Carney accuses Poilievre of using ‘phantom numbers’ in campaign platform

TROIS-RIVIÈRES — Liberal Leader Mark Carney claims Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is relying on “phantom numbers” and lowballing the cost of his party’s platform, which was released today.

Both Carney and Poilievre are looking to poke holes in each other’s platforms — Carney by claiming the Conservatives wouldn’t spend enough to counter a looming economic crisis, and Poilievre by accusing the Liberals of presenting a high-spending plan that would weaken the country’s fiscal position.

Poilievre says a Conservative government would chop away at the deficit over the next four years, and claims Carney would inflate government debt.

Carney’s tour is swinging through battleground Quebec today, hitting Quebec City, Trois Rivieres, Shefford and Saint Bruno and finishing with a rally in Laval.

The Liberal campaign, which has been sounding the alarm on the threat posed by U.S. tariffs, has its eye on three ridings held by the Bloc Québécois.

Mont-Saint-Bruno-L’Acadie and Shefford are districts where the Liberals placed second in the last election, and Trois-Rivières was a tight three-way race in 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2025.

— Written by Anja Karadeglija in Trois-Rivières and Kyle Duggan in Ottawa.

Canadian Press Staff, The Canadian Press