Canadians can cast their votes in the federal election this weekend as advance polling starts Friday, Elections Canada says.

Advance voting for the 45th federal general election will take place on Friday, April 18; Saturday, April 19; Sunday, April 20; and Monday, April 21.

Polling stations will be open from 9 am to 9 pm local times on those days.

The election itself is scheduled for April 28.

“Unlike in some provincial and municipal elections, in federal elections, electors may only vote at their assigned polling station,” Elections Canada said in a statement.

If you are unsure about where to vote, you can find out your polling station by visiting elections.ca and entering their postal code or by calling 1-800-463-6868.

If you miss the advance polling window, you can also vote early by Tuesday, April 22 before 6 p.m. local time at any Elections Canada office.

You can also vote by mail before Tuesday, by applying online and returning your special ballot by mail.

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If the return envelope is addressed to your local Elections Canada office, you can also drop off the ballot in person at that office before polls close on election day.

Elections Canada said they are also hiring poll workers for various paid positions.

When voting in person, regardless of the day or place, you will need to prove your identity, but there are three ways to do so.

A driver’s licence or any other card issued by the federal, provincial or local government that has your photo, name and current address is the first option.

If you choose to bring two pieces of ID, Elections Canada has a list of acceptable ID on its website.

Lastly, if none of the above options work, you can vote by declaring your identity and address in writing and having someone from your polling station vouch for you.

However, Elections Canada stresses that the person vouching must be able to prove their own identity and address, and they can only vouch for one person.

Most Canadian citizens 18 years and older are eligible to vote and, according to Elections Canada, are already in the National Register of Electors.

But if you want to make sure that you get a voter information card in the mail, you can check the online voter registration service, call 1-800-463-6868, or visit an Elections Canada office near you.

Just make sure to have an accepted form of identification and proof of address to do so.

If you’re not registered but are eligible to vote, you can register online or at one of the offices. Elections Canada also makes it easy to register when you go to your polling station to vote.

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Americans Prudence Donovan and Mason Gaston recently travelled to Ottawa from their home in the state of Maine.

But it wasn’t for tourism.

They were looking to move to Canada, and potentially claiming asylum because they’re both transgender.

“For our physical safety, we really feel that, especially raising a family, Canada would be a safer placescronym for that,” Donovan said.

The family says the political climate in their home country has raised concerns, specifically the direction the Donald Trump administration has taken on LGBTQ2 rights and policies.

In his first months back in office after his re-election, Trump signed an executive order aimed at slashing federal supports for gender transitions for people under the age of 19, and an order requiring the federal government to define sex as only male or female.

The administration also moved to bar transgender people from military service.

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“I think we understand that it might be a choice between uprooting ourselves or ending up in a political prison,” Donovan said.

Their story isn’t unique.

New Brunswick-based immigration lawyer Nushka Blais says she’s hearing from more Americans who are considering a move to Canada.

She says a lot of their concerns are around federal policies.

“The main concerns I’m hearing about are making sure elderly family members are safe and taken care of, protecting the rights and the health care access of family members or children,” she said.

She says questions from American citizens about seeking asylum are common. But she doesn’t recommend it as a first pathway for Americans, due to Canada’s safe third-party agreement with the United States.

“It’s part of the conversation for every intake call I receive from the U.S. right now,” she said.

“The U.S. is considered a safe country. And so you cannot claim asylum from a safe country.”

Instead, Blais recommends looking into professions that provinces are seeking — such as health care in New Brunswick — and then applying through those channels.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt echoed that sentiment, saying there aren’t any additional programs for U.S. asylum seekers, but the province is attempting to attract Americans.

“We’re going to specifically attract the kind of specific health-care professionals that we need that may find themselves uncomfortable in the U.S. right now,” Holt said.

As for Donovan and Gaston, they’re staying in Maine for now.

The family believes asylum isn’t the best pathway for them, and would like to stay close to family as they’re expecting a baby.

However, Canada is still on the table if U.S. policies on transgender people intensify.

“Moving with a baby is going to be really difficult if it comes down to it, but at the same time, it’s really scary. It’s scary to be trans and it’s scary to think about what it will be like to be a trans couple with a child,” Donovan said.

— with a file from Global News’ Rebecca Lau 

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A Shuswap, B.C., compost facility that has grown well beyond its initially approved site will have to reduce its foot print to meet compliance.

As per staff recommendation, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) board has voted against the passing of first reading, which would have allowed the Spa Hills Compost Facility to continue operating on a much larger scale but within the bylaw regulations.

“I think it’s a relief for all of us, so we can maybe go outside and get some fresh air when all of this scales back,” said Deneen Tomlinson, who lives next to the facility.

The facility south of Salmon Arm was permitted to operate in an area not exceeding 500 square metres when it opened in 2014.

However, the area used for primary composting has grown to 40 times that size over the years and without any approvals.

“I think it’s horrible,” said Tomlinson. “I think the government should have stepped up and regulated this a little better so it wouldn’t get to this scope.”

The unapproved growth has come with problems for area residents as animal parts are among the items composted on site.

“All the meat falling in my yard. Birds would be dropping it. My dogs would get it. My horses eat in the pasture that the meat is dropped in and some of this is euthanized horses so it worries me,” Tomlinson told Global News.

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“Odour is obviously an issue.  It’s far beyond disgusting. Like if you were to go to a landfill and smell rotting meat, that’s what we smell in our neighbourhood on a daily basis.”

Instead of reducing its footprint to meet compliance, the Spa Hills Compost operator asked for a land use amendment to increase the compost area to 23,725 square metres, which staff confirmed reflects the scale of the current operation.

Despite board directors citing the importance of compost facilities such as Spa Hills, they voted unanimously against allowing the facility to meet compliance by continuing operating at the larger than initially permitted capacity.

“I am thrilled that it is a response,” said Pat Peebles, who also lives in the area. “It is actually the response that a year ago right at this timeline we went before the board asking for this to happen.”

While no timeframe was set for the compost facility to scale back to its original footprint,  the regional district said its bylaw enforcement will begin working with the operator immediately to help bring the operation back into compliance.

In a statement to Global News, Spa Hills co-owner Josh Mitchell stated, “We have heard and are hearing the neighbours’ concerns.  In response, we have already made changes and improvements to our facility and composting process. Spa Hills Compost will continue to work with the CSRD to resolve issues for the benefit of everyone.”

“I think our fight is still a fight, ” said Tomlinson. “I think it’s a small win.”

Residents are now awaiting a Ministry of Environment inspection this spring to address their environmental contamination concerns.

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It wasn’t just golf clubs swinging on the course Monday at Two Eagles Golf Course in West Kelowna.

A heated altercation between two groups of golfers broke out on the 18th hole and was caught on camera by witness Jennifer Pont, who says the confrontation appeared to be sparked by frustration over pace of play.

“You just do not expect that,” Pont told Global News. “And also the fact that it happened on the 18th hole— the last hole of the game. They couldn’t just hang in there and summon a little more patience. It just exploded in the end.”

Pont explained that the “white shirt group,” who had been moving more slowly, became angry after the “blue shirt group” began hitting balls ahead of them.

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The fight quickly escalated into a physical altercation, with video footage showing punches thrown and yelling between the two groups.

Two Eagles Golf Course released a statement in response, saying:

“Anyone who fails to adhere to the Golf Course rules will be banned.”

“We formally request the parties involved acknowledge the damage done to each other, and we will be actively engaging in a restitution process.”

The restitution, they say may be in the form of a donation to an inclusive sports program. The course’s owners are also requesting a full report from the RCMP.

Mounties say all individuals involved have been identified and confirm the investigation is ongoing. Police called the footage of the fight, “Nothing short of unacceptable behaviour.”

Pont, still stunned by the incident, added, “If you play golf, you’ve golfed behind slow groups before — it sucks, but you don’t deal with it with your fists.”

Two Eagles is located on Westbank First Nation land and is Indigenous-owned. In a statement to Global News, WFN said, “We wish to reaffirm our commitment to community safety and respectful conduct. WFN does not condone violence in any form.”

According to the course’s ownership, this is the first incident of its kind in over two decades, and they plan to handle it with “the utmost severity.”

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There’s a star on the piano at the St. Vincent’s: Langara long-term care home.

Once a week Eve Duke performs for her fellow residents at the Jazz Café.

“It makes me feel good, because it means I’m actually doing something they like, and that’s good,” said Duke.

Born in Washington, D.C., Eve was in her early 20s when she got her big break, discovered by famed jazz composer Duke Ellington who wanted her to sing in his orchestra.

“I could barely stand up,” Duke said about the nerves she was feeling during her first gig with Ellington.

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“He thought I was good and I sang most of his tunes because he wrote beautiful songs.”

She toured and recorded with Ellington under her stage name Yvonne Lanauze, while connecting with many musical legends in the years that followed.

“She’s met a lot a famous people that she’s shared stories about, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson,” said music therapist Wendy Solloway, who plays with Duke at the Jazz Café.

Eventually moving to Canada and settling in Vancouver, Eve continued to perform around town. Now, after just celebrating her 100th birthday, the show must go on.

“It just brings her back to life,” said Lucy Thomas, who also plays at the Jazz Café. “When she starts playing, she’s back in the moment, she’s back in the club.”

A talented artist whose greatest honour has been sharing her gift with anyone who appreciates good music.

“I had so many people who would come up and say how much they enjoyed it,” Duke said.

“That made me feel really good.”

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If the ballot box question is change, Canadians were treated to four federal leaders Thursday night promising this time will be different.

Three of those leaders did everything they could to connect Liberal Leader Mark Carney to former prime minister Justin Trudeau, while Carney did his best to distance himself from his predecessor’s legacy.

“Justin Trudeau isn’t here,” Carney said during a tense exchange with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

“The way you judge someone, in my view, is how they act. What they do when they have responsibility.”

Carney entered into the night as the clear frontrunner, and that was reflected in the attention he got from Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet. He needed to avoid mistakes to protect the Liberal lead in national polling.

But his rivals were unwilling to let the newly-minted prime minister shed the legacy of a decade of Liberal rule.

Poilievre, who spent years laying track to fight an election against Trudeau and the carbon tax — two issues now off the table for the electorate — entered into the night as the underdog despite his party having led in national polls for months.

Poilievre was keen to connect Carney’s economic advisory role to Trudeau’s legacy.

“The choice in this election is after a lost Liberal decade of rising costs and crime and a falling economy under America’s thumb, do we want to elect them to a fourth term? Or do we want change?,” Poilievre asked towards the close of the debate.

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“In retrospect, you look back on the Liberal decisions that you advised Justin Trudeau. Will you look at the camera in the eye and apologize to the many people who suffered as a result of the inflationary policies that you advised Justin Trudeau to implement?”

“Twice I was a central bank governor,” Carney shot back, referring to his time as the governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

“And in both cases, if I may, in both cases when I was responsible for inflation, inflation was less than two per cent … That is the kind of success that I can deliver for this country coming on this crisis.”

The candidates arrived at the only English debate in the shadow of U.S. President Donald Trump and his chaotic tariff war against the world. No candidate had a decisive performance in the French-language debate Wednesday evening.

Poilievre — until only a few weeks ago the odds-on favourite to become Canada’s next prime minister — has seemingly shifted his tone from hellfire to hope.

“I was the leader of the Opposition. Now I’m preparing to become prime minister,” Poilievre told the popular Québec television show Tout le Monde en Parle earlier this week.

“It’s the time to present hope.”

Carney, on the other hand, has led a campaign that seems to play up boring — or, more charitably, reassuring.

“Canada has to create other options, new international trade partners, and that’s what I promise,” Carney said during Wednesday’s French language debate, referring to the Canada-U.S. relationship.

Singh, with his party trailing badly in national polling, was just looking to get a seat at the table.

With the Greens disinvited from the independent debates commission’s nights, it was those three national leaders squaring off to convince Canadians they were the right person to lead the country through chaos.

The Poilievre Conservatives’ once-formidable lead — a double-digit percentage point advantage over the Justin Trudeau-led Liberal Party — withered over the last few weeks, in one of the most stunning reversals in modern Canadian politics.

The race now appears to be Carney’s to lose. As of Thursday, poll aggregator 338canada.com projected the Liberals to win 193 seats — well within comfortable majority territory — and the Conservatives 121, roughly where the party was at in their election losses of 2015, 2019 and 2021.

The website, which crunches numbers based on publicly-available national polling, put the Bloc Québecois at 20 seats and the New Democrats at eight, which would represent a stunning wipeout for the progressive party.

The polling numbers have been largely static since Carney took over as prime minister in March. But both the Liberals and Conservatives have pledged to release their fully-costed platform in the coming days — the first major policy development in the campaign that has the chance to move the needle.

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