What You Need to Know This Election Day

Monday, April 28, 2025

This week from The Walrus:

For Some Parents, There’s Only One Election Issue That Matters

The future of $10‐a‐day is unclear

BY CHANTAL BRAGANZA

A photo of a children's play room with plastic toys resembling dishware and food resting unattended on a low table.

History can always repeat itself, even if at political and financial cost. In March, when asked directly whether his government would preserve the current child care system in place if elected, Pollievre said that while his party would honour child care agreements with provinces that have signed on till 2031, “we’re going to give more freedom and flexibility to parents, providers, and provinces to support the child care of all the kids.” As terms, “freedom” and “flexibility” are far from commitments to funding and are easy to reinterpret in hindsight.

Read or listen to the story

An illustration of a blueprint of a house, the background is blue with white line drawings and measurements.

Which Party Has the Best Blueprint for Fixing the Housing Crisis?

From GST cuts to subsidies, here's how the different promises measure up

BY LAUREN HEUSER

Tax Cuts Won’t Make Life More Affordable

Politicians like promising them to the middle class. But they often benefit the wealthy

BY RENÉE SYLVESTRE-WILLIAMS

The back of a suited political candidate behind a podium that says Canada and in front of Canadian flags.

What the Election Won’t Fix

The country has promised to boost internal trade before. Could it happen this time?

BY PAUL WELLS

A photo illustration featuring Mark Carney in front of a bank. Lightly superimposed over the image are aspects of various Canadian dollar bill designs.

Mark Carney, Cutthroat Capitalist

The prime minister sells himself as a public servant, but his private sector past reveals his true loyalties

BY DREW NELLES

A photo illustration of Pierre Poilievre, wearing sunglasses and doffing a cowboy hat. An orange-tinted background shows Parliament Hill.

The Book That Built Pierre Poilievre

Milton Friedman’s free‐market bible shaped Poilievre’s politics and his vision for Canada

BY MARTIN LUKACS

A photo of Pierre Poilievre and Mark Carney at the English election debate. Standing behind identical silver podiums, their hand gestures mirror each other.

The Election That Asks Canada What Country it Wants to Be

Two leaders, one crisis, and a nation at a crossroads

BY GREGORY JACK

An illustration of three separate hands holding up a pencil marking an X. The hands each show the flags of Russia, India, and China.

Are China, India, or Russia Swaying Your Vote?

How foreign actors are trying to shape this election

BY MEGHAN DAVIDSON LADLY

How J.D. Vance Brought US Politics to an Election in Durham, Ontario

His friendship with a local Conservative candidate was treated as a boon. Then came the Trump tariffs

BY NICHOLAS HUNE‐BROWN

A photo illustration of a map of the north, Alaska in blue, the Yukon in red. The border between the two is being zipped apart.

Tariffs Are Unravelling the Lifeline Between Yukon and Alaska

For one Northern community, the cost of friendship with Trump’s America is too high

BY RHIANNON RUSSELL

A black-and-white photo of a man in a hard hat at an oil rig.

What Working in Alberta’s Oil Boom Taught Me about Power

The rigs were loud, the nights long, and the money real

BY DON GILLMOR

A photo of Pope Francis dressed in white, his hand partially raised as his cape flutters in the wind.

What Pope Francis’s Death Reveals About the Future of Catholicism

The Vatican may never see another like him

BY CARMINE STARNINO

Take a break with this Wordle‐like game

Guess the hidden words in under 6 attempts
Like in Wordle, the tile colours are a clue to where the letters should be
Green means you’ve got it
Yellow means the letter is in the wrong spot
Grey means the letter is not present in this word
Unlike Wordle, the words can be 3‐6 letters long, and sometimes, there are multiple words

Play WordroW

Join us in Toronto or online for The Walrus Talks Power Economy, where we bridge the gap between research, policy, and the practical solutions that will define the future of energy and the Canadian economy.

Our post‐event receptions are always buzzing with discussion and connection. Join us for the chance to meet our speakers and community over good food and drinks. It’s a relaxed networking atmosphere where you can build new relationships, collaborate on fresh ideas, and be among fellow Canadians all working toward the common goal of making our country the best place it can be.

Join us

New Podcast: From Research to Impact

A collaboration between the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and The Walrus Lab, this new podcast brings big ideas down to earth and shows how thought meets action.

Each episode features a Foundation scholar whose work is shaping a better future, with research spanning fields such as medicine, journalism, business, international development, and more.

Listen now

In this episode of What Happened Next, host Nathan Whitlock is joined by Anne Flemming, author of the story collections Pool-Hopping and Gay Dwarves of America, the novel Anomaly, as well as the middle-grade novel The Goat and a poetry collection, poemw. Her most recent book is the novel Curiosities, published by Knopf Canada in 2024.

Anne and Nathan talk about the unexpected joy of doing a bookstore reading for two people, why her latest novel was so hard to crack (and why her next one will be, too), and her feelings about being on the Giller Prize shortlist during a year when the prize became the focus of so much controversy and numerous author boycotts.

Listen now

THE WALRUS THANKS ALL OUR ADVERTISERS. BECOME ONE.

As tensions in Canada‐US relations continue, we are facing big questions about sovereignty and how our identity and values can best meet this moment.

It’s moments like this that reaffirm the mission of The Walrus. We take pride in continuing to provide independent journalism you can trust. We pledge to keep delivering the full story: the research, context, and analysis needed to make sense of such a hurried and momentous news cycle.

With our paywall‐free election coverage, we will continue to look to the future of Canada—a nation that practises integrity through trust and honesty, compassion through diplomacy and allyship, partnership through peacekeeping, and strength through diversity.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories, please consider making a donation today to help us continue this national self‐examination. By doing so, you will help provide everyone with paywall‐free, fact‐based reporting on the critical issues that stand to define our generation.

Thank you for your support.

Jennifer Hollett
Executive Director, The Walrus

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