Canada’s Carney, Poilievre face off nationally and locally

OTTAWA: In a quaint restaurant on the outskirts of Canada´s capital, Sandra McCormack spent a recent morning talking politics with friends in an area that is suddenly in the political spotlight.

The area´s neighbouring electoral districts -- Carleton and Nepean -- are starkly different: Carleton is largely rural, picturesque and dotted with small farms, while Nepean is a suburban Ottawa neighborhood, packed with strip malls and single family homes.

But the districts have something in common ahead of Canada´s April 28 election -- one of them will elect the next prime minister. The Liberal Party leader, Prime Minister Mark Carney, is running in Nepean, while Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is the candidate for Carleton.

Poilievre was born in the western city of Calgary, entered politics after university, and has represented Carleton in parliament since 2004.

Over breakfast in Carleton´s Manotick area, the 77-year-old McCormack recalled the first campaign of the Tory leader, known locally as just Pierre. “He looked like a 15-year-old,” she said.