It was a quieter day on the campaign, and Justin Trudeau remained in Montreal to just hold a media availability rather than make any new announcements, and he reiterated the point from the debate on Wednesday that if his government would look to improve the medical assistance in dying legislation per the Quebec court decision. He also again defended using two campaign planes by pointing to the use of carbon offsets (never mind that this is a clear case of concern trolling by those who don’t actually care about climate change).

Andrew Scheer was in Kingsclear, New Brunswick, to promise an expansion of the volunteer firefighters tax credit (or “volunteer heroes,” as their press release stated because it was apparently written by a nine-year-old). He also finally stopped dancing around the abortion question to state – again – that he is personally “pro-life” but wouldn’t re-open the debate. Shortly thereafter, the story broke that Scheer holds dual-citizenship with the US, and within an hour stated that he had already started the process of revocation, but it remains exceedingly curious given that Scheer personally questioned Michëlle Jean’s dual-citizenship before she became Governor General, and the Conservative attacks on Stéphane Dion and Thomas Mulcair about their own dual-citizenships. Scheer also stated that he had never been asked about it which was why he never talked about it, which is unconvincing at best.

Jagmeet Singh headed to Toronto to hold another media availability to reiterate his same platform proposals.

And just to put another giant bomb in the election, a potential strike by school support workers could shutter schools in major school districts in Ontario by Monday, which could send the Ford government scrambling, and further cause blowback against Scheer as the lines between federal and provincial governments continue to blur.

Other election stories:

• While Trudeau wouldn’t commit to not appealing the Human Rights Tribunal decision ordering compensation to First Nations children, Scheer said he would.
• Here’s a look into the “affordability” issue that the Liberals and NDP are fighting over, and how superficial similarities can mask philosophical differences.
• Reuters has a deep dive into what happened in the Liberal campaign when the Blackface revelations broke.
• Police in Edmonton are investigating a lawn sign that shows targets on the heads of Justin Trudeau and Amarjeet Sohi.
• Here’s a look at how the Liberals are trying to save their seats in Alberta (while attempting to take one from the NDP).
• The Liberal estimate for their assault rifle buy-back programme is that it will cost them some $250 million.
• In a dick move, the Liberal party fired the president and chief financial officer of their Vimy riding association because they protested the parachute candidates.
• In yet another self-inflicted wound, the Liberals had to remove footage of Julie Payette signing the declaration for election from one of their videos.
• The “non-partisan” Manning Centre has been funding “Canada Strong and Proud” sites (not Canada Proud/Ontario Proud), ostensibly to “balance out” union ads.
• Thomas Mulcair has lambasted Singh for abandoning his legacy of standing up for religious minorities in Quebec.
• CBC’s fact-checkers pan the notion that the Bloc stopped Energy East in Quebec (but the analysis omits the economic case or the Keystone XL issue).

Good reads:

• Economist Andrew Leach and climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe grade the four parties’ climate plans.
• Chantal Hébert declares Scheer to be the loser of the TVA debate, which could hurt his chances in Quebec.
• Chris Selley praises the content of the TVA debate, but bemoans its lack of accessibility in the rest of Canada.
• Justin Ling reminds us of the history of the promised fixed-link tunnel between Newfoundland and Labrador, and why it’s never come to fruition.
• Heather Scoffield looks at how the oil-versus-environment is playing out in the election, and the regional tensions it’s enflaming.

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