In an electoral campaign full of erroneous information, exaggerated statements and even lies, how can voters say what is true?
The CBC electoral data verification unit has examined dozens of statements made by the leaders of the four largest federal parties. He discovered that each of the leaders, some more than others, has sometimes made statements or events cited that were outdated, deceitful or simply false.
Here is a general description of some of the things that each leader said in the campaign that did not spend the smell test.
Liberal leader Mark Carny
2008-09 financial crisis
The statement: On April 3, Carney told reporters in Parliament Hill that in 2008-09, when he was governor of the Bank of Canada, the country avoided a recession.
The facts: He did not. Canada resisted the crisis better than the United States, but its gross domestic product fell for three consecutive quarters during that period, constituting a recession. Carney recognized this in February 2009, when he testified to the Finance Committee of the Chamber of the Commons.
“The global recession and the decrease in the demand for our exports will make this a very difficult year for Canada’s economy,” Carney told the members of Parliament. “Now we are in recession, with the projected GDP to fall by 1.2 percent this year.”
Automatic sector
The statement: On March 26, Carney told reporters that the manufacture of motorized vehicles was the second largest export in Canada, which provides 125,000 direct jobs and almost 500,000 indirect.
The facts: The numbers that Carney cited were outdated. According to Statistics Canada, the manufacture of motor vehicles was Canada’s third largest export in 2024 and represented 138,520 direct jobs.
Foreign help
The statement: On March 23, the day he launched the electoral campaign, Carney accused the conservative leader Pierre Poilievre planning to eliminate foreign aid.
The facts: Pailievre has said that there would be “massive” cuts in foreign aid because he believes that too much money from the Canadian government goes to dictators, terrorist groups and global bureaucracies. However, he has not said that a conservative government would completely eliminate foreign aid.
CBC News is in federal elections mode and our fact verification team is digging through candidates, parties and politicians that may or may not be true. The senior producer of the team explains how our system works.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre
Policies Horizons Report
The statement: In the last week of the campaign, Pailievre has often talked about a January 2025 report on Social Mobility in 2040 prepared by Policy Horizons, a group of experts within the employment and social development of Canada. The report paints a gloomy image of the possible future of Canada. Pailievre has portrayed the report containing predictions and scenarios resulting from liberal government policies in recent years.
The facts: While the report analyzes possible scenarios for Canada in 2040, it does not make predictions. The report also includes a discharge of responsibility that “does not necessarily represent the opinions of the Government of Canada.”
Liberal platform
The statement: During the past week, since the Liberal Party launched its platform, Pailievre has repeatedly said that the Liberal Party platform was recruited for former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and that the game simply changed the name of Carney for Trudeau.
The facts: Pailievre bases his statement on an interview on April 20 on CBC’s Rosemary Barton LiveWhere a panelist said that Liberal Deputy Mona Fortier had been working on the platform for months, long before Carney became a leader.
The Liberal Party says that although Fortier was consulting party members, defenders and experts, while Trudeau was still prime minister, the game only began to write the platform after Trudeau announced that he would resign. A second liberal says that Carney and a team of advisors began working on the platform in January, while Carney was running to be a liberal leader.
Bill C-69
The statement: In social networks and during English and French debates, Pailievre has said that the C-69 liberal bill, which allowed the federal government to analyze the impact that resources development projects could have on climate change, block 16 projects and billions of dollars of investment.
The facts: Many of the Poilievre of projects were canceled before the bill that received the real assent in June 2019, or were arrested by the provincial governments. In the case of other projects, such as Energy East Pipeline, companies disconnected after concluding that the economic conditions had changed and that the projects were no longer viable.
The comments of Jonathon Gatehouse of CBC verified by the main leaders of the party on foreign aid, taxes and government services during the debate of federal leaders in English on Thursday.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh
Housing Accelerator Fund
The statement: On April 7, Singh promised to double the Housing Accelerator Fund, a federal program for indigenous municipalities and governments, and make it permanent. “The liberal plan at this time is to temporarily keep the housing accelerator fund. They will not do it permanent,” he told reporters.
The facts: The Housing Accelerator Fund was a liberal campaign promise in the 2021 elections. The Trudeau Government continued to include the program in its 2022 budget and then launched the fund in 2023. The $ 4 billion fund is scheduled to last up to 2026-27, and its goal is to help build 100,000 new houses.
On March 31, a week before Singh made his statement, Carney released the Liberal Party plan to increase the number of houses built in Canada, including the impulse of the Housing Accelerator Fund. “My government will not only maintain it, we will reinforce it, even publicly informing about the progress of the municipalities to accelerate permits and approval deadlines.”
Built houses
The statement: During the debate in French, Singh accused Pailievre of building only six houses when he was responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in 2015.
The facts: Although the CMHC built only six non -profit or community housing units during that time, it was also associated with private companies in projects that built 3,742 non -profit homes, as well as 506 cooperatives, for a total of more than 4,000 homes. During the debate, however, Pailievre replied that 200,000 houses were built while being a minister. That is also inaccurate. In 2015, almost 200,000 homes were built throughout Canada, but the vast majority were built by private companies, not by the government.
The CBC News data verification equipment reviewed the main party platforms to compare their promises, verify their claims and verify their mathematics.
BLOC leader Québécois Yves-François Blanchet
Border crossings
The statement: On April 10, Blanchet told a press conference that human smuggling networks had begun to make advertising packages that included a safe place in Canada to stay for two weeks.
The facts: According to the third country’s safe agreement between Canada and the United States, the refugee claimants trying to enter Canada from the United States they turn to the border unless they qualify for an exemption. In 2022, the two countries signed an additional protocol that includes a provision that allows someone who has been in the United States to make a claim for asylum in Canada without being retreated if it has been in the country for at least 14 days.
Asked by CBC News by the source of Blanchet’s statement, the block pointed out a radio-channel story in December 2024 about irregular border crossings that mentions that “different networks” were helping the refugee claimants who arrive in Canada from the United States to hide for two weeks. However, the article does not refer to professional organizations, for profit and human smuggling, and networks could include well -intentioned volunteers or groups.
Pipes
The statement: Both in the English and French debates, Blanchet accused Carney of saying one thing in Quebec and something else in the rest of Canada, and said that the liberal leader was prepared to force oil and gas pipes through Quebec, against the will of the quebecers.
The facts: While Carney’s message in the pipes has changed at various times, he has not said that he would force the pipes through Quebec against his will.
In a speech in February in British Columbia, Carney said he would use federal government powers to build a commercial corridor, clean energy projects and energy infrastructure. Then he told the CBC that he would accelerate the approvals for pipes in consultation with provinces and first nations. A few days later, he told Radio-Canada that he would never impose a pipe in Quebec.
In April, when it appeared in the popular radio-cantee television program TOUT LE MONDE IN PARLECarney said the government would choose some great projects and that these projects would need social acceptance. “Not necessarily pipes, but perhaps pipes,” he said. “We’ll see.”
