Costed platforms, voter turnout highlight federal election campaign this week

The last full week of the 2025 election campaign had the party leaders crisscrossing the country making their final pitches and shoring up support ahead of Monday's vote. Coming out of the Easter long weekend and four days of advanced polling, Elections Canada said a new record was set for turnout https://infotel.ca/newsitem/fedelxn-main/cp1504699443 with 7.3 million people casting their ballots early. That's up 25 per cent from the 5.8 million people who took part in advance voting in the 2021 federal election. The leaders of the three main parties released their election platforms this week. The Conservative campaign released its costed election platform a day after the end of advance voting. The Liberals and NDP both released their platforms on Saturday, the second day of advance polls. The Conservative plan promises to reduce the federal deficit to $14 billion in four years. It also banks on billions of dollars in unrealized revenues from cutting "red tape" and getting new projects built over that horizon. READ MORE: Here are the people asking for your vote in Okanagan and Kamloops https://infotel.ca/newsitem/look-whos-asking-for-your-vote-in-okanagan-and-kamloops/it108760 The Liberal platform promises $28 billion in savings over four years through "increased government productivity." The Liberals would add roughly $129 billion worth of new measures, including a one percentage-point tax cut to the lowest income bracket that would add to the deficit over the next four years. Both Liberal leader Mark Carney and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh attacked the Conservatives' numbers. "If you look at what they're proposing, the numbers are not based in any reality," Singh said. Late in the week, the Globe and Mail first reported that Poilievre could lose his riding of Carleton in Ontario. A source with the Liberal party said internal polling number showed the Conservative leader's lead was shrinking. The Globe and Mail has a pay wall but you can read the Ottawa Citizen report here https://ottawacitizen.com/news/pierre-poilievre-tight-race-ottawa-riding . The Liberals are widely seen to be leading in the polls, with the Conservatives in second place and the Bloc Québécois, NDP and Greens trailing behind. Local media coverage It was a busy week locally on the campaign trail that included a fight between Conservative Tracy Gray and Liberal Stephen Fuhr at an election forum for the Kelowna riding https://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/news/article_c0d86f53-188a-456c-8555-a17e1d8f316e.html , to an all-candidates forum https://www.pentictonherald.ca/news/article_8b090169-8bc9-4dee-889f-b4884f407493.html for voters in Okanagan Lake West-South Kelowna that had candidates challenging the incumbent Conservative Dan Albas, and a directive to People's Party supporters to spoil their ballots https://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/news/article_fb8d722e-95eb-4a67-bbdc-9feb14a5d2b5.html . READ MORE: NDP leader Jagmeet Singh coming to Penticton to support local candidate https://infotel.ca/newsitem/ndp-leader-jagmeet-singh-coming-to-penticton-to-support-local-candidate/it108952 Social media A couple local politicians have been taking to social media this week to get their messages out. Reddit seemed to be the place to go if voters wanted some access. Hello Reddit! I'm Juliette Sicotte, Liberal Candidate for Okanagan Lake West-South Kelowna. Ask me Anything! https://www.reddit.com/r/kelowna/comments/1k59xty/hello_reddit_im_juliette_sicotte_liberal/ byu/Ok-Echo-5407 https://www.reddit.com/user/Ok-Echo-5407/ inkelowna https://www.reddit.com/r/kelowna/   Hi Reddit, I’m Dan Albas – Conservative Candidate for Okanagan Lake West–South Kelowna. Ask Me Anything! https://www.reddit.com/r/kelowna/comments/1k27yjw/hi_reddit_im_dan_albas_conservative_candidate_for/ byu/DanAlbas https://www.reddit.com/user/DanAlbas/ inkelowna https://www.reddit.com/r/kelowna/     Canada's celebrity interviewer extraordinaire Nardwuar the Human Serviette approaches party leaders every election to see if they'll do an interview. Liberal leader Carney and NDP leader Singh agreed earlier in the campaig https://infotel.ca/newsitem/this-week-in-the-federal-election-campaign/it108816 n and this week Green Party leader Elizabeth May agreed. The TV show This Hour Has 22 Minutes had fun poking fun at the NDP. Polling The current polls show the Liberals still ahead of the Conservatives by several points and the NDP a distant third. For the latest polling, check out 338Canada https://338canada.com/ . It uses a statistical model of electoral projections based on opinion polls, electoral history and demographic data. Or check out the CBC News Poll Tracker https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/poll-tracker/canada/ . The Crown corporation says it uses every publicly available poll to come up with an average and weights the poll by sample size. Voting Need a ride to vote on election day? Uride has got you covered in Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton. The ride share company is offering voters free rides up to $5 to get to and from polling stations. Go here for more details https://www.uride.co/ . BC Transit is also offering free bus rides on election day https://www.bctransit.com/free-transit-on-federal-election-day-2025-04-23/ in Kamloops, Vernon and Penticton. Kelowna and West Kelowna were left out. A BC Transit spokesperson said the municipalities chose not to spend the money to provide the free service. In Kelowna, Lime is offering two free 30-minute e-scooter rides on election day. Just use the code WECANVOTE to access the free rides. The initiative is in support of Apathy is Boring https://www.apathyisboring.com/ . Elections Canada's website is a great resource https://www.elections.ca/home.aspx  for more information or questions about how and where to vote in the election. For people without ID or a fixed address can be a challenge, but here's how they can https://infotel.ca/newsitem/fedelxn-homelessness-voting/cp624117065 . Election day is Monday, April 28. — With files from The Canadian Press To contact a reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander mailto:halexander@infonews.ca  or call 250-309-5343 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tip@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. Find our Journalism Ethics policy here https://infotel.ca/newsitem/code-of-ethics/it106782 . We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .