Scheer, Trudeau to campaign in Golden Horseshoe as Singh, May head to Atlantic Canada

A place to take a stand, a place to grow your votes.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and Liberal rival Justin Trudeau are each hoping to discover a bountiful crop of support as they focus today’s federal campaign efforts on the densely populated suburbs north of Toronto and the rest of the so-called Golden Horseshoe.

For Trudeau, it’s his second straight day courting suburban family voters; he spent Sunday in Brampton, Ont., promising the picket-fence crowd a big-ticket tax cut worth billions and a 25 per cent reduction in their cellphone bills.

READ MORE: Here are the promises Trudeau, Scheer, Singh, May and Blanchet have made

Given the task ahead for Trudeau, who is in Hamilton today, it’s hardly surprising that he’s bringing out the expensive china: the questions about last week’s shocking blackface controversy may have abated, but they have not disappeared, and this week a clearer picture of the extent of the damage is sure to emerge.

Scheer, meanwhile, arrives in the suburban community of Vaughan, Ont., after a visit to Prince Edward Island, where he made a commitment of a different kind: a pledge to veterans to personally oversee efforts to reset the Conservative party’s relationship with Canada’s ex-soldiers.

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Leader Elizabeth May take their undercard battle to Atlantic Canada, where Singh is introducing a new “star candidate” in Bathurst, N.B., before moving on to Halifax; May makes an announcement in Fredericton.

WATCH: Day 12 of the Federal Election campaign trail

1:07 Day 12 of the Federal Election campaign trail

Scheer not only promised to correct a host of the reasons why veterans in Canada are mad at both the Liberals and the Conservatives — clear the benefits backlog, overhaul their hated pension plan, improve transition supports — but he also promised to oversee the efforts himself and enshrine respect for veterans in legislation.

“As prime minister, I will take a personal interest in ensuring the commitments we made today are followed through on,” Scheer said.

On Sunday, Singh continued to make public concern about climate change and natural disasters a priority.

During a stop in Gatineau, Que., Singh pledged to add $2.5 billion to the federal government’s disaster mitigation fund. The idea, he said, is to help people — like those in west Quebec who recently faced severe flooding — avoid disasters and be able to stay in their current homes.

“We can’t just close our eyes” to the prospect of more weather-related disasters, he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2019.