Federal ministers will blanket ridings from Newfoundland to British Columbia this week, selling the Trudeau government’s newest budget while Prime Minister Mark Carney embarks on a nine-day swing through Europe and Asia.
The push comes days after Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled a fiscal plan projecting a $62.3 billion deficit. That document channels billions toward productivity incentives, investment attraction, and cost-of-living relief for households squeezed by rising prices.
With Parliament paused for Remembrance Week, cabinet members have packed their schedules with grocery store stops, housing tours, and community centre appearances. Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson kicks things off Monday morning in St. John’s. Justice Minister Sean Fraser joins Rural Development Secretary Buckley Belanger and local MP Braedon Clark at a Dartmouth meat market that afternoon.
The Quebec blitz features multiple simultaneous events. Government Transformation Minister Joël Lightbound appears in Quebec City alongside MPs Jean-Yves Duclos and Steeve Lavoie. Health Minister Marjorie Michel visits a Montreal grocery store. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly heads to Trois-Rivières.
In Ontario, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin tours an affordable housing complex in Toronto while Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree campaigns in Vaughan. Labour Secretary John Zerucelli and MP Karina Gould stop in Burlington. Seniors Secretary Stephanie McLean wraps the western leg at a Victoria caregiver support office.
Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab will announce details on attracting skilled workers to rural communities during a separate stop in Sinclairton, Nova Scotia. She joins Fraser and Belanger before their Dartmouth appearance.
Thompson’s itinerary includes a live space-to-Earth conversation with astronaut Joshua Kutryk, fresh off his second spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
Carney departs Ottawa after the national Remembrance Day ceremony Wednesday. He first heads to Dublin for the European Political Community Summit, where officials will push Canada’s bid to become the EU’s first Associate Member. The tour then moves to Manila for the ASEAN Summit, followed by the Francophonie summit in Cambodia and the APEC gathering in Shenzhen, China. Trade negotiators expect Canada to sign free-trade deals with both ASEAN and the Philippines during the trip.
