Ottawa

What you need to know about the day that was in the election, Oct. 7

The NDP puts some attention where it is due, the Liberals get a gift and the Princess Warrior strikes again

The important

NDP leader Tom Mulcair attended the Assembly of First Nations Open Forum in Epoch, Alta., on Wednesday morning to unveil his party’s Indigenous peoples platform. It includes committing $4.8 billion over eight years towards Indigenous education, removal of the 2 per cent cap on annual increases to First Nations’ education funding and calling an inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls.

With the Universal Child Care Benefit cheques rolling out monthly, Stephen Harper looked to sweeten the pot for young families by announcing on Wednesday in Saskatoon that a re-elected Conservative government would allow new parents the option to stretch out employment insurance benefits over 18 months, including the current provisions for job protection that currently stop at one year. The opposition was quick to note that this isn’t an entirely new idea:

But in addition, Harper would launch a two-year pilot project whereby parents could earn earn self-employment income while on EI.

The interesting

Newspapers are known for endorsing candidates come election time, but not La Presse. The last time the prominent Montreal-based French language daily endorsed a federal party was in 2006, when the editorial board backed the Conservatives. But after nine years of Harper at the helm, the paper announced it’s time for a change and endorsed Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party.

Any endorsement is sure to help in the final stretch of the campaign. Polls continue to show a tightening race between the Liberals and Conservatives. According to a new Abacus poll, the Conservatives lead with 33 per cent support across the country, followed closely by the Liberals with 32 per cent. Those are the highest levels of support recorded by both parties so far. The NDP, meanwhile, hit a new low at 24 per cent.

Lofty expectations of just two weeks ago that the NDP could win the election have also taken a sharp dive.

The fun

Danny Williams is not the only Newfoundlander these days with a bone to pick with the Tories. Wielding her trademark sword, Marg Delahunty, Princess Warrior (a.k.a. comedian Mary Walsh), urges viewers in a new video to “vote anybody but Conservatives” in order to give Harper a chance to stop his “relentless, exhausting fearmongering.”

But how does she feel about the PM on a personal level? “As everyone knows, I simply adore Stephen Joseph Harper,” she says. Just like she did way back at the beginning, in 2004:

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.