2 weeks Ago By Ari Yanover
TORONTO — With exactly one week left in the federal election campaign, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is entering the home stretch by pitching himself to voters as the only option for change. Change has been at the heart of Poilievre’s bid to become prime minister, even before the election began. But despite nearly a decade of Liberal rule, the Conservative leader’s campaign of change has become challenged by Canadians’ feeling of anxiety over U.
S. President Donald Trump’s trade war, and a resurgence of the Liberals, thanks to the arrival of Liberal Leader Mark Carney who replaced former prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose tenure had been a driving force of voter fatigue. Poilievre now has less than a week to convince Canadians that change is still what the country needs and, more importantly, that he should be the one deliver it.
Speaking Monday at a housing announcement in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, the Conservative leader proclaimed that Canadians would be going to the polls on April 28 in a “change election.” The word “change” was also featured prominently on the podium before him. In his opening speech, Poilievre uttered the word “change” nearly 20 different times.
“Our purpose, of course, is to bring change,” he said. “We have a chance for change and hope that home ownership will be restored.” Housing affordability has been one the key issues Poilievre has championed that helped propel the Conservatives to a nearly 20-point lead over the Liberals, appealing directly to younger Canadians who cannot afford to buy a home, particularly in cities like Toronto and Vancouver.
That lead has all but disappeared, with successive public opinion polls suggesting Poilievre is now tied with the Liberals, or slightly behind. One of the demographics that appear to be lining up behind the Liberals are seniors. Poilievre made a direct appeal to that cohort on Monday, delivering a speech in Toronto to the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.
Housing and more general cost-of-living issues are what Poilievre is relying on to capture seats in the vote-rich suburbs surrounding both cities, which he must win in order to form government, which is why he returned to it in the final week of the campaign. He promised that a future Conservative government would build 2.3 million homes over the next five years.
Poilievre also committed to release his party’s full election platform on Tuesday, given he is the only major federal party leader that has yet to do so, as early voting concludes on Monday. He said it would be a plan for “all eyes to see” and “which will bring change to Canada.” “We need a change for the new conservative government that has a truly costed platform that will cut waste, axe taxes, unleash home building, lock up criminals and bring home the country that we love.
” . Both the Liberals and NDP released their costed election commitments as early voting got underway, with Carney taking aim at the fact Poilievre has yet to do so while campaigning in Charlottetown. “We have detailed plan, fully-costed, lays out this approach of spending less, investing more,” Carney said on Monday.
“Pierre Poilievre doesn’t have a plan yet,” Carney went on, saying the Conservative leader was “hiding it.” The Liberals say Poilievre will have to make $140 billion worth of cuts to fund his promises. The Conservative leader told reporters on Monday that was not true and to not trust “Liberal math.
” “We’ve had them in power for 10 years, and they’ve missed every single deficit target that they’ve promised.” Poilievre pointed to Carney’s election platform as evidence he is no different than Trudeau when it comes to big spending promises. In terms of campaign commitments, Poilievre has to find a way to pay for promises such as an income tax cut that once fully implemented, would cost $14 billion a year and cut the GST on new homes under $1.
3 million. He has previously pledged to keep social programs like dental care and pharmacare in place, which the Liberals and NDP both frequently attack Poilievre of wanting to cut. Instead, Poilievre is promising to pay for this platform by cutting back on government consultants to the tune of $10 billion, cancelling the government’s mandatory gun buyback program as well as cutting back on foreign aid and what the Conservative leader calls “handouts to corporate insiders and other waste.
” Poilievre also pledged that a Conservative government would boost economic growth to raise an additional $70 billion in revenue, which he says would also be done through getting more resource projects built. National Post [email protected] Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers.
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