Canada

Election 2015: The day that was, Sept. 22

Another million-job march, an orange wave that may be breaking, and a fundraising rifle raffle in our daily roundup of the last 24 hours in #elxn42

The important

Tom Mulcair chose a campaign stop in Moncton, N.B., on Tuesday to announce a plan to freeze Employment Insurance premiums for the next four years. The NDP leader said the money generated from premiums could be spent on improving benefits for parents, such as extending the leave for the second parent of a newborn by five weeks. New Brunswick, where the Conservative party holds eight of the 10 seats in the House of Commons, has struggled in recent years with unemployment rates well above the national average. The Liberal and Conservative leaders have pledged to reduce Employment Insurance premiums.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper arrived on Tuesday morning in Winnipeg, and the background at his campaign stop made it clear what his message of the day would be.

Harper announced his party would set a target to create another 1.3 million new jobs by 2020. He has often boasted about his party creating 1.3 million net new jobs since the financial crisis.

Justin Trudeau, on the other hand, focused on arts and culture during an announcement in Montreal. Alongside his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, a former TV broadcaster, the Liberal leader pledged an extra $150 million for CBC/Radio-Canada’s annual budget, which has been cut substantially under the Conservative government.

The race for the White House, meanwhile, also involved a major announcement yesterday that could affect Canada. During a campaign event in Iowa, Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton said she would oppose the Keystone XL pipeline. “I oppose it because I don’t think it’s in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change,” she said.

The interesting

Trudeau was under fire yesterday for referring to “certain types of music” and “communities in which fathers are less present” in response to a question about misogyny at Monday night’s Up for Debate event on “women’s issues.”

Desmond Cole, a prominent Toronto-based journalist, took to his Twitter account on Tuesday to argue that Trudeau’s comments were an example of subtle racism.

At a campaign stop in Montreal, Trudeau addressed his comments, saying he “wasn’t speaking of any community in particular,” but rather, “I was saying as leaders, as parents, as community leaders, we need to make sure we are combatting misogyny in all its forms, wherever it’s found, whether it’s in fashion magazines or popular culture or popular music.”

Related: Women’s issues take centre stage at Up For Debate event

But Trudeau may not be the leader in the biggest trouble this week. While the three major parties appear to remain locked in a three-way tie, it seems the NDP may be slowly slipping downward.

The latest numbers from the polling website ThreeHundredandEight.com have the Liberals leading with 30.9 per cent, the Conservatives a close second with 29.8 per cent, and the NDP right behind them with 29.5 per cent.

The fun

The Libertarian Party might have difficulty raising the same kind of money as the major national parties, but one candidate in Alberta, Cory Lystang, has come up with a unique promotion to build up its war chest: Make a donation, win a semi-automatic rifle.

“Jeff Hussey, CEO of NEA, has personally donated his NEA-15 7.5 PDW in 5.56 NATO! We are proud to be giving this fine firearm to a lucky donor!” says the promotion on the Yellowhead Libertarian Association web page. “Donations in multiples of $20 will give you one chance to win and donations of $100 will give you 10 chances to a maximum of $1,500, as per Elections Canada limits.”

Lystang said he ran the idea by Elections Canada beforehand to make sure it was allowed, though the winner must be at least 18 years old and have a restricted firearms licence. The rifle is valued at $1,200. So far, the raffle has raised about $2,000, and the cash is being used to get some election signs out.

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