the Canadian election.

Speaking in the Oval Office to reporters, Trump newly threatened to increase tariffs on Canadian cars — which already face a 25 per cent import levy if they do not comply with the free trade deal’s rules on North American content — saying “that could go up” at “some point,” before riffing again that he believed Canada would be better off as part of the U.S.

“I have to be honest, as a state, it works great. As a nation, considering the fact that most of the nation, you know, 95 per cent of Canada, what they do is they buy from us, and they sell to us,” he said, going on to repeat past claims the U.S. needs nothing from Canada.

“If we needed something, that would be a different subject. So I’m working well with Canada. We’re doing very well. We’re working on a deal. We’ll see what happens.”

Trump appeared to be mindful his comments come as Canada approaches a federal election.Ìý

“I’m running this country. I’m not running Canada,” Trump said. “I want to help Canada,” he added, saying “I’ve spoken to the current prime minister, he was very, very nice, I will say very nice. We had a couple of very nice conversations, very good. But I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to get involved in their election.”

That election played out, for the Carney campaign, with a focus Wednesday on ridings in B.C. that the Liberals see as prime opportunities to pick up seats, as polls show support for the NDP has dropped nationally while the Liberals and Conservatives are in a race to form the next government on April 28. Alongside the NDP-held ridings Carney visited Wednesday, he also stopped in Conservative territory outside Vancouver, including in Surrey—White Rock, where the Liberal candidate narrowly lost in 2021.Ìý

There are fears in New Democrats’ minds of a Liberal swing in B.C., where the NDP is now playing defence to protect its incumbent MPs. The province is home to roughly half the 25 New Democrats elected in 2021, including party leader Jagmeet Singh, who is running this time in Burnaby Central. Snagging several of those seats could offer the Liberals a path to a majority government.

NDP stalwart Libby Davies, who represented the party as an MP for 18 years, laid out those stakes for party faithful this week, invoking a history lesson from 1993, when Jean Chrétien’s Liberals soared to power with a large majority and made a slew of cuts to balance the federal budget and pay down the high debt load of the period.Ìý

“There was some real s—- that went down, I’ll tell you. The Liberal government went to the right. They got influenced by the Reform Party, the Conservatives, and we lost so many programs,” she said during a rally in Port Moody, eliciting cries of “Shame!” as she listed cuts to housing programs and provincial health transfers. “And you know why they did that? Because we weren’t there.”

Singh and his New Democrats are ringing those same alarm bells now, alleging the Liberal platform’s claim to find $28 billion in “savings” over four years means imposing program cuts like the Conservatives. Singh spent nearly five days in the same B.C. region as Carney after last week’s leaders’ debates, attempting to shore up support for NDP incumbents on Vancouver Island and in the Greater Vancouver Area.Ìý

Carney has responded by insisting he would not cut federal transfer payments for health, supports for individuals like seniors’ payments, and a host of programs the Liberals have implemented since 2015, including dental care, pharmacare and child care.Ìý

The Liberals say their spending reductions will come from increased government “productivity,” which the platform attributes to amalgamating service delivery, consolidating similar grants, reducing the use of private consultants, and using technology like artificial intelligence to make routine tasks more efficient.Ìý

Singh’s argument to progressive voters who might find Carney alluring, however, goes further. During the campaign, he stopped saying he was running to become Canada’s prime minister, and has taken to stating the Liberals are on the verge of victory. With that prospect looming, he says left-leaning voters must elect New Democrats to hold the Liberals to a minority government so the NDP can use its influence to advance progressive priorities.Ìý

Singh also argues that voters in B.C., where many ridings have featured contests between New Democrats and Conservatives, should vote NDP to prevent Tory candidates from getting elected.

“At the end of election night, it’ll be British Columbians who decide if Mark Carney gets a super majority, or if enough New Democrats are there to fight back and defend the things that you care about,” he said in Vancouver on Tuesday.

“If you want to stop Conservatives in B.C., we know New Democrats stop Conservatives.”

The Liberals, of course, are making the same argument for themselves, suggesting the contest could come down to which side makes the more convincing case.