Weekly Roundup - March 28, 2025
In the throes of a federal election campaign, it’s difficult for stories from provincial governments to cut through. That’s particularly true with the business of governing federally in the midst of the campaign continuing to garner significant attention in light of the ongoing U.S. tariff threat.
Case in point, Mark Carney had his first call since being sworn in as Prime Minister with U.S. President Donald Trump this morning, which both camps reported as being positive and productive. It’s a marked tonal shift in the Canada-U.S. relationship, with no mention of Canada being the 51st state or Trump referring to the PM as “Governor”, as he was wont to do with Justin Trudeau.
The call between the two leaders was held on the eve of additional tariffs being introduced next week (more on that below), and of course on the backdrop of the ongoing federal campaign. At this point, a slow news day feels like a distant memory. New West continues to provide election coverage in your inbox twice per week; you can read our latest newsletter here.
Below, you’ll find a recap of the other top stories in Alberta and Ontario.
Top Ontario Stories
With the Ontario Legislature set to resume in mid-April, Premier Doug Ford has promised to make his first piece of Legislation a bill aimed at reducing inter-provincial trade barriers to increase labour mobility and counter the impact of U.S. tariffs. The Ontario legislation will align with what was recently tabled in Nova Scotia that offers mutual recognition of labour mobility, goods and services, and a federal push to break down barriers before July 1.
President Donald Trump’s threatened auto tariffs of 25% are set to take effect on April 2. Ontario Premier Doug Ford's discussed the looming deadline with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier this week, and suggested that some Canadian cars with a high percentage of U.S.-made parts could face lower or no tariffs, but White House officials later denied Lutnick made any such assurances, leaving it unclear what the Trump administration’s true intentions are come April 2.
With tens of thousands of jobs in the auto industry at stake, the Ontario government and federal cabinet will continue to work behind the scenes for carve outs, but Prime Minister Carney stated yesterday that “we will fight the U.S. tariffs with retaliatory trade actions of our own that will have maximum impact in the United States and minimum impacts here in Canada.”
Finally, there appears to be no love lost between the upper echelons of the PC Party of Ontario and the Conservative Party of Canada, as evidenced by public remarks made by PCPO campaign manager Kory Teneycke on the current tone and direction of the CPC campaign. Teneycke has stated that that CPC Leader Pierre Poilievre needs to urgently address Canadians' concerns about Trump's potential tariffs, suggested Poilievre's approach and rhetoric (including the Canada First campaign slogan) are too similar to Trump's, and that the tariff issue should be central to his campaign. Internal polling from the PC party that was shared with the Toronto Star backs up Teneyke’s argument. According to the PC’s pollsters, the Liberals – with 48% support - have a 15 percentage point lead over the Conservatives – at 33% - in Ontario, while Jagmeet Singh’s NDP have dropped to just 11%.
Top Alberta Stories
The Alberta Government’s post budget announcement blitz continued this week. From investing in flood and drought prevention programs to focusing on the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic, Cabinet Ministers have been busy selling Budget 2025.
While ministries try to break in, the news cycle continues to be dominated by tariffs and Alberta’s relationship with the United States. On Thursday Premier Smith attended the PragerU East Coast gala in Florida where she spoke with American podcaster Ben Shapiro about the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade dispute. She also addressed the house to speak to the actions her government has taken to advocate for Alberta. The opposition NDP remains unconvinced the Province’s approach is the right one with leader Naheed Nenshi questioning how the Premier is spending her time.
The former Calgary Mayor still doesn’t have a seat in the house, but we’ll soon know who he is running against in the byelection. On April 6, residents of the Edmonton-Strathcona Constituency, who are current members of the United Conservative Party, will vote in a nomination event to choose their candidate. The seat was held by former NDP leader and Premier Rachel Notley, who stepped down late last year.
The party has wavered without her at the helm but will look to regroup at their Provincial Convention in May. BC Premier David Eby and leader of the Saskatchewan NDP, Carla Beck, are both set to speak at the event, but one longtime MLA will not be in attendance. After a decade of representing the NDP in Edmonton, Rod Loyola resigned his seat earlier this week, announcing he’s running federally for the Liberals in Edmonton Gateway.
Keep an eye on our Battle of the Ballots series in the coming weeks to learn more about his decision and the federal dynamics at play in Alberta.
Upcoming Events Calendar
April 6, 2025: UCP Edmonton-Strathcona nomination meeting
April 14, 2025: Ontario speech from the Throne
