Poilievre says the federal election can't just be about Donald Trump
Conservative leader pitches policies to address cost of living, housing and energy sector
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre mounted a defence of his campaign messaging Monday, saying he has no qualms about focusing on issues like the housing crisis, cost of living concerns and relatively weak economic growth, even as some of his critics say he should go all in on Canada-U.S. relations.
In the first week of this federal campaign, Poilievre has so far largely stuck to the playbook that catapulted him and his party to the lead in the polls for much of the last two years.
He's been rolling out such measures as an income tax cut, a TFSA top-up and a tough-on-crime agenda with mandatory life sentences in prison for drug traffickers, while also prosecuting the Liberal government's tenure — even as U.S. President Donald Trump's threats loom large.
He made those announcements last week at sites that could be seen as a nod to U.S. trade tensions — a company that works with steel and a B.C. sawmill — but largely avoided talking about the cross-border dispute.
Trump's name gets scant mention at his rallies or news conferences, unless he's asked by reporters to comment.
That has prompted some party grandees, like senior strategist Kory Teneyecke, to say Poilievre is missing the mark by not aggressively taking on Trump, regarded by many Canadians as a threat and a menace.
Poilievre's party has also lost its lead over the governing Liberals, according to CBC Poll Tracker, causing anxiety among some campaign staff who say there's no clear plan to get it back.
Conservative campaign is 'a mess,' party insiders sayPoilievre said Monday he'll make no apologies for pushing what he calls a "Canada first agenda," which is largely focused on rectifying perceived Liberal failures.
He said he will talk about how to address U.S. tensions — his capital gains tax pitch Sunday was specifically designed to drive investment at home, he said — but won't ignore the other issues that have emerged out of what he called the "lost Liberal decade."
"Some people have said I should stop talking about the doubling of housing costs that have denied an entire generation the chance to own a home after the lost Liberal decade. They say we shouldn't be debating why single moms are lined up at food banks in record numbers," Poilievre said.
He said he will stand up for the millennial women "whose biological clock is running out faster than they can afford to buy a home and have kids."
"They suggest that we shouldn't debate why 50,000 of our citizens have lost their lives to drug overdoses under the radical Liberal drug policies," he continued.
"My purpose in politics is to restore Canada's promise," he said. "So we will continue, despite calls to the contrary, to talk about those things even if I am the only leader in the country that offers any change."
Poilievre asked if he will make changes to Conservative campaign leadership There's a reason why Poilievre wants to talk about those issues more than the Trump factor.
A recent Angus Reid Institute poll suggests non-Liberal survey respondents are most concerned about the cost of living and inflation, while the Liberal ones, both longtime supporters and recent switchers, say Canada's relationship with the U.S., including tariffs, is the most important issue.
Poilievre said today he will stand against "unjustified threats by President Trump," and he pitched a longtime Conservative promise to build a national energy corridor to fast-track projects like an east-west pipeline to finally move more Alberta oil and gas to eastern markets.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has promised something similar.
Poilievre said a government led by him will streamline environmental reviews and create a "pre-approved transport corridor," which will see all levels of government provide legally binding commitments to approve projects like transmission lines, railways and pipelines that run along the route.
The party is promising to work with First Nations to ensure some economic benefit flows to their communities.
Poilievre outlines proposal for national energy corridor Poilievre said building more energy infrastructure will help Canada stand on its own two feet and lessen its dependence on the Americans. So much of Canada's oil and gas is exported to that one market, making the country beholden to a single customer. It also deprives central and eastern parts of the country from Canadian energy, forcing refineries there to rely on foreign supplies from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, among other places.
Poilievre said he won't stand for that anymore. Carney has signalled he won't, either.
Just before calling the federal election, Carney met with the premiers to hash out a new agreement that will see Ottawa slash some red tape as part of the approvals process on major projects.
He's calling it a "one project, one review" permit system to reduce duplicative federal-provincial processes.
"It's time to build," Carney said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
https://tj.news/news/national/notebook-bloc-leader-vows-to-block-energy-east-pipeline
NOTEBOOK: Carney faces accusations of plagiarism for doctoral thesis
Editor’s note: The following are brief summaries of just four of the federal election stories available across the Postmedia network.
Carney accused of plagiarism for doctoral thesis
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has been accused of taking other people’s ideas as his own in the federal election campaign. It isn’t new. The National Post obtained a copy of Carney’s 1995 thesis for his doctorate in economics from Oxford University titled “The Dynamic Advantage of Competition.” It shows 10 instances of apparent plagiarism, according to the judgment of three university academics who reviewed the material. In several sections of his thesis, Carney used full quotes, paraphrases, or slightly modified quotes from four previous works without proper acknowledgement or attribution. Carney’s campaign at first provided a statement from his doctoral supervisor at Oxford University. “I believe you are mischaracterizing this work. As an academic of nearly 40 years, I see no evidence of plagiarism in the thesis you cited nor any unusual academic practices,” said Margaret Meyer, Official Fellow of Economics at Nuffield College, in the provided statement. Clink the link to read the full story www.nationalpost.com
Liberal candidate sparks concern over Phoenix pay scandal
The Liberals are backing Claude Guay, a former IBM Canada executive, as their candidate in the Montreal riding of LaSalle–Émard–Verdun, but his role in the scandal-plagued Phoenix payroll system is raising concerns, National Post reported. Public sector unions question the government’s commitment to fixing the pay system, which is managed by the Public Pay Centre in Miramichi. The system has left thousands of federal workers with payroll issues since its launch in 2016. IBM received about $784 million for the project, despite ongoing failures. In 2017 Guay acknowledged mistakes made in the Phoenix rollout, but critics argue his candidacy sends the wrong message to federal employees still affected. Click the link to read the full story www.nationalpost.com.
Novia Scotia MP returns to politics after brief exit
Just three months after stepping away from politics to focus on family, former cabinet minister Sean Fraser is making a comeback as a Liberal candidate, National Post reported. In a statement on Tuesday, Fraser said the upcoming election is too important to sit out and rejoined at the request of Liberal Leader Mark Carney. Fraser’s return replaced another candidate in Central Nova, in Nova Scotia, who had campaigned for just a few hours. Fraser’s departure in December came amid low party support, but with polls showing growing Liberal support, he could reclaim a cabinet spot. This follows Transport Minister Anita Anand’s reversal to leave politics just one month after her departure.Click the link to read the full story www.nationalpost.com.
Poilievre pledges to keep French Radio-Canada alive
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to maintain CBC’s French language Radio-Canada services while continuing his push to “defund the CBC,” National Post reported. His Quebec-focused platform, released Wednesday, does not mention CBC’s English services, raising questions about how he would separate the two. Poilievre is actively campaigning in Quebec, where the Conservatives lag behind the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois. His platform acknowledges the decline of the French language and pledges support for Quebec and francophone cultural funding. He also promises to give Quebec more control over temporary immigration. Poilievre held a press conference and rally in Quebec City on Wednesday as part of his ongoing outreach. Click the link to read the full story www.nationalpost.com.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-world-economic-forum-rhetoric-1.6935294
Poilievre's Conservative Party embracing language of mainstream conspiracy theories
Tory leader's summer stump speeches include ramped-up rhetoric about the World Economic Forum
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been hitting the summer barbecue circuit with ramped-up rhetoric around debunked claims that the World Economic Forum is attempting to impose its agenda on sovereign governments.
It is, some experts suggest, another sign that some conspiracy theories are moving from the fringes of the internet to mainstream thinking, as people's distrust of government grows.
In speeches to Conservative supporters across Canada, Poilievre has promised that none of his ministers will attend the international organization's conferences, including the annual meeting typically held in Davos, Switzerland.
"It's far past time we rejected the globalist Davos elites and bring home the common sense of the common people," said a Saturday fundraising email.
The Conservative Party also recently sent out mailers with a poll asking people to tell Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who they think the prime minister should stand with: working Canadians or the World Economic Forum.
The wording implies Trudeau's cabinet is beholden to the latter.
Poilievre did not agree to an interview on the matter. His spokesperson instead pointed The Canadian Press to a clip of him at a rally in Penticton, B.C., in July, expressing concerns over the government invading people's personal privacy and financial decisions.
"There will be no mandatory digital ID in this country, and I will ban all of my ministers and top government officials from any involvement in the World Economic Forum," Poilievre said, chuckling as he received lengthy applause for the remark.
A
group of anti-World Economic Forum protesters are seen outside the
Hamilton conference centre where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his
cabinet met in January 2023. (Submitted by Zimo Wang)
Ottawa's history with the WEF
Canada has long participated in WEF events. Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper and his cabinet ministers attended the summit regularly. Trudeau attended in person in 2016 and 2018, and his ministers have attended as well. Liberal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland went to the most recent annual summit in January.
On digital IDs, the federal government has been looking at technology to create a national digital identification document to help people access government services. It has not been promoted as something that will become mandatory.
Last winter, a conspiracy theory circulating on social media suggested Trudeau was going to require provinces to sign on to digital ID systems for their residents in order to get billions in new health-care funding. That conspiracy was also debunked.
Conservatives reintroduce Pierre Poilievre with $3M ad campaignDuane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said some people have long embraced conspiracies, but now they have moved into mainstream politics.
"The big shift that we have seen is that it is now being promoted by someone who could be prime minister," said Bratt.
Poilievre peddled the WEF control claims during the Conservative leadership race in 2022, and it has emerged again as a regular talking point following the federal byelection in southern Manitoba, said Bratt.
In
speeches to Conservative supporters across Canada, Poilievre has
promised that none of his ministers will attend the WEF's conferences,
including the annual meeting typically held in Davos, Switzerland. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
In that contest in Portage–Lisgar, the Conservatives were looking to beat back a growing challenge from the People's Party of Canada. Maxime Bernier, the leader of that party who has long accused the WEF of having a globalist agenda, ran in the byelection.
The Conservatives attacked him for having attended the Davos summit when he was Harper's foreign affairs minister in 2008.
Bratt said Poilievre's embrace of conspiracy theories could be because he's attempting to steal back votes from the PPC.
"The question is does he really believe it or is he just pandering to people, and will he pivot again if he becomes prime minister," Bratt said.
Pandemic as a trigger
Kawser Ahmed, a politics professor at the University of Winnipeg with a research specialty in conspiracy theories, said the number and uptake of conspiracy theories began to grow after the 2016 presidential election in the United States, aided by social media and encrypted messaging apps.
But Ahmed said the biggest trigger was the COVID-19 pandemic.
"At that time, whatever decisions government took, it was explained to some corner of our citizens — in line with conspiracy theories — that the government is controlling you, the government has asked to give you a vaccine, the government has asked not to go out and so forth," said Ahmed.
It's a sentiment politicians have learned to pick up on, and Bratt believes that many people aren't willing to reject a politician just because they peddle false claims or conspiracies.
"There's a lot of ideas that are now moving into the mainstream that are simply not supported by science, evidence or facts," he said. "But it doesn't matter and some of those politicians have been elected, like the current premier of Alberta."
United Conservative Party Premier Danielle Smith has said she is in lockstep with Poilievre, and will having nothing to do with the World Economic Forum.
- Get the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.
Populism has driven politicians to feed into conspiracy theories because they need votes, and fear is a great motivator, said Ahmed. They get less interest peddling for votes using their record.
"It's very easy to appeal to people that something is a threat," he said. "For example, your identity, your livelihood, your religious values."
Ahmed said it is affecting our democracy, pitting groups against each other, creating suspicion and harming national security by spreading misinformation that eventually affects policy.