Carney's Liberals hold 7 point lead over Poilievre's Conservatives: Nanos poll

Prime Minister Mark Carney continues to lead in the polls in the days leading up to the April 28 election, asking voters in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for a strong mandate to deal with the trade war with the United States.

Carney has been campaigning as a protector of Canadian sovereignty and said previously that Canada’s relationship with the US as it once was is now over.

"We need a government that has a strong mandate, a clear mandate. We need a government that has a plan that meets the moment," Carney said during a campaign event on Monday. 

Carney, a former banker who had no experience as an elected official until becoming prime minister, has billed himself as “someone who knows how to negotiate … and how to manage a crisis,” reports Reuters. 

The Liberal platform outlines new spending of about $130 billion over the next four years, and predicts that the 2025/26 deficit will hit $62.3 billion CAD, an increase from the $42.2 billion that was forecast last year. 

At the beginning of the year, the Conservatives were ahead by 20 points, but recent polling shows they've fallen behind the Liberals. A three-day tracking poll by Nanos, released Monday, shows the Liberals now leading with 43.7 percent support, while the Conservatives are at 36.3 percent. The New Democrats, who typically share the center-left voter base with the Liberals, sit at 10.7 percent.

Voters were able to cast their votes starting on Good Friday, with a record 2 million Canadians casting ballots, Elections Canada says. Roughly 28 million people are registered to vote across the nation.

Voter turnout has gradually declined over the decades. While participation used to range from 70 percent to 80 percent between the 1950s and early 1990s, only 62.3 percent of eligible voters showed up in the 2021 federal election.

"The Liberals close out the weekend following the French and English debates with a seven point lead over the Conservatives (LCP 43.7, CPC 36.3, NDP 10.7). In addition to their lead in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario, the Liberals are currently ahead in battleground British Columbia. The Conservatives only lead in the Prairie provinces. Support for the NDP nationally is now at levels similar to the first nightly tracking report," Nanos writes in their summation. 

The Nanos poll of 1,289 people was carried out on April 17, 19 and 20 and is considered accurate to within 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.