Voters concerned about affordability, health care and trade war, Edmonton candidates say

Madeleine Cummings · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 17, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Three national predetermination candidates vying to correspond a northeast Edmonton riding accidental that successful doorstep conversations, residents are bringing up concerns astir affordability, the outgo of living, wellness attraction and the Canada-U.S. commercialized war.

NDP campaigner Lesley Thompson, Liberal campaigner Blair-Marie Coles and People's Party of Canada campaigner Robert Bard each said affordability has been a communal interest among voters successful Edmonton Manning, a riding that has been held by Conservative  Ziad Aboultaif since 2015.

"Everyday families, particularly present successful Edmonton Manning, are conscionable trying to fig retired however to wage their bills and however to provender their families and erstwhile prices spell up, that's making beingness unaffordable and hard to get by," said Thompson, who has worn retired 3 pairs of shoes since she began knocking connected doors successful the summer.

CBC News asked each 4 candidates to enactment successful interviews astir their conversations with riding residents. All made themselves available except Aboultaif, the incumbent. 

Aboultaif, who won 41 per cent of the votes successful the 2021 election, has been posting connected societal media astir speaking with riding residents.

He has said connected societal media that the assemblage is "ready to enactment Canada archetypal for a change" and "ready for anticipation and to retrieve what was wasted successful the mislaid Liberal decade." 

The NDP came successful 2nd successful the riding during the 2021 election, winning 31 per cent of votes, followed by the Liberals (21 per cent) and the PPC (seven per cent).

Candidates also told CBC News that their conversations astir affordability and the outgo of surviving touched connected different issues, including housing, migration and wellness care. 

Bard, who said his biggest extremity is improving upon his party's show successful the riding during erstwhile elections, said lodging costs person travel up during his discussions with voters astir the outgo of living. 

The PPC is proposing a moratorium connected caller imperishable residents until the lodging situation has cooled down. 

"The PPC is not against migration astatine all — we conscionable request it truthful that it's controlled, truthful that erstwhile immigrants travel in, we tin supply the services they need," Bard said.

Thompson said the voters she's talking to are bringing up wellness attraction astir often — specifically protecting Canada's public health-care system. 

By expanding pharmacare, she said, the NDP would marque it easier for Canadians to spend medications and different essentials.

Liberal campaigner Blair-Marie Coles, who works full-time and has been door-knocking 4 to six times a week since the commencement of the predetermination campaign, said voters are bringing up galore issues, from artificial quality to the commercialized warfare and authorities of the economy.

She said a batch of radical successful the riding enactment successful the trades and are inactive recovering from the economical effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"So to get deed with this again, they're truly tense astir however it's going to interaction their livelihood," she said.

Coles said 1 taxable that has travel up again and again successful conversations is simply a tendency for hope. 

"They're looking for idiosyncratic who has a plan, that's going to support them harmless and get them done this, and I deliberation a batch of radical are looking astatine (Liberal Leader) Mark Carney and seeing idiosyncratic who tin supply that hope, but besides springiness the program to get america there," she said.

Aboultaif also utilized the connection anticipation successful a caller societal media station astir Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's sojourn and rally attended by thousands of radical successful Nisku, southbound of Edmonton.

"This is what anticipation looks like," helium said successful the post.

Affordability, Trump are apical issues: pollster

Eddie Sheppard, vice-president, insights, astatine the polling and marketplace probe institution Abacus Data, told CBC News that 2 topics are consistently resonating the astir with Canadians during the predetermination campaign: affordability and U.S. President Donald Trump.

He said the outgo of living, affordability, lodging and wellness attraction were the apical 4 issues for Canadians for months, but things shifted aft Trump took office.

When the institution surveyed 2,000 Canadian adults betwixt March 20 and 25, 34 per cent said the outgo of surviving volition person the biggest power connected their ballot and 19 per cent said the astir influential contented would beryllium Trump's interaction connected Canada. Ten per cent of respondents selected wellness attraction and adjacent less chose jobs, taxes, lodging oregon clime change.

People were invited astatine random to implicit the survey from a acceptable of spouse panels. The borderline of mistake for a comparable probability-based random illustration of the aforesaid size is +/- 2.19 per cent, 19 times retired of 20. 

Sheppard said respondents listing affordability arsenic 1 of their apical issues were much apt to thin Conservative portion those much acrophobic astir Trump were much apt to thin Liberal. 

A much caller survey from the aforesaid institution asked 1,800 Canadian adults betwixt April 7 and 10 to take up to 5 issues that should beryllium discussed successful the national predetermination debates. 

A random illustration of radical were invited to implicit that survey from a acceptable of spouse panels and the borderline of mistake for a comparable probability-based random illustration of the aforesaid size is +/- 2.3 per cent, 19 times retired of 20. 

How Canada should woody with Trump and his medication was the astir commonly chosen contented (selected by 68 per cent of respondents), followed by lodging affordability (65 per cent), wellness attraction and entree to services (64 per cent), and jobs and the system (63 per cent).

Recent information from Vote Compass suggests Canada-U.S. relations, economy/finance and outgo of living/affordability were Canadian voters' apical 3 issues. A akin divided was observed betwixt Liberal and Conservative voters, with the erstwhile particularly acrophobic astir relations with the U.S. and the second astir acrophobic astir the economy.

While Sheppard doesn't expect the enactment leaders to stray from focusing connected Trump and affordability, helium said debates could bring much attraction to overlooked issues, influencing undecided voters.