Sometime late Monday evening, Pierre Poilievre must have sighed with relief.
Unhappy Mennonites had threatened to undermine confidence in the federal Conservative Leader in not one but two ridings where by-elections were held that night.
In the end, the Conservatives easily held both seats, dealing a serious blow to People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier.
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives want to ‘destroy’ this rival — and what else you need to know about Monday’s federal byelections
OTTAWA—At the tail-end of a combative parliamentary session comes four chances to gauge the mood of the Canadian electorate: on Monday, voters in a quartet of federal ridings will cast ballots in byelections to fill vacant seats in the House of Commons.
What might the results tell us, after months in which concerns about Chinese government meddling and increasing costs dominated the political debate before the House is set to rise this month? Each riding has its own dynamic at play, from a battle with the far-right in the Conservative heartland to questions about Liberal enthusiasms in previously rock-solid red regions.
I wish Bernier well.
Conservatives have to moderate to win the next election, O’Toole says in exit interview
Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole maintains the party will have to moderate if it wants to win a majority government in the next general election, and he “disagrees” with his caucus colleagues who say otherwise.
With just days to go before the Durham, Ont. MP resigns his seat in the House of Commons, O’Toole sat down with CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday, to discuss why he’s leaving, his thoughts on the future of the party, conspiracy theories, and allegations of Chinese interference in Canada’s elections.
MONTREAL—When voters go to the polls in four federal byelections spread across Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec on Monday, the results will not alter the dynamics in the House of Commons. But they will provide a reality check on some of the assumptions that underpin the strategies of the main parties.
At the time of the last federal election, the anti-vax movement was running strong. That was problematic for the Conservative party — both during and after the campaign — as the issue pit the part of its base that vehemently opposed the COVID measures against a majority of provaccination Canadians.
To become prime minister, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre needs to convince voters in Canada’s big cities that his approach to priority issues is in the national interest, Erin O’Toole says.
Mr. O’Toole, the former Conservative leader who failed to lead his party to power in the last federal election, said in an interview Friday that Mr. Poilievre is “one of the smartest MPs in the House,” and his tone, which has been called aggressive, is appropriate for the times.
Just over two weeks before Torontonians head to the polls to elect a new mayor, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre is urging city residents to vote for a candidate who will “build millions of homes” in order to bring down sky-high real estate and rental costs.
The Tory leader didn’t name any candidates, but noted that he would allocate federal funding to municipalities if he is elected prime minister in the future.
That would be a relief, Toronto has been stiffed by Ottawa regardless of who was in power.
In attacking David Johnston, Pierre Poilievre borrows a disgraceful tactic from Donald Trump
The best way to disrupt an investigation is to discredit the investigators.
Pierre Poilievre didn’t write that playbook. He borrowed it from Donald Trump.
No, this isn’t another hyperbolic comparison between American Trumpies and Canadian Tories. The similarities are eerie, but for one significant exception:
In the U.S., most American media called out Trump’s wilful distortions of how democracy works. In Canada, many in the media are repeating the canards from the Conservative leader about democracy, integrity and impartiality — largely uncritically — while dismissing David Johnston’s report on foreign interference in our elections.
MONTREAL — Justin Trudeau’s government has been on the defensive in the House of Commons for months. By now, fewer than one in three Canadians approves its handling of the China electoral interference file, a topic that has monopolized the federal political conversation throughout the first half of the year.
To listen to the furor in the House of Commons, where the opposition again this week lined up against the Liberals to demand a public inquiry on the issue, one gets the impression of an embattled government on the verge of free fall. The voting intentions picture suggests otherwise.
A vote for Maxime Bernier is a vote for Justin Trudeau, says Canada’s Conservative Party leader.
Speaking to the media in Winnipeg on Friday, Pierre Poilievre weighed in on two federal byelections set to take place in the province later this month — taking aim at People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier, one of five candidates vying to win a recently vacated seat in the south Manitoba riding of Portage-Lisgar.
My answer to Pierre’s idiotic comments about me today: https://t.co/L4ldr9gd7q pic.twitter.com/Qf1O1gvaIr
— Maxime Bernier (@MaximeBernier) June 2, 2023
OTTAWA – Pierre Poilievre is off to Manitoba to rally Conservative supporters ahead of a byelection that Maxime Bernier is hoping will send him back to Parliament.
The far-right People’s Party of Canada leader lost his Quebec seat in the 2019 federal vote and lost again in the 2021 election.
“Far Right” “Social Conservative” Scared!
Pierre Poilievre is about to face his greatest test. How he performs could determine not just his future but, just possibly, the country’s.
His first time up at the plate — in a Mississauga-Lakeshore byelection late last year—many concluded Poilievre struck out. That’s one way to see it. But I look at it differently: Poilievre refused to swing the bat—fully aware his efforts would be futile in a Liberal stronghold.
But for the upcoming by-elections in June, that approach just won’t cut it. Indeed, to show he’s not just a capable rhetorician, but an electoral strategist who can succeed where federal Conservatives have recently fallen short, Poilievre must swing for the fences. Question is: is the count in his favour?
Does Pierre Poilievre even believe some of the things he’s saying these days? Does he expect the rest of us to believe them, or do they come pre-discounted with a sort of wink-wink don’t-take-this-seriously message already built in?
The question arises in the wake of the Conservative leader’s sorties this week into a couple of serious policy areas — bail reform and drug policy.
While future platforms and local candidates will play a role in the next federal election, anyone who thinks large portions of the electorate cast their vote based on little more than vibes is kidding themselves. Often, vibes decide elections — in particular, the vibes of party leaders.
FREDERICTON — Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is seen as more competent and having better judgment than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a new poll suggests, but the PM is perceived to be kinder and less extreme than his rival.
The Abacus Data poll, conducted from May 9-12, asked 2,500 respondents from across the country a series of questions about the two leaders, including who represents Canadian values well, who genuinely cares about making Canada better and whether Trudeau and Poilievre hide their true views to make them more acceptable.
MONTREAL—Since Pierre Poilievre secured a first-ballot leadership victory last fall, peace has broken out on the Conservative caucus front.
Those of his MPs who harbour doubts about their latest leader’s bare-knuckled approach to politics have so far been discreet.
Some of them want to protect their chances to be appointed to a future Conservative cabinet. Others are planning to go quietly into the night once their current term in Parliament is up.
