Ivison: What really goes on inside the leader's election campaign bus
John Ivison has been on the road with the federal leaders' election campaign tours for his eighth go-round, and offers a behind the scenes look at life with the boys and girls on the bus. Watch the video or read the transcript.
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Every election campaign brings me back to Timothy Crouse's classic account of the George McGovern U.S. presidential bid in 1972, The Boys on the Bus.
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Crouse said that what reporters know best, is not the voters but the tiny community of the press bus and plane, 'a totally abnormal world that combines the incestuousness of New England hamlet, with the giddiness of a mid-ocean gala and the physical rigour of the Long March'.
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This is my eighth general election and it's an accurate description.
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The past week on the Carney Express has involved a lot of hurry up and wait; being shepherded onto buses and planes: arriving like thieves in the night at some unremarkable hotel and leaving as the sun is coming up.
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'Did you enjoy your stay,' I was asked when checking out in Montreal. It was hard to say. We'd only been there for eight hours, six of them asleep.
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The days are a blur. On Sunday, after a rally in Nepean, we flew to Prince Edward Island, landing in the teeth of a cyclone. It was a huge relief not to end up as the eighth paragraph of a PM plane crash story.
Next morning, we flew to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and fell asleep in Quebec City.
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Once a day, we get a chance to question the candidate for 15 minutes, which forms the basis for the day's news. Not everyone gets a question, so reporters huddle – not so much a conspiracy as colleagues cooperating to ensure everyone's questions are covered.
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Most days, the candidate will take part in a ludicrous photo op requiring him to risk losing a digit on a saw at some factory or other.
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I bumped into Carney while he was having breakfast and he told me as Bank of England governor, he once had to drive a simulator around a racetrack at the Jaguar car factory. 'Has anyone ever made it round,' he asked. 'Lewis Hamilton almost did,' came the reply. The headline of the Governor crashing the economy into a wall wrote itself.
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Carney was much more comfortable playing road hockey with a bunch of 10 year olds, his only concern being that he might take out one of the kids. Elbows were down for the day.
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I've travelled on three campaigns covering Justin Trudeau, four with Stephen Harper; I was in the Rockies with Andrew Scheer and watched Jagmeet Singh longboat on the tarmac in Halifax and found quiet time to write a column on a bench in Kelowna.
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Winnipeg Free Press
11 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Protesters offer less-than-Friendly Manitoba welcome to U.S. ambassador to Canada
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an hour ago
Why Trump's deals with the EU, Japan may not be templates for Canada in trade talks
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He began his career as a newspaper reporter in B.C., spent six years as a freelance journalist in various parts of Africa, then joined the CBC in 2005. Mike was born and raised in Saint John, N.B. Follow Mike Crawley on Twitter (new window) With files from Natasha Fatah, Karen Pauls and Andrew Nichols
National Observer
4 hours ago
- National Observer
Carney says trade talks in 'intense phase' after Trump notches a win with European Union
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Christopher Sands, director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Canadian Studies, said the EU deal builds on Trump's negotiating style — he loses interest, suggests no deal will happen, insults the other side and "then at the 11th hour something comes through." "I know there's been a lot of negativity around a Canada security and economic agreement but it doesn't necessarily mean that we are doomed," Sands said. "It may be that we are close and we have a surprise deal." Trump sent a letter to Carney threatening to impose 35 per cent tariffs if Canada doesn't make a trade deal by Friday. The White House has said those duties would not apply to goods compliant with the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA. Carney and other Canadian officials have been downplaying expectations that a deal will be made by Friday. Most of the goods Canada sends to the US are CUSMA-compliant and won't be affected by the 35 per cent duties. The Canadian economy is still being slammed by Trump's Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles, and will be hit by copper tariffs the president has said will take effect by the week's end. So far, Trump's trade deals "are really bad omens for Canada," said William Pellerin, a trade lawyer and partner at the firm McMillan LLP. "(It shows) that the tariffs, particularly the sectoral tariffs, are stickier than we would have thought," Pellerin said. "If none of those countries were able to secure a drop in the sectoral tariffs, that is certainly bad news." Those Section 232 duties are a key target for Canadian negotiators and Pellerin said it's unlikely any deal will be struck by Ottawa if they remain at their current levels. While there are similarities between the Canada-US negotiations and those involving Europe, Carney said there are also many differences. While Europe is looking to end its reliance on Russian energy, Carney said Canada is a reliable supplier of energy to the United States. The prime minister said negotiations remain complex but "there is a landing zone that's possible." "But we have to get there," he said. The EU agreement also averts significant retaliatory duties from a major United States customer — meaning that if Canada can't reach a deal with Washington, it would be more isolated if it attempts to retaliate against the US. Canada and China have implemented retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump's trade war but, to allow talks to continue, Ottawa didn't move forward with additional duties. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday he supports a dollar-for-dollar tariff response, particularly to Trump's treatment of Canada's steel and aluminum industry. "I'm confident with Prime Minister Carney, I know he's going to do his very best to get a deal," Ford said. "But I don't trust President Trump." BC Premier David Eby said Canada is in a "different position" than the European Union or Japan, given the deeply integrated nature of North American supply chains. "We are a reliable partner, we are a good partner, but we also won't get kicked around," he said. Sands said Carney's recent move to limit imports of foreign steel into Canada will help shore up the domestic market during the tariff tumult while also avoiding the ire of the Trump administration. The prime minister recognizes you can engage in retaliation, Sands said, but "it doesn't bring you much joy." He said there are other actions, such as import quotas, that would better protect Canadian markets. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025.
