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204.975.3228ext.A4 | NEWS O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| SATURDAY,OCTOBER19,
The shifting White House expla-
nation for U.S. President Donald
Trump’s decision to withhold mil-
itary aid from Ukraine drew alarm
Friday from Republicans as the
impeachment inquiry brought a
new test of their alliance.
Mr. Trump, in remarks at the
White House, stood by his acting
chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney,
whose earlier comments under-
mined the administration’s de-
fence in the impeachment probe.
Speaking Thursday at a news con-
ference, Mr. Mulvaney essentially
acknowledged a quid pro quo
with Ukraine that Mr. Trump has
long denied, saying U.S. aid was
withheld from Kyiv to push for an
investigation of the Democratic
National Committee and the 2016
election. He later clarified his re-
marks. Mr. Trump appeared satis-
fied with Mr. Mulvaney’s clarifica-
tion and the President dismissed
the entire House inquiry as “a ter-
rible witch hunt. This is so bad for
our country.”
But former Ohio Governor
John Kasich, who ran against Mr.
Trump in the 2016 Republican pri-
mary, said he now supports im-
peaching the President.
Mr. Mulvaney’s admission, he
said, was the “final straw.” “The
last 24 hours has really forced me
to review all of this,” Mr. Kasich
said on CNN.
In Congress, at least one Re-
publican, Representative Francis
Rooney of Florida, spoke out pub-
licly, telling reporters that he and
others were concerned by Mr.
Mulvaney’s remarks. Mr. Rooney
said he’s open to considering all
sides in the impeachment inqui-
ry. He also said Mr. Mulvaney’s
comments cannot simply be un-
done by a follow-up statement.
“It’s not an Etch-A-Sketch,”
said Mr. Rooney, a former ambas-
sador to the Holy See under for-
mer president George W. Bush.
The tumult over Mr. Mulva-
ney’s remarks capped a momen-
tous week in the impeachment in-vestigation as the admission,
from highest levels of the admin-
istration, undercut the White
House defence and pushed more
evidence into the inquiry.
Republican leaders tried to
contain the fallout. But four
weeks into the inquiry, the events
around Mr. Trump’s interaction
with the Ukraine President, which
are at the heart of impeachment,
have upended Washington.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry,
who has been caught up in the
probe, announced his resigna-
tion. A beloved House chairman,
Representative Elijah Cumming-
sof Maryland, a leading figure in
the investigation, died amid on-
going health challenges.
The march toward an impeach-
ment vote now seems all but inev-
itable, so much so that the high-
est-ranking Republican, Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McCon-
nell, privately told his GOP col-
leagues this week to expect action
in the House by U.S. Thanksgiving
in late November with a Senate
trial by Christmas.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
has given no timeline for conclu-
sion but wants the inquiry com-
pleted “expeditiously.” She said
Thursday that facts of the investi-
gation will determine next steps.
“The timeline will depend on
the truth line,” she told reporters.
This week’s hours of back-to-
back closed-door hearings from
diplomats and former top aides
appeared to be providing investi-
gators with a remarkably consis-
tent account of the run-up and af-
termath of Mr. Trump’s call with
Ukrainian President Volodymy
Zelenskiy.
In that July call, Mr. Trump
asked the newly elected Mr. Ze-
lenskiy for a “favour” in investi-
gating the Democratic National
Committee’s e-mail situation,
which was central to the 2016 elec-
tion, as well as a Ukraine gas com-
pany, Burisma, linked to the fam-
ily of Mr. Trump’s 2020 Democrat-
ic rival, Joe Biden, according to a
rough transcript of the phone
conversation released by the
White House.ASSOCIATEDPRESSU.S.PresidentDonaldTrump,seenduringatelephonelinkupwith
InternationalSpaceStationastronautsonFriday,isagaincallingthe
congressionalimpeachmentinquirya‘witchhunt.’EVANVUCCI/APTrumpdefenceofMulvaney’s
UkrainecommentalarmsGOP
LISAMASCARO
ANDREWTAYLOR
MARYCLAREJALONICK
WASHINGTONFederal leaders and candidates will fan out
across the country this weekend in an intensive
effort to win over voters in key battlegrounds
ahead of Monday’s election.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Conserva-
tive Leader Andrew Scheer have remained
neck-and-neck in the polls over the past six
weeks, and both will be out on the hustings on
Saturday and Sunday to use every ounce of bat-
tery life left to try and tip the balance.
Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia were
home to the key races at the outset of the cam-
paign and the trend continues in the final push.
The regions have been the most visited by the
party leaders and are getting the most atten-
tion in the final hours.
Mr. Trudeau, who is seeking a second term in
office after facing a 2019 plagued by the SNC-
Lavalin affair and the blackface controversy,
will spend Saturday touring in Ontario, begin-
ning in Niagara.
The Liberals are expected to be in B.C. on
Sunday for a get-out-the-vote push before re-
turning to his Montreal riding of Papineau for
election night.
At a Liberal rally in Vaughan,
Ont., on Friday night, the crowd
went quiet as Mr. Trudeau re-
called advice from his father, for-
mer prime minister Pierre Tru-
deau. Friday would have been
Trudeau Sr.’s 100th birthday.
“My father always used to tell
me that when you’re paddling across a big lake
and the clouds get darker and the wind comes
up and thewavesstart to show white caps and
break a little more, there really is only one thing
to do: Sing louder and paddle harder,” he told
1,000 supporters who crowded into a conven-
tion centre. “And that’s what we do as Liberals.”
Mr. Scheer, who has had to defend his résu-
mé and status as a dual citizen during the cam-
paign, is scheduled to stop in the vote-rich
Greater Toronto Area on Saturday before jet-
ting across the country to B.C. He will be in Re-
gina on Monday.
The remainder of the campaign will be a
“street fight” riding by riding, said Nik Nanos,
the chief data scientist for Nanos Research.
“It’s basically about getting out the vote right
now, because in a race this tight, ground orga-
nization and voter motivation are going to be
critical to the outcome of the election,” Mr. Na-
nos said in an interview.
“I think the reason why it is so important is
because this particular campaign has been
more about fear and anger than about inspira-
tion.”
On Friday, Mr. Scheer attempted to intensify
fear that the New Democrats and Liberals will
team up after Monday’s vote, adding it would
be the “worst possible outcome.”
The Conservative Leader said the two parties
working together in a minoritygovernment sit-
uation would increase the sales tax, which Mr.
Trudeau immediately dismissed as being “en-
tirely untrue.”
“It is unfortunate that the Conservatives
keep having to make up attacks against us,” Mr.
Trudeau said on Friday in Whitby, Ont.
The Toronto-area riding is currently held by
Celina Caesar-Chavannes, an outspoken for-
mer member of the Liberal caucus who is not
running again.
This year, Ms. Caesar-Chavannes said she
was met with hostility and anger when she told
Mr. Trudeau she was leaving politics. Mr. Tru-
deau later apologized and Ms. Caesar-Cha-
vannes went on to quit the Liberal caucus in
March to sit as an Independent.
Mr. Scheer, who campaigned in Fredericton
on Friday, called for Mr. Trudeau to “have the
guts” to say what taxes he would increase.
Mr. Scheer also paid a visit to the Quebec rid-
ing of Beauce on Friday, currently held by for-
mer Tory turned People’s Party of Canada Lead-
er Maxime Bernier.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who has experi-
enced a late bump in the polls, is to spend the
remainder of the campaign in British Colum-
bia, including on election night in his riding of
Burnaby South.
Mr. Singh has opened the door to working
with the Liberals after the election, and rejected
the notion of partnering with the Tories.
For his part, the Conservative Leader has re-
jected questions about how he would handle a
minoritygovernment of his own – which would
likely be difficult, given that the Tories lack nat-
ural federal allies.
Mr. Singh rejected Mr. Scheer’s accusation on
Friday that the NDP and the Liberals working
together would result in a hike of the goods and
services tax.
“Mr. Scheer is just making stuff up because
he’s getting desperate,” Mr. Singh said in the
B.C. riding of Courtenay-Alberni.
“We absolutely will not raise
the GST, no, not whatsoever, be-
cause it’s not a progressive tax.
What we are going to do is make
sure that the richest pay their fair
share. We made it very clear.”
Mr. Singh said Mr. Scheer is
“trying to make up things to scare
people because our message of
hope is working.”
On CBC’sThe Currenton Friday morning,
Conservative candidate Lisa Raitt suggested if
the Conservatives form a minority govern-
ment, her party could work with the NDP on a
bill-by-bill basis. The NDP Leader said he has
made it clear that partnership won’t happen.
Meanwhile, Green Party Leader Elizabeth
May is poised to end her campaign in British
Columbia. On Friday, she crossed paths with
the NDP on Vancouver Island, and the overlaps
will likely continue this weekend as the two
parties duke it out on the West Coast.
The Greens went into the campaign hoping
to sweep Vancouver Island and the party is still
hoping to achieve a breakthrough.
Ms. May will be in the Vancouver and Burna-
by areas on Saturday and Sunday morning be-
fore heading back to Vancouver Island Sunday
afternoon.
The daily tracking survey from Nanos Re-
search on Friday had the Conservatives and
Liberals tied at 32 per cent, which falls within
the margin of error. The NDP was at 19 per cent,
the Greens at 9 per cent, the Bloc Québécois at 6
per cent and the People’s Party at 2 per cent.
The poll was sponsored by The Globe and
Mail and CTV, with a total of 1,200 Canadians
surveyed until Oct. 17. It has a margin of error of
2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Re-
spondents were asked: “If a federal election
were held today, could you please rank your top
two current local voting preferences?” A report
on the results, questions and methodology for
this and all surveys can be found at tgam.ca/
election-polls.WithareportfromMariekeWalshFederalleadersmakefinal
bidsbeforeelectionday
KeyregionsofQuebec,
OntarioandB.C.aregetting
themostattentioninthelast
weekendofthecampaign
KRISTYKIRKUPFREDERICTON
MICHELLEZILIOWHITBY,ONT.
JANICEDICKSONNANAIMO,B.C.
Theremainderofthe
campaignwillbea
‘streetfight’riding
byriding,said
[pollster]NikNanos.