7 million Canadians voted before all party platforms were out. Do platforms still matter?

Mark Gollom · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 25, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Before the Conservatives unveiled their predetermination level connected Tuesday — the past level to beryllium released by the main federal parties — more than 7 cardinal Canadians had already voted.

That suggests a important chunk of the Canadian nationalist felt they didn't need to comparison the costed enactment platforms earlier casting a vote. But it also calls into question the relevance of specified documents.

"The information that each the cardinal parties waited precise precocious successful the run to enactment guardant their platform, I think, gives america an denotation that they didn't deliberation this would beryllium what voters would beryllium precise funny about," said Sébastien Dallaire, enforcement vice-president of Eastern Canada for the Leger polling firm. 

Last Saturday, the Liberals and NDP released their afloat platforms after both enactment debates and a afloat time of beforehand voting. The Conservatives released their ain level aft advance polls had already closed.

"In the past, those platforms came a batch earlier due to the fact that parties knew oregon believed that voters would precise overmuch wage attraction to deficits and taxes. And this clip around, it suggests that parties didn't deliberation this would substance truthful much," Dallaire said.

He said the crushed for that is due to the fact that U.S. President Donald Trump and the tariffs helium imposed connected Canada person become such cardinal issues successful this campaign.

'Poll aft poll' showed voters person Trump successful mind

"This is what voters were acrophobic about. This is what canvass aft canvass was showing was much important," helium said. "It's been precise hard to get voters to absorption connected thing else."

David Coletto, founder and CEO of Ottawa-based polling and marketplace probe steadfast Abacus Data, said their polling shows that the state is divided successful choosing betwixt which enactment and person tin champion woody with the interaction of Trump's decisions and who tin champion alteration argumentation and the absorption of the country.

WATCH | How bash the Liberal and Conservative platforms compare?: 

The Liberals are winning by 40 per cent among those who accidental it's astir Trump, portion the Conservatives pb by 26 per cent among those who accidental it's astir change, helium said successful an email to CBC News.

"Instead of looking astatine the party's level successful detail, I deliberation Canadians are assessing the quality and acquisition of the leaders," helium said. "At this point, I don't deliberation the platforms volition person overmuch interaction connected voting behaviour successful this election."

Yet there's immoderate information indicating that the apical predetermination issues whitethorn beryllium shifting distant from which person and governmental enactment is champion suited to look the American threats. 

According to CBC's Vote Compass, up of the leaders' debates, 25.2 per cent of respondents said Canada-U.S. relations was the astir important predetermination issue. After the debates, lone 19.6 per cent said this was the astir important issue. Other issues similar affordability and wellness attraction rose in importance.

Cynicism of enactment platforms 'cheap talk': professor

Platforms remain important documents and are a beauteous bully predictor for however a enactment volition govern if elected, said Richard Johnston, a governmental science professor emeritus astatine the University of British Columbia.

"Parties actually, mostly speaking, mean what they accidental and to the grade that circumstances permit, bash what accidental they're going to do," helium said. "So the cynicism astir enactment platforms is inexpensive talk. They really bash instrumentality this seriously."

Mostafa Askari, main economist astatine the University of Ottawa's Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy (IFSD), echoed that whichever enactment gets elected, their costed platforms, which see nationalist spending projections and revenue streams will, with immoderate adjustments, beryllium their budget.

"So wherefore not person that thought earlier you spell to ballot and get a consciousness of what they are planning?" helium said. "I can't spot immoderate of these politicians if they conscionable speech without truly putting thing connected the array and amusement maine what they are readying to do."

But platforms just whitethorn not substance successful the mode they theoretically should, said Andrea Lawlor, an subordinate prof of governmental subject astatine McMaster University.

"If they operated successful the mode that we would think, they would beryllium taxable to scrutiny by the public, and we would marque our decisions successful ample portion connected the attraction of the issues by the politicians," she said. "I deliberation successful practice, it doesn't enactment precisely that way."

"I'm not definite that galore Canadians are consulting these documents oregon consulting them thoroughly and making their decisions based connected them," she said. "I deliberation determination are a batch of radical who person a reasonably decided ballot and they felt comfy going to the polls adjacent successful the lack of a platform."

Canadians are much apt getting a glimpse of enactment promises done accordant run reporting by media, she said.

"A batch of these promises person already been announced successful immoderate way, signifier oregon signifier done rollouts connected run stops oregon successful media interviews," Lawlor said. "I don't deliberation determination was an anticipation that determination would beryllium a extremist shift."

Yet platforms are important for deliberative ideology due to the fact that they set out a program that Canadians should reasonably expect parties to travel should they signifier government, she said.

"It has an accountability relation that allows voters and media and anyone who is attentive to spell backmost and cheque to spot whether parties are delivering."

WATCH | Advance voting sees record-setting weekend: 

Askari agreed that it is important for radical to spot precisely wherever the parties are successful presumption of their plan, and however those plans are going to impact them. 

That's wherefore the IFSD thought it was particularly important to have the costed platforms released earlier the debates.

If the parties had done so, overmuch of those debates would person been focused connected the differences successful their approaches, their ideologies and the mode that they put their platforms together, Askari said.

"Since their platforms were provided aft the debates, it's not going to person overmuch of an interaction connected the results now," helium said.

A bygone era?

Andrew MacDougall, who was manager of communications to erstwhile premier curate Stephen Harper, said helium believes party platforms whitethorn beryllium of "a bygone era" erstwhile putting them out aboriginal successful a run was based on hopes they would pull attraction and physique momentum implicit time.

"Now a level is cobbled unneurotic aft the fact, erstwhile each thought has been revealed a time astatine a time," helium wrote successful a recent Toronto Star column.

MacDougall wrote that done the prism of societal media, releasing a level is like "sticking your program into a blender and watching it splat onto the wall. Not lone that, each of those splatter marks tin alteration into a large contented if the incorrect extremity of the algorithm gets ahold of it.

"It's for this crushed [Pierre] Poilievre and [Mark] Carney person waited truthful agelong to enactment their afloat plans retired into the wild," helium wrote.