OTTAWA – Liberal Leader candidate Mark Carney vows to improve the PC Optimum points situation for every Canadian. Speaking to a group of financial experts at the International Banking Federation, Carney made a campaign promise to grow “the bedrock foundation of every Canadian’s finances”, their Optimum points holdings. Carney said, “I know people care deeply […]

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OTTAWA — The federal Liberals and the Conservatives are running neck-and-neck in voter support, a new Leger online poll suggests.

The poll of Canadians’ voting intentions has both parties sitting at 37 per cent.

It shows a drop of six points for the Conservatives and a seven per cent jump for Liberals since Feb. 24, while the NDP is down two per cent to 11 per cent.

Leger surveyed 1,548 Canadians between March 7 and March 10 — which means the poll wrapped up just after Liberals picked Mark Carney as the new party leader and prime minister-designate.

Because the poll was conducted online, it can’t be assigned a margin of error.

The Liberals have rebounded in the polls after lagging behind the Conservatives for nearly two years.

But Canadians are still hungry for change — the poll suggests more than half of all Canadians, 53 per cent, want a change of government in the next election.

Andrew Enns, Leger executive vice-president for central Canada, said the movement in voting intentions and the “cross-current of issues that Canadians are grappling with” are unprecedented.

He said U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to make Canada the 51^st state have captured the attention of Canadians.

“It’s triggered a lot of emotions, anger, frustration, disappointment, shock, and so that, I believe, is having an impact on changing perceptions because of this change in U.S. relations,” he said. “It’s changed a bit in terms of what we’re asking of our political leadership now in the country.”

The emergence of Carney, a former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, has given Canadians a new political option to evaluate.

“Obviously, given the economic situation, he’s an interesting character,” Enns said.

At the same time, he said, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s departure has “also loosened up some voting tendencies that we had seen locked in for quite a period of time.”

The Conservatives also have been thrown off their message track, Enns said. Carney’s promise to scrap consumer carbon pricing has made Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s “axe the tax” mantra seem less relevant to many.

Enns predicted that as Canada heads into an election, which could be called within days, there will be more swings in voting tendencies.

The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2024.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press

I suppose there’s something about accidentally cutting off a thumb that makes a body crave comfort. That’s certainly how things played out for my husband, a cabinetmaker, in the days after he lost half a digit to the table saw. After spending one long day in the trauma center and most of the next day at a hand clinic, Jamie and I were walking from the hospital to the subway when he made a sudden, unexpected, and deeply uncharacteristic left turn into a mattress store.

Despite its age, the nine-year-old queen-size memory-foam mattress we had at home was still fine. So fine, in fact, that even the germ of the idea of replacing it hadn’t entered the chat. But Jamie’s need to try mattresses on that day seemed visceral, and after Goldilocks-ing through a few pillow-topped monstrosities, he ended up peacefully supine on a Purple mattress for five minutes. Then seven minutes—all through the salesperson’s pitch.

After 10 minutes, I lay down beside him for moral support, and I immediately understood his inertia: The Purple mattress was unlike anything I had ever lay on (and I was alive when waterbeds were a thing). It was supple, springy, and just a bit jiggly, but in a good way. I was oddly reminded of the Irish blessing “May the road rise to meet you,” because that’s what all those pliant polymers were doing, just propping me up, supporting my weary bones, and cradling my every contour.

As we savasana’d, the salesperson talked about price, delivery, and old-mattress removal. On that day, facing the unknown variables of hefty medical bills and lost income from Jamie’s cabinetmaking work, we couldn’t justify the expense. But that afternoon marked the beginning of what has now been a five-year—and three-purchase—love affair with Purple mattresses.

I take a methodical approach to reducing food waste in my kitchen.

I freeze surplus ingredients, like bread and minced garlic, and any groceries I haven’t used before their best-by dates. I store leftovers in microwave-safe food storage containers to make reheating as easy as possible. I’m diligent about labeling food with the date it was prepared so I can easily keep track of soon-to-spoil foods.

But keeping herbs fresh—well, that’s a whole other challenge.

From the second a vibrant bunch of cilantro enters my kitchen, it feels as though a death sentence has already been handed down. Within two to three days at most, that once-perky cilantro has already shriveled into a sad pile of mush at the bottom of the flimsy produce bag. Dead are the dreams of delicious guacamole.

But that all changed about three years ago when I discovered the OXO Good Grips GreenSaver Herb Keeper.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Following a robust initial showing, US President Donald J. Trump has announced to Canadians that he is unable to keep his strong tariffs going, in part “due to American booze”. White House insiders explain that Trump’s tariffs, “while oddly-formed and taking an unusual shape”, were initially intended to last much longer. “Mr. […]

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