As Mark Carney settles into the role of Canada’s prime minister, he will not only have to take on US President Donald Trump, but also wider divisions within his own country.
Among those is a generational divide, with young voters who are concerned about housing unaffordability, crime and the cost of living coalescing around the Conservatives.
It’s a reversal from 2015, when youth voted in record numbers, helping sweep Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau to power.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives were instructed not to help the provincial party during its recent election campaign, as he explained the source of tension between the two parties that dogged the federal race.
Fractures between the federal Tories and Mr. Ford’s Progressive Conservatives spilled out into public view during the federal campaign, with Mr. Ford and one of his top advisers criticizing the Conservative party’s electoral strategy. In turn, re-elected Conservative MP Jamil Javani – a one-time adviser to Mr. Ford – lashed out at the Premier on election night, accusing him of sabotaging the campaign and of being a “hype man” for the federal Liberals. Mr. Jivani on Wednesday posted a doctored photo on social-media platform X of Mr. Ford dressed as wrestler, ripping off an Ontario PC shirt to reveal a Liberal one underneath.
By now, it is pretty clear that the 25-point lead Pierre Poilievre enjoyed in the polls a mere four months ago had very little to do with him. He looked like a shoo-in to be the Prime Minister of Canada because he faced an extremely unpopular opponent and was catering to a very disgruntled electorate who were focused on their personal grievances. But remove the opponent, have voter’s concerns shift from past angers to future uncertainties and his massive electoral edge disappeared.
In fact, even when he was leading, it was evident that Canadians were not particularly enamoured with Poilievre the person — his favourability ratings never exceeded his negatives.
‘It’s an unmitigated disaster’: Conservative insiders debate Pierre Poilievre’s future as leader after election defeat
OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is not the prime minister. As of Tuesday morning, he was not even an MP.
At the nexus of those two outcomes, which just months ago would have been nearly unthinkable, is a maelstrom of questions: How are Conservatives processing the results? Can Poilievre stay on as leader after failing to form government and losing the seat he has represented for more than 20 years? And how can he helm a newly expanded caucus from outside the House of Commons?
Related …
Voter turnout in Canada’s election the highest since 2015
Pierre Poilievre spent 20 years being a certain type of politician: the prosecutor, the pest, the attack dog. He’d bare his teeth when he sat in the government front benches, even when most cabinet members would tuck their tails and flip on their backs to defuse opposition attacks. That wasn’t Mr. Poilievre’s way.
That’s why he was so perfect for the political moment in late 2023 and 2024, when Canadians’ economic anxieties and frustrations about this country’s many deficiencies bubbled over. Mr. Poilievre became a vessel for that anger: someone who could give literal voice in Parliament to all the ways they believed the government had failed them. Canadians needed a pit bull, and Mr. Poilievre provided.
OTTAWA — Some of the biggest election night fireworks happened on live television.
During an interview as part of CBC’s election coverage, newly reelected Bowmanville-Oshawa North MP Jamal Jivani accused Ontario Premier Doug Ford of sabotaging the federal Conservative campaign after his comments critical of the Conservatives triggered headlines and grumbling from the federal Tories.
Dougie I Will Leak The Audios Of You And Your Team From The Recent Election.
When The Moment Is Crucial For You.
And Thats Piece Of Shit Patrick Brown Eyeing The Conservative Seat.
We Got Dirt On All You Guys….
— 401_da_sarpanch (@401_da_sarpanch) April 29, 2025
Jamil Jivani tears a strip off Doug Ford "And all his goons around him all the time, they wouldn't make anything better."
"He has taken the provincial Conservative Party and turned it into something hollow, unprincipled, something that doesn't solve problems."
"He's glad… pic.twitter.com/bR6v06fiNZ
— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) April 29, 2025
OTTAWA, Ontario—In an astonishing come-from-behind victory, Canada’s Liberal Party narrowly won Monday’s election under its new leader, Prime Minister Mark Carney.
As we went to press after midnight, it was still unclear whether Carney’s Liberals would win an outright majority or whether they would need to attempt to form a government through an alliance with minor left-wing parties. However, it was still a remarkable turnaround for the Liberals, who, at the beginning of the year, appeared doomed to defeat.
Poilievre projected to lose his longtime Ottawa-area seat
Not sure what the future holds for Poilievre.
He was blindsided by Trump’s asinine behavior and I say that as a Trump fan.
I did not vote PPC this election as I felt it necessary to help prevent PM Carpetbagger from retaining office.
The absence of a PPC candidate in my riding made that sacrifice a little easier.
My riding remained Liberal at any rate.
The CPC made impressive gains and I suspect any coalition between the fear-mongering Liberals and Bloc will be short lived.
We live in hope.
Canadians have been able to watch the Liberal leader up close during the election campaign. Many don’t like what they see
Monday will bring an end to one of the most volatile election campaigns in Canada’s history. The conclusion could potentially be even more astonishing. Liberal prime minister Mark Carney may be about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
On some levels, it shouldn’t even be close. Pierre Poilievre and the Canadian Conservatives had maintained a huge lead in the polls for over two years. The gap with the Liberals had extended to 20 or more points as recently as February, presaging a landslide victory for Poilievre.
Interesting …
Seems to be lots of sketchy stuff going on with @Polymarket this was from last month.
— Catherine MacDonald-Robertson (@spiritualcat) April 24, 2025
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre painted a gloomy picture of Canada in his closing pitch to voters on Thursday, saying life will get worse if they return a Liberal government in this election.
After sounding a more optimistic and hopeful tone earlier this week around the release of his party’s platform, Poilievre reverted to form at a news conference in Halifax. He said the country will face nothing but “despair” if Liberal Leader Mark Carney is the next prime minister — signalling he will go negative with his messaging in the final days to try and keep his opponent out of power.
The queue to get into the cavernous union hall stretched around the block and the merchandise stand was doing a roaring trade as Canadian rock blared from the sound system.
If the comparison with a Donald Trump rally was not obvious enough as thousands of supporters filed into a Toronto suburb on Tuesday evening, it came when Pierre Poilievre took the stage.
He promised a “Canada First reinvestment tax cut,” a capital gains break dressed up with a nationalist title.
During his campaign for the Conservative leadership in 2022, Pierre Poilievre said he would never pivot.
“I am who I am,” he said.
To a great degree, that has held true — despite periodic suggestions from the commentariat that he should change course.
HAMILTON — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday he would give police more power to dismantle tent cities, which he claims are making public spaces unsafe.
During a policy announcement in Hamilton, Ont., Poilievre said Liberal policies, including the funding of safer supply programs, are responsible for the increase in homeless encampments across Canada.
“For those trapped in these camps, our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our neighbours, they are left to suffer in the cold, to overdose, and sometimes to die alone,” he said. “Letting these tent cities spread is not compassion. It is chaos.”
With just days to go before election day and millions of Canadians already having voted, both the Liberal and Conservative parties have finally dropped their full platforms. And the two are as different in substance, structure and style as the two campaigns — for better and worse.
Substance-wise, the Liberals offer a slew of big-ticket items: a $5 billion Trade Diversification Corridors Fund, billions for Arctic sovereignty, major housing and health infrastructure, and — refreshingly — a serious uptick in defence spending to exceed current NATO commitments. They also promise to drop the deficit in the “operating budget” to $220 million by 2028-2029 (more on that math later).
The Toronto Police Association announced Tuesday it was supporting Pierre Poilievre in the race to become prime minister.
“We asked the leading contenders for prime minister for their position on the policing and public safety issues that matter the most to our members and the communities we serve,” said the union in a Facebook posting.
