Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre vowed to put Canada first again as he addressed a roaring crowd of supporters at downtown London’s convention centre on Sunday.
Poilievre held the rally at RBC Place London just hours before Mark Carney became Liberal leader and prime minister, setting up the two for a race in the next federal election – which could be called as early as this week.
It was clear from Poilievre’s remarks to a crowd of about 2,500 supporters that he expected his opponent would be Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada who served as an economic advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. No mention was made of the other three candidates: Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould and Frank Baylis.
Poilievre spent much of the 40-minute speech attacking Carney’s connections to the Trudeau government and branding him “globalist and elitist” with questionable financial connections.
“And make no mistake, Donald Trump will have a big smile on his face as he exploits all of Carney’s many conflicts to attack Canadian workers and Canadian jobs, but we Conservatives won’t let either of them do (that) – we will put Canada first,” Poilievre said.
But the official opposition leader made little other mention of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to wage an economic attack on Canada as part of his pressure campaign to make it the 51st American state.
Poilievre, 45, focused on domestic issues, pledging to deliver tax cuts, fix the country’s housing crisis, raise worker productivity, tackle rising crime rates and address the opioid drug crisis that has killed 50,000 people since 2016.
The former Harper-era cabinet minister also outlined his plan to address the housing crisis.
“Not only will I take the GST off new homes, I will pressure the provinces to remove their sales taxes. We will institute major incentives for municipalities to speed up permits, free up land and cut development charges,” he said.
“We’re going to cause a massive building boom so we have more jobs for our trades people and more homes for our youth.”
The enthusiastic crowd – many of them waving signs – broke into multiple chants such as “bring it home” during the speech.
Poilievre’s wife, Anaida, also addressed the crowd, touting her husband’s family values and track record of serving Canada.
“Here I am standing by my husband’s side in what is a necessary fight to put Canada first,” she said. “Our family is all in.
“Leadership is not born from fancy degrees or fancy titles; it is not born from the boardroom of the elite. Leadership is born from the true love of our country, the true north strong and free.”
A few dozen protesters championing various causes gathered outside the convention centre to protest Poilievre. There were a few heated exchanges between the two sides, but London police kept the sides separated and no serious incidents were reported.
Poilievre closed the rally by promising to restore the promise of Canada as a country where “anyone from anywhere can achieve anything.”
He added: “That hard works gets you a great life in a beautiful house on a safe street, wrapped in the protective arms of solid borders and brave troops under a proud flag. Canada, let’s bring it home.”