Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a rally in Ottawa on March 24.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
As federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre prepares to hold a rally Monday on Vancouver Island, a new poll suggests the provincial Conservative Party in British Columbia is benefiting from his popularity even though there are no official links between the two parties.
Fifty-six per cent of likely federal Conservative voters support the provincial Conservatives instead of BC United, the other centre-right party, according to a surveyby the Angus Reid Institute.
The same poll found two in five federal Conservative supporters say they don’t know BC Conservative Leader John Rustad, but those who do are more positive than not in their views of him.
The Angus Reid findings are based on an online survey conducted between Feb. 28 and March 6, with a random survey of 809 adult respondents. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The Poilievre effect appears to be having a striking impact on politics in British Columbia, with the provincial Conservative Party, which has two members in the 87-seat legislature, lately surging in support over the Official Opposition BC United party, which has 26 seats.
At one time, the BC United party ran under the name BC Liberals, and was the dominant party challenging the NDP in the province. The NDP currently governs under Premier David Eby and holds 55 seats.
BC Liberals governed from 2001 to 2017 under premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark. BC United’s current leader, Kevin Falcon, was a senior cabinet minster for both premiers.
As the two conservative parties in the province challenge each other, both highlight their links to Mr. Poilievre.
On March 12, BC Conservative Leader John Rustad posted on X, noting that his party stands with Mr. Poilievre in calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mr. Eby to “axe the tax” – eliminate carbon pricing. The posting featured side-by-side headshots of Mr. Poilievre and Mr. Rustad.
Two days later, Mr. Falcon, speaking for BC United, posted on X with an image of him shaking Mr. Poilievre’s hand, and saying he joins Conservative and Liberal premiers from across Canada “in standing with Pierre Poilievre’s call to spike the hike. British Columbians simply cannot afford another David Eby NDP carbon tax hike.”
British Columbia and Quebec have their own carbon-pricing systems, which means the federal carbon price is not applied there. In 2008, B.C. introduced North America’s first broad-based pricing on carbon.
The provincial Conservatives have promised to scrap provincial carbon pricing. BC United would remove the levy if the federal Conservatives win power in the next election and get rid of it nationwide.
In Nanaimo on Monday, Mr. Poilievre make his case for axing federal carbon pricing.
“There’s no question there has been some overlap and help from that,” provincial Conservative Leader John Rustad said in an interview about Mr. Poilievre’s campaigning.
“We appreciate that, obviously,” he said.
Mr. Rustad said he has met Mr. Poilievre a few times, and some members of his party support the policies of the federal party, but that there is no official link between the two.
Mr. Rustad once served as a cabinet minister with the BC Liberals, holding the Aboriginal relations and forests portfoliosunder Ms. Clark. He was removed from the BC Liberals by Mr. Falcon in August, 2022, for sharing a post on social media questioning climate change.
Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, said that even though Mr. Rustad is quite unknown to many British Columbians, and certainly less well-known than BC United Leader Mr. Falcon, his party is receiving the same level of support.
“So that does speak to the power of branding and the power of the Conservative label and that is very clearly lifting the BC Conservative Party.”
The Angus Reid analysis indicates that the net favorability of Mr. Rustad is higher than that of Mr. Falcon.
Political scientist Hamish Telford of the University of the Fraser Valley said he has seen no sign that Mr. Poilievre is specifically favouring one of the centre-right parties over the other – he has been taking on Mr. Eby, most recently over carbon pricing.
“But I do think it’s the case that BC Conservatives are benefiting simply by brand recognition by Mr. Poilievre’s popularity,” he said.
Mr. Falcon was not available for an interview, but Adam Wilson, communications director for BC United, said the BC Conservatives are “a non-serious party who received 1.91 per cent of the vote in 2020 with no affiliation to the federal Conservative Party of Canada.”
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
