OTTAWA -- Party leaders made their first pitches to voters and took their shots at opponents on the first day of the federal election campaign. Here are a few snippets of what each leader had to say.
"Canadians have an important choice to make -- will we go back to the failed policies of the past or will we continue to move forward?" -- Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau
"We made a commitment to Canadians to grow the economy for the middle class and for people working hard to join it. That was the heart of the promise we got elected on and we've delivered on that." -- Trudeau
"We made the case that he (Trudeau) has lost the moral authority to govern. So over the next five weeks or so we're going to be outlining our vision for the country to put more money back into the pockets of Canadians and let them get ahead, but what today shows is that you just cannot trust Justin Trudeau. He will say anything to cover up his scandals, and he'll say anything to get re-elected and Canadians cannot believe the things that he says." -- Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer
"Four years ago, Justin Trudeau charmed us with pretty words and empty promises. He said the right things but he didn't do them. Behind closed doors, Justin Trudeau does whatever the wealthy and powerful corporations want him to do. It's clear, Justin Trudeau isn't who he pretended to be." -- NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh
"I'm confident that people will see in us champions who want to put them at the centre and the heart of everything we do." -- Singh
"When I was a kid, I never imagined that someone that looked like me would be running to be prime minister. People told me time and time again the things that I couldn't do. But now, kids run up and say, 'Seeing you do this, I feel like I can do anything.' And that's inspirational." -- Singh
"This election is about telling the truth to Canadians about how serious the climate emergency really is and we do that in order not to create fear, we do that in order to give everyone hope. We have a plan." -- Green Leader Elizabeth May
"First and foremost -- no other party leader is going to say this, but are you ready? -- first and foremost, we are Earthlings." -- May
"If you look at our policies, our policies are very different than the other political parties and if you believe in freedom, in free market, if you believe in people, that's the People's Party of Canada. We are there to be sure that we'll have a bright future in this country." -- People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier
