Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives aren’t done yet. The campaign may finally be turning in their direction, despite polls showing Liberal leads. Read More
Conservative campaigners say they’re now seeing a shift on the doorsteps. Voters are turning their attention back to the economy and the Liberal record
Conservative campaigners say they’re now seeing a shift on the doorsteps. Voters are turning their attention back to the economy and the Liberal record
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Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives aren’t done yet. The campaign may finally be turning in their direction, despite polls showing Liberal leads.
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Poilievre has drawn 16,000 people to a rally outside Edmonton, 5,000 in Surrey, B.C., 6,500 in Oshawa and 3,000 in Kingston, both in Ontario.
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These are enormous numbers for Canadian political rallies. The Conservatives aren’t making them up.
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Campaigners say they don’t even have to work at it. They post the date and location of a Poilievre rally, and enthusiastic hordes turn up.
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This has been happening since the campaign started. The rallies show solid support for the Conservatives across a wide swath of the country.
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Now, there’s a new factor that could seriously turn the national tide back to Poilievre.
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The most important figure in the campaign has gone missing.
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U.S. President Donald Trump suddenly has nothing to say about Canada, the 51st state or any of that nonsense.
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The Liberals’ whole campaign was built around Trump’s existential threat to Canada and Carney’s perceived ability to fight it.
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Trump’s hostility, contempt and insults generated those Liberal leads.
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Carney seemed like the perfect Canadian anti-Trump — mild, modest and competent.
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Now, Canada has largely vanished from U.S. media. Attention has turned to China, Europe and certain penguin islands, since the madhouse world tariff announcement on April 2.
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Trump also gave Canada a general tariff exemption for everything under the free-trade agreement.
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Heavy tariffs still hit steel, aluminum and autos but, in general, Canada and Mexico got off as lightly as almost any other country (except Russia).
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The adversary who longed to annex Canada seemed to grasp the reality of North America’s integrated economy.
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Liberal Leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney can claim some credit for this pause in hostilities. He may even deserve it.
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But a campaign-long battle with Trump was the best scenario for the Liberals.
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It didn’t seem to matter that Poilievre was just as fierce about protecting and building Canada.
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Nor that the Liberals’ main promises, from abolishing the carbon tax to affordable housing, were Conservative policies in the first place.
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