The first full day of the election campaign was in full force Monday, with the major party leaders making announcements right across the country.

In Newfoundland, P-M Mark Carney has pledged to not reduce transfers to individuals and provinces in his review of government programs aimed at curbing the expansion of the public service.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Brampton, Ontario, promising a middle-class tax cut, following a Liberal pledge that involves a smaller reduction to the same tax rate.

Meanwhile, federal N-D-P Leader Jagmeet Singh is promising more affordable housing by building more than 100-thousand affordable homes on crown land over the next 10 years.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to remove the tolls on the Confederation Bridge between PEI and New Brunswick if his party is elected to govern on April 28th.  Poilievre said the Conservatives would also immediately conduct a review of federal support for the ferry service between Nova Scotia and PEI.

Last week, PEI Premier Rob Lantz said he had a commitment from Prime Minister and Liberal Leader Mark Carney that there would be positive news on tolls for the Confederation Bridge and PEI-Nova Scotia ferry in the coming days.

About five-thousand school support staff across Nova Scotia have come together to accept eight separate tentative agreements, averting a provincewide job action.  After a series of co-ordinated negotiations, the Canadian Union of Public Employees has reported securing “important gains for workers in the sector.” The union says it has won improvements to health and safety language.  As well, the union says its members will benefit from a wage increase, but no details were released.

A school authority in Nova Scotia has issued a directive saying only Canadian and Nova Scotia flags can fly outside schools on the province’s South Shore.

The directive was issued by the South Shore Regional Centre for Education, which represents 23 English-language elementary, middle and high schools.

The authority says it wants to ensure the removed flags are “better cared for and protected from damage.”

Peter Day, head of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, called the new rule concerning and confusing, saying some teachers are upset that flags representing Mi’kmaq, African Nova Scotian and L-G-B-T-Q-plus students will be taken down.

Pictou County District RCMP is investigating the theft of three plaques in the community.  Last Thursday, the RCMP received a report that a large brass plaque had been stolen from a building on Haliburton Rd. during the overnight hours.  On Sunday, the Mounties got a report of two bronze plaques being taken from a stone monument at the intersection of Churchville Loop and Churchville Rd.  The plaques were removed from the monument sometime last week.

The investigations are ongoing.