CBC News is launching its 2019 federal election coverage today. For the next two months, we aim to bring you election-related journalism on air and online that is as broad and exciting as the country we serve.
Starting Monday, CBC News formally launches its 2019 federal election coverage, the most ambitious, personalized, interactive and transparent election experience we have ever offered Canadians.
Our goals are every bit as intelligent and trustworthy as Canadians expect and deserve from CBC News, with one overarching commitment: CBC will put voters first. From every platform at our disposal, we’ll ask Canadians what they want to know and the news they want verified — as disinformation and election interference become chilling realities.
For the next two months, our election journalism will be as broad and exciting as the country we serve. We will offer rich narratives, rigorous fact checks and tough investigative journalism. As always, we will keep our journalistic promise to Canadians of accuracy, fairness, balance, impartiality, integrity and independence.
Where to find us
Canada Votes 2019 will be everywhere Canadians seek us out: on TV nightly with The National and around the clock seven days a week with CBC News Network; on CBC Radio, locally and nationally; on the CBC News app, online at CBCNews.ca and on Snapchat and other social channels; streaming continuously on CBC Gem; and on CBC podcasts, including Front Burner and an all-new election podcast.
Coverage kicks off Monday on The National with the CBC Election Primer, hosted by Rosemary Barton in Ottawa. The primer will set the stage for our ongoing agenda-setting election coverage, broadcast live and streaming 24 hours a day, building up to our election night experience on every platform across the country.
Election firsts
Throughout it all, CBC’s trusted journalists and hosts will be out in force, covering the country to bring our audience a number of election firsts:
The National on Sundays will lead each week with a supersized election power hour hosted by our senior political host, Rosemary Barton.
Party Lines, a new political podcast launching Sept. 5, teams up Barton and Elamin Abdelmahmoud (BuzzFeed News) with an unpretentious political primer that “makes politics make sense” for every kind of concerned citizen. Find it at cbc.ca/partylines.
West of Centre is an election-focused pop-up bureau based out of CBC Calgary that features election news and analysis, with a western voice and perspective — part of the CBC goal to reflect our country now, for and to all Canadians.
A special team of journalists will combine the CBC’s strength in tech, political and data journalism to expose false news and disinformation. We’ve published a two-part guide to spotting fake news online with tools to help you verify or debunk what you’re seeing.
My Election launches on the CBC News app the week of Sept. 9. It will allow CBC audiences to personalize their election coverage, choosing topics that interest them most, from affordability to climate change to local news, plus audio and video. You’ll find all the news, analysis and voter tools you need to make an informed decision in October.
Ask CBC News, starting later this month, will innovate in the text messaging space by inviting Canadians to send their election questions to CBC News. We will respond to a selection each week.
Peter Mansbridge presents a one-hour TV special, talking to Canadians about their hopes and worries around the election.
CBC Gem will feature a special Canada Votes section that includes live events along with our ongoing election coverage, smartly packaged for viewers.
Trusted favourites
The top-calibre programs and hosts CBC audiences have come to trust and respect will once again lead our coverage every step of the way.
Federal leaders’ debate will be co-moderated by the CBC’s Rosemary Barton (Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. ET in English and Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. ET in French) and broadcast live on all CBC platforms. There will also be full debate coverage on The National, Power & Politics, The World At Six and Front Burner. The debate will have massive reach to Canadians and beyond, and be broadcast in multiple languages. CBC journalists will fact check the leaders’ statements in real time throughout the debate.
The CBC’s powerful Parliamentary Bureau will hold our leaders to account on their election promises and provide up-to-the-minute analysis to help our audiences make informed decisions about our country’s leadership and direction. As part of that coverage, the Ottawa Bureau’s Canada Votes Newsletter will be an insider look at the trending topics of the election. Sign up here. CBC Radio’s The House will reflect the voters’ agenda from the road to examine the anxieties and the aspirations of Canadians in the areas of the country that will decide this election.
Our award-winning Power & Politics with Vassy Kapelos will expand its political play-by-play of the election weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on CBC News Network featuring key interviews as well as a provocative new panel of young, engaged Canadian voters. Kapelos will also be featured weekly on Front Burner throughout the election.
CBC News Network will be Canada’s source for live and breaking election news. Carole MacNeil will be hosting a special Canada Votes interactive hour each weeknight at 8 p.m. ET. As always, Sunday Scrum will bring you the latest news and insights from our weekend political panel.
The CBC News Poll Tracker aggregates all publicly available polling data to see where the parties stand. It’s maintained by CBC poll expert Éric Grenier, who adds his analysis to make projections. CBC journalists will fact check party promises throughout the campaign. And Vote Compass will show how your personal views line up with the political parties.
Election night show: bigger and brighter than ever
Of course, the apex of our coverage is election night. This year will be the most dynamic, busy and exciting election night on offer — with a few surprises thrown in, too. We’ll air the most current election results, of course. But our context, depth and whip-smart conversation promise to make it the most essential election night coverage anywhere.
Rosemary Barton and Andrew Chang will be front and centre with exclusive reporting and a lively panel of politicians, strategists and journalists.
Ian Hanomansing and our results team will deliver riding-by-riding updates from CBC’s trusted Decision Desk. Adrienne Arsenault will keep an eye on our democratic process, Peter Mansbridge will offer expert insight, and Front Burner host Jayme Poisson will chair a panel of astute and candid political stakeholders. Wendy Mesley and the team from The Weekly will host a late-night after-the-vote special, as Canadians make sense of what will happen next in Ottawa.
On CBC Radio One, we’ll have live, full network coverage from across the country featuring detailed local and national results, and robust analysis of what it all means with Susan Bonner, Chris Hall and a team of CBC’s top journalists.
And you will find our Election Night special and customized, up-to-the-second results for every riding in the country on the CBC News app and at CBCNews.ca.
This is not our first election — far from it. Even as we introduce a roster of innovative ways to drive the election story home, we’ll be drawing on our deep experience as the fair, balanced and trusted purveyor of our country’s election news. It’s a role we take extremely seriously at the CBC, and this year will be no exception.
Our valued audience has told us the issues they care most about in this election. They have told us they want their leaders to be held accountable. And they have told us they want the facts and the intelligent analysis.
We’re committed to bringing all of this to you. CBC’s Canada Votes 2019 starts now.
