While tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump have dominated much of the news cycle around the 45th Canadian federal election, domestic issues remain of the utmost importance to voters, in particular the rising cost of living throughout the country.
Attacking the incumbent Liberal government's track record on affordability over the last several years is a key component of the Conservative Party's playbook.
"Affordability, that is top of mind," said John Barlow, Conservative candidate for Foothills and the riding's MP since 2014.
He indicated that incumbent Prime Minister Mark Carney's elimination of the consumer price on carbon is not an adequate solution to the controversies surrounding the carbon tax and its impact on the cost of living.
"Carney says he's eliminated the carbon tax. Well, that's not true. He's put a pause on it. He hasn't removed the industrial carbon tax, so my farmers are still paying a carbon tax," said Barlow, who has served as shadow minister for agriculture, agri-food and food security under Tory leaders Andrew Scheer, Erin O' Toole and most recently Pierre Poilievre.
"So, if you tax the farmer who's growing the food, the trucker who's hauling the food, the retailer who's selling the food, of course that's going to impact food prices," he continued. "So all of these things have an impact on heating your home, feeding your family, putting gas in your car. These are things we want to address with tax reductions for Canadians."
Foothills Liberal candidate John Bruinsma said the government has already taken steps to address affordability and will continue to do so with a renewed mandate under Carney.
"We're already seeing from [Carney's] platform that he's looking to improve the housing situation on top of what's already been done by the Liberal Party," said Bruinsma, referring to the promised GST exemption for the purchase of homes at or below $1 million, which he has said will save first-time buyers up to $50,000 on the cost of a new home.
Bruinsma believes Carney's credentials as a former central banker, including serving as governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 global recession, make him uniquely qualified to guide the nation through a challenging economic situation.
"His background, obviously, with the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, as well as his global network... that type of resume just resonates with most people," he said.
Both parties launched their campaigns by announcing income tax relief for the middle-class: Poilievre promised to cut income tax by 15 per cent, dropping the lowest income tax bracket rate by 2.25 percentage points, while Carney's plan is to reduce the marginal tax rate on the lowest tax bracket by one percentage point.
Rather than income tax reductions, the NDP has promised to raise the basic personal amount tax credit to $19,500, meaning individuals making that amount or less will not pay any federal income tax. According to the party, the plan would have individuals that earn between $19,500 and $177,882 save $505 annually.
Foothills NDP candidate Kaitte Aurora called this plan a more effective solution for lower- and middle-class Canadians.
"If you look at the Liberals, everything they do, like tax cuts for elites... this has been how politics has been working, right?"
Aurora, an activist and community leader with a background in space systems engineering, pointed to their own experience working in the private sector as having given them a firsthand look at economic inequality in Canada.
"Corporate lifestyle really did not agree with me," they said. "It's a lot of grinding to benefit shareholders more so than actually doing anything impactful for people, and so I left."
The Green Party is proposing a similar tax relief program on a larger scale: eliminating all federal income tax on earnings under $40,000.
The party's Foothills candidate, Emma Hoberg, has previous experience working to address affordability in Canada through supporting businesses and fostering economic growth by working with a business improvement association to support small businesses after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need to make sure that both businesses and local communities have unconditional support and have strong alternative solutions in times of change," she said.
Paul O'Halloran, the People's Party of Canada candidate for Foothills, considers the reduction of taxes and elimination of the carbon tax key components of addressing the affordability crisis.
"We're way overtaxed as Canadians and the government relies way too much on our wallets to do the things they're doing," he said.
The People's Party has proposed the elimination of the capital gains tax and reductions on personal, corporate and investment tax rates. Rather than provide specific figures for tax reductions, the party is focused on making cuts to spending, which it says would eliminate the government's budgetary deficit and make tax cuts fiscally viable. The party's proposed spending cuts include the elimination of corporate welfare, foreign aid with an emphasis on Ukraine, subsidies to the CBC and other media outlets, and Indigenous programs.
O'Halloran pointed to increased immigration levels as a driving force behind Canada's current economic situation.
"The cost of living is incredible, housing and that, and that's all due to mass immigration," O'Halloran said. "I have no issue with people coming to Canada, but I think there should be a process that protects them as well as us."
He said that a stronger vetting process would go a long way to ensuring that newcomers support the Canadian economy.
"They need to be able to get in, live and function in our societies, not live off our social systems," he continued. "That's one of the things the People's Party is big about: stopping the immigration, get it back under control, which in turn will bring housing prices down because of the demand and supply, right?"
The top element of the party's housing strategy is to "impose a moratorium on new permanent residents for as many years as necessary until the housing crisis has cooled down, the negative economic impact of mass immigration has been neutralized, and the process of social and cultural disintegration due to mass immigration has been reversed."
Canadians head to the polls on April 28, with advance polling stations open from April 18 to 21.
