With the federal election just days away, Liberal Leader Mark Carney has turned up the heat in British Columbia, zeroing in on traditional NDP strongholds in a high-stakes bid to sway undecided voters. On Wednesday, Carney made a prominent campaign stop in Victoria — a riding held by the New Democrats for nearly two decades — where he spotlighted key issues like trade threats from the U.S. and Canada’s resource sovereignty.
Speaking to reporters, Carney warned about the growing risk posed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies, particularly tariffs that could hit B.C.’s crucial forestry industry hard. “The Americans want our land, they want our resources, they want our water, they want our country,” he declared, positioning the Liberals as the only party ready to stand up to such pressures.
Carney laid out elements of the Liberal platform that aim to shore up B.C.’s resource-driven economy, including a bold $10 billion national housing plan that emphasizes mass-produced, pre-fabricated homes — a move he said would not only combat the housing crisis but also increase demand for local lumber. He also pledged to revamp B.C.’s mining sector by investing in transportation infrastructure to connect mineral-rich regions to key Asian supply chains.
This marks Carney’s second visit to Victoria in just over two weeks, signaling the riding’s importance to the Liberal campaign. Later in the day, he is expected to appear in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, another long-held NDP bastion, in a continued effort to chip away at the New Democrats’ base.
According to Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research, the political landscape in B.C. is in flux. “British Columbia right now is a toss-up,” he said, noting that both the Liberals and Conservatives are making aggressive moves to capitalize on NDP vulnerabilities. “Jagmeet Singh and the New Democrats are in the fight for their life.”
As election day looms, Carney’s focused blitz across battleground ridings shows the Liberals aren’t leaving anything to chance — and are banking on their economic vision, trade defense strategy, and housing plans to shift the province’s political balance.
