5 Things posted Mar 31, 2025 @ 08:00am by Iain Burns

5 things you need to know this morning: March 31, 2025

Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.

Five things you need to know

1. Carney refuses to drop Liberal candidate who suggested Tory be handed over to China

Mark Carney has refused to remove a Liberal candidate who told a news conference that someone should hand over a Tory candidate to the Chinese authorities in exchange for a bounty. Carney, however, said he will not drop Paul Chiang, the candidate for the riding of Markham-Unionville, explaining that, despite making "deeply offensive" remarks, he has since "apologized."

SHOCKING & EXPLOSIVE

Mark Carney just confirmed Paul Chiang will continue his candidacy

A 28-year police veteran should know better than to place a bounty on his opponent

This is one of the most outrageous scandals unraveling in plain sight

🇨🇦😳
pic.twitter.com/1sSa4Mo9L8
— Marc Nixon (@MarcNixon24) March 31, 2025

2. Tories pledge 'National Energy Corridor' to free Canada from dependence on US

Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged today to create a "National Energy Corridor" if he becomes prime minister on April 28. It will mean fast-track approvals for railways, pipelines and transmission lines, the Tories said, with Poilievre adding: "After the Lost Liberal decade, Canada is poorer, weaker, and more dependent on the United States than ever before."

Could we even build the Canadian Pacific Railway today?

Conservatives will honour the legacy of Sir John A. Macdonald & unite our country with a Canada First National Energy Corridor.

So we can stand on our own two feet - for a change: https://t.co/eIy7PDtCaB pic.twitter.com/q1Pzw7GNsF
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) March 31, 2025

3. Liberals pledge to build 'almost 500,000' new homes a year, say Ottawa will act 'as a developer'

The Liberals, meanwhile, made their own policy announcement this morning, with Mark Carney pledging what he branded the most ambitious housing strategy since the Second World War. He said that – "in the face of President Trump's tariffs" – it was crucial to double the pace of construction across Canada to "almost 500,000 new homes a year," explaining that it could be done by making the federal government act "as a developer" to build houses at scale.

It’s time your government got back in the business of building affordable homes. pic.twitter.com/Vs7qZOZUlj
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) March 31, 2025

4. American invasion of Canada would prompt decades-long resistance: academic

The Americans would struggle to conquer and hold Canada if they attempted to use military force, according to academics who've pondered the possibility of another North American war. The University of Toronto's Aisha Ahmad said that, while Canada's military would be "immediately" defeated by the US, that would be "just the beginning," warning that a decades-long insurgency would follow.

American invasion of Canada would spark decades-long insurgency, expert predicts https://t.co/dZKo7ASxoO
— SooToday.com (@SooToday) March 30, 2025

5. Stock market tanks once again in anticipation of Trump's 'Liberation Day'

More economic vandalism from Donald Trump today, with his country's stock markets falling once again as we move closer to what the president is branding "Liberation Day" on Wednesday. Trump has said he's going to implement new taxes on imports from all countries the US trades with as part of his plan to create a system of "reciprocal tariffs."

BREAKING: The U.S. stock market...

The S&P 500 has hit a new low of 2025, down 10.5% from its all-time high on February 19th pic.twitter.com/N7b3a9KZa4
— Stocktwits (@Stocktwits) March 31, 2025