Staffers are partying late into the night and reporting to work at 7 a.m., Chipotle’s are turning into war rooms, and the polls are telling stories.

We went to three party-specific events in Ottawa for a pulse check on how people feel in the nation’s capital. From 11-year-old door knockers to Jagmeet Singh to Trump’s former trade representative, we heard a LOT of opinions.

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork)

Background reading:

• Liberals lead dips for 1st time in Canada election as Tories gain: poll | Global
• Carney apologizes for fake Trump-style buttons, Liberal staffers ‘reassigned’ | National Post
• Record-tying number of candidates running in Ottawa riding of Carleton | CTV
• NDP Strategy in the Final Stretch of the Election | Global
• Pierre Poilievre is sticking to his greatest hits. That’s the problem | Globe and Mail

Sponsors: 

Visit fizz.ca to learn more about Fizz and its long list of added-value features, and activate a first plan using the referral code CAN25 to get 25$ off & 10GB of free data. 

Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more! To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/BACKBENCH, and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.