OTTAWA — 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.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in Halifax in the morning that his party would tie federal housing funding for provinces and municipalities to tenant protection policies like rent control.
The NDP says housing and rent prices in Canada have doubled since 2015 and the average asking rent hit $2,109 per month in January.
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.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, campaigning in British Columbia, said at a press conference in New Westminster on Sunday 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.
In a video posted to social media Sunday morning, Poilievre said a Conservative government would provide "results-based funding" to treatment centres based on the number of people they help to get sober.
He said higher levels of funding would be provided for the "most difficult" cases, such as those facing long-term homelessness or multiple overdoses.
Poilievre said funds would be paid out gradually and that third-party validators would confirm the results. To get new treatment programs off the ground, he said upfront dollars would go to recovery centres who could attest to prior successes of getting people off drugs.
The Conservatives say they would set aside $250 million a year for four years to tackle drug addiction.
Poilievre said the Conservatives would fund the programs by making cuts to the federal government's existing safer supply programs and suing opioid manufacturers.
"We owe it to our fellow citizens who are still struggling with addiction to offer them a real chance to avoid adding to that terrible number of losses we've had already," Poilievre said Sunday.
Later Sunday, Singh is expected to attend the Elbows Up, Canada! rally in Dartmouth, N.S. Singh is also expected in Montreal Sunday evening to appear on "Tout le monde en parle," a popular talk show often used by federal politicians to reach out to voters in Quebec.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney attended an event in Victoria on Sunday night, echoing his previous remarks about the need to fundamentally reshape U.S. relations at a community hall, flanked by local candidates.
The Liberal leader said Indigenous issues would be at the core of his government, and said all Canadians are defending Canada against the U.S., though he joked that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith might not be the best person to address American media.
Carney was also joined by former environment minister Catherine McKenna who has been campaigning for local candidates.
She told reporters that Carney is the right person to deal with climate change, though she admitted it was "really hard" that he pledged to scrap the carbon levy she spent years putting into place. She said there are other means to reduce Canada's carbon output.
With three weeks remaining until Canadians choose a new government and prime minister, polls indicate the Liberals are leading the Conservatives in voting intentions.
— With files from Maura Forrest in Halifax and Dylan Robertson in Victoria.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2025.
Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
