Campaigning across the country, federal leaders pledge family doctors, red tape cuts

  • Canadian Press

Liberal leader Mark Carney delivers his campaign speech during a campaign stop at Operating Engineers Local 793 Training Centre in Oakville, Ont. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA -- Federal party leaders are starting the second full weekend of the federal election campaign at opposite ends of the country.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is in B.C., where he is set to make an announcement on cutting bureaucratic red tape, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is in Atlantic Canada, where he promised to ensure all Canadians have access to a family doctor by 2030.

Singh made the announcement in St. John's in the morning, saying an NDP government would offer an additional one per cent in Canada Health Transfer funding to provinces that guarantee access to a family doctor.

Meanwhile, Poilievre is scheduled to hold a press conference in Osoyoos, B.C. at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time. He is set to promise to cut bureaucratic red tape by 25 per cent in two years.

The plan for what he calls a "two-for-one" law would mandate two regulations be repealed for every new one that is brought in. It would also require that for every dollar in new administrative costs, two dollars must be cut elsewhere to ease the burden.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney will make an announcement and hold a media availability in Oakville, Ont. in the morning before heading to Toronto.

With a little over three weeks left until Canadians vote on April 28, polls indicate the Liberals are leading the Conservatives in Canadians' voting intentions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2025.