Conservative Party

Things keep looking up for the federal Conservatives under leader Pierre Poilievre. Everything for now seems to be heading in the right direction for him to become the next prime minister.

A recent news feature in The Hill Times highlights the all-important numbers of polling and fundraising: “The Conservative Party has raked in roughly $9.5-million more than the governing Liberals so far in the first half of 2023, and combined with recent polling showing the Tories with a nearly 10-point lead, ‘alarm bells should be going off at Liberal HQ,’ says Abacus Data CEO David Coletto.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he apologized to an Ontario woman after he called the home she is renting a “shack” and used it as an example of everything that’s wrong with the Canadian housing market during a stop in Niagara Falls.

With little fanfare, the House of Commons passed legislation last month to formally establish a federal child-care program.

The bill’s passage was never really in doubt. Between Liberal and NDP MPs, the government had more than enough votes. But it’s not every day the House agrees to create a major new social program (the bill still needs to pass the Senate).

Almost as notable as the bill’s passage is the fact that the vote was unanimous — 315 to 0.

One poll showing Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives ahead of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals is interesting, but it looks like we are seeing a trend. Ipsos is the latest polling firm to show a significant lead for the Conservatives over the Liberals when it comes to the national popular vote.

But …

Federal @338Canada Model – Most Seats Chances:

LPC: 50%
CPC: 49%

– July 2, 2023 –

Check out the model here: https://t.co/PH3p7jLQWa pic.twitter.com/eQa92DRQcC

— Polling Canada (@CanadianPolling) July 3, 2023

h/t Mauser

OTTAWA—Glasses or no glasses?

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has hit the road for his first full summer as party boss, having shaken off the shackles of the House of Commons after a sitting that insiders say saw him finally settling into the job.

But top of mind for Conservatives is how Poilievre is faring as he prepares for the job he wants — being prime minister.

Four federal byelections were held on June 19. Two seats had previously been held by the Liberals. The other two had been held by the Conservatives. Guess what happened on election day? Each party held its two respective seats.

No one can possibly be surprised by this.

MONTREAL—Pierre Poilievre’s leadership victory last September was the curtain raiser of a new political season on Parliament Hill.

Nine months into his tenure, there is no denying that the latest CPC leader is having a measurable impact on Canada’s federal dynamics.

But is it the kind of impact the Conservatives need to return to the government benches? The early evidence suggests otherwise.

I don’t think many beyond the Star give a damn that Mulroney and Ford don’t care for Poilievre. Neither are beloved or conservative.

OTTAWA – Conservative MPs have criticized the Liberal government’s child-care bill in hours of debates, calling the government’s entire approach inadequate, leaving out many families and imposing a top-down, Ottawa-know’s-best approach.

Since the federal byelections on Monday, the fiercest critic of the Conservatives’ performance hasn’t been a Liberal, but the national director of the Conservatives’ losing 2021 election campaign.

Fred DeLorey served in that capacity for former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who is now out of politics after that election saw the Conservatives make no progress from their disappointing 2019 campaign under Andrew Scheer.

In an attack on my recent video about how the country is off-track, Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason attempted to excuse Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the doubling of housing costs during his eight years in office. Housing costs, Mason claimed, have “been on the ascent for decades as a result of both worldwide trends and decisions by rich investors to prey upon desirable markets such as Vancouver and Toronto.”

OTTAWA — Former Conservative national campaign director Fred DeLorey said his phone was “blowing up” in the hours following the results in Monday’s byelections. He said he was hearing from members of the Conservative caucus, party staff and party presidents from around the country wondering “what the heck is going on?”

I wonder how much manpower, effort and money was devoted by the parties in each of the 4 races?

Nothing changed as all were safe ridings.

Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives clearly wanted a win in this week’s byelections in the worst way. In one riding, at least, they appear to have achieved their goal.

Conservatives held on to two seats in the four votes held on Monday night: one in Manitoba’s Portage-Lisgar and another in the southwestern Ontario riding of Oxford.