Saskatoon StarPhoenix Staff
As his long-held Ottawa riding has suddenly become a competitive race, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was making his first federal campaign stop in one of his party’s safest provinces.
Poilievre on Thursday night held a rally at a warehouse in Saskatoon, followed Friday morning by a news conference in the Bridge City. He was then scheduled to hold a rally Friday night in Nanoose Bay, B.C.
“Who is ready to vote for change?” Poilievre said on Thursday, drawing loud applause from an estimated 2,000 supporters in the Bridge City.
Poilievre’s appearance followed stops earlier this month in Saskatoon by Liberal Party Leader Mark Carney and federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.
There are 14 federal ridings in Saskatchewan, which has gone entirely Conservative in the past two elections. Polls suggest the Conservatives are likely to maintain its dominance in Saskatchewan, though at least one riding — Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River — is expected to be more competitive.
Nationally, the Liberals are widely seen to be leading in the polls, with the Conservatives in second place and the Bloc Quebecois, NDP and Greens trailing behind.
Canadians will choose their next government on Monday.
Poilievre on Thursday and again Friday outlined the Conservative platform, saying it would reduce the federal deficit, cut income tax, encourage homebuilding, be tougher on criminals, and grow the economy through tax cuts and resource development.
Poilievre on Friday repeatedly referenced a “lost Liberal decade,” and hammered home soundbites from his party’s messaging about how a change in government is necessary.
“We can not afford a fourth Liberal term,” he said.
Poilievre, whose parents were married five decades ago in Saskatoon, noted the “divisions in our country” between western provinces such as Saskatchewan and Alberta, and eastern provinces that have largely voted and supported the Liberals.
“Everything is at stake. This election is about change,” he said, when asked about real-life stakes, especially in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Minutes into his Saskatoon speech on Thursday, Poilievre jokingly said there was an emergency and asked if there was a firefighter in the house.
“Mark Carney’s pants are on fire again today,” the Conservative leader said. “Can you help? Can you help?”
On Thursday, news surfaced that U.S. President Donald Trump discussed Canada becoming the 51st state with Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney during a March 28 call. Carney had previously not disclosed that exchange, instead saying the call was cordial, and that Trump was respectful of him as prime minister and Canada as a country.
The Liberal leader on Thursday noted Trump “says a lot of things, but the essence of the discussion and where we moved the conversation to was exactly what I said.”
During his Saskatoon stop, Poilievre described Carney’s failure to mention the 51st state dialogue with Trump as a “whopper.”
The Conservative leader accused Carney of trying to trick Canadians into forgetting about the Liberal government’s record over the past 10 years.
“If they are lying about this, they’ll lie about inflation, and taxes, and housing costs, and crime and everything else that matters in our daily lives,” he charged.
Poilievre again recapped a downward social mobility report from the federal department Policy Horizons. The document hypothetically predicted what life in Canada could be like in 2040, using worst case scenarios to help government prepare for possible futures.
Poilievre has been giving the report considerable weight this week.
“It makes the prediction that, in 2040, life could become so impossible and unaffordable for the people doing the work that folks will have to forage on public lands and waterways without reference to regulations,” he said.
“That is the future that Liberals write about in their own government reports.”
As Poilievre made his Saskatoon stop, a source with the federal Liberal campaign who is not authorized to speak on the record, confirmed that the party’s internal projections and polling numbers show the gap between Poilievre and Liberal challenger Bruce Fanjoy has shrunk dramatically in recent days — from 10 points to five points.
With a margin of error, he said, a five-point gap “is bringing us really close” and creates a situation where things like getting out the vote become absolutely essential.
He said it appears the Conservative party has been moving resources from other ridings, including those in Ottawa, where they are not expected to win, to shore up the vote for Poilievre in Carleton.
Conservative sources have told both the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail that they are pouring resources into Carleton because Poilievre is at risk of losing the riding he has held since 2004.
The Liberals are also sending some extra resources to Carleton, given how tight the race has become, the source said.
“We do think we can turn the riding red. I think at the beginning it was wishful thinking, but right now it is not wishful thinking, we are seeing the gap close.”
Conservative party spokesperson Sam Lilly said the party is confident Poilievre will win his seat.
“No riding is ever taken for granted, but we are confident Pierre Poilievre will be returned to Parliament to represent Carleton,” Lilly said.
Poilievre first won the riding — an earlier version of the current riding — when he was 25 years old and a rookie politician. This is his eighth time running in the riding and his first campaign as Conservative leader.
The campaign has faced turbulence, both at the national and local levels.
Poilievre and the Conservative party were in majority government territory in the polls leading up to an election. But the resignation of former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau — a focus of Poilievre’s pre-election campaign — and the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president began to change things.
Trump’s threats of tariffs and annexation of Canada, and the election of former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney as head of the Liberal party and prime minister upended the election.
— With files from Elizabeth Payne, Postmedia Network, and The Canadian Press
