Former favourite Pierre Poilievre now fighting an uphill battle in Canadian election

With Canadians going to the polls on April 28, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is in a dogfight with Prime Minister Mark Carney over who better can handle Donald Trump – and the economy and energy.

Canada's Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre launches his campaign for the April 28 federal election at the Kruger plant in Brampton, Ontario, on Monday. Picture: Jorge Uzon / AFP

Carrying his young son, Pierre Poilievre stood on a stage in Toronto to formally launch his campaign to become the country’s prime minister.

“Who’s ready to put Canada first for a change?” the Conservative Party leader cried, as Our Home by the Canadian country singer Brett Kissel blasted from the speakers last Sunday night.

“Who’s ready to axe some taxes? Who’s ready to build some homes? Who’s ready to bring home the Canadian promise?”

The runaway favourite to become the country’s next leader only weeks ago, Mr Poilievre, 45, is now locked in a dogfight with the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, who called a snap election on Sunday for April 28.

Pierre Poilievre is joined by his wife Anaida Poilievre and children Cruz and Valentina, as he appears at federal election campaign event in Ontario on Monday. Picture: Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP

As he laid down the groundwork for his campaign last year, Mr Poilievre played up comparisons between himself and President Donald Trump. Now those could be the populist Tory leader’s weakness in a campaign unfolding in the shadow of the US president.

With Canada facing a trade war with its southern neighbour and Mr Trump calling for the country to submit to becoming America’s 51st state, Mr Poilievre has seen his lead in the polls evaporate as patriotic fervour and fears of economic catastrophe sweep the country.

Then prime minister Tony Abbott is greeted by then Canadian minister of state Pierre Poilievre in Ottawa in 2014. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

When the former prime minister Justin Trudeau resigned in January after weeks of turmoil, the polling aggregator 338Canada showed the Conservatives at 45 per cent, more than double the Liberals’ 20 per cent. That marked their strongest numbers since the late 1980s.

Mr Trump’s bullying since he took office in January has resulted in the polls flipping in a matter of weeks. As Mr Carney called the election, the same aggregator placed the Liberals on 39 per cent and the Conservatives at 37 per cent. The left-wing New Democratic Party, which propped up Mr Trudeau’s government, sits at 11 per cent.

Worse for Mr Poilievre, a recent Ipsos poll of 1000 Canadians put Mr Carney ahead by 10 percentage points on issues related to handling Mr Trump.

Mr Poilievre said that a Conservative government would take a “respectful and firm” approach to dealing with Mr Trump, claiming the White House wants a liberal government in Ottawa that it can push around.

He accused Mr Trudeau of driving jobs and investment out of Canada, bowing to “anti-energy fanatics” to constrain the country’s vast oil and gas reserves and weakening the military and border security. “All of that plays into the hands of President Trump,” Mr Poilievre told supporters.

“He’s been very blunt that he wants a weak Canada that he can target and the lost Liberal decade has made our economy weaker and more divided, just like Trump wanted.”

Canada Liberal Leader Mark Carney shares a laugh with a resident during a meet and greet at the airport in Gander, Newfoundland, on Monday. Picture: Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP

As patriotic pride has surged across Canada in the face of Mr Trump’s threats to annex the country, Mr Poilievre has shifted his message.

The claim that “Canada is broken” has been ditched for a more optimistic pledge to “restore Canada’s promise”. Unveiling his campaign platform, he vowed to cut the lowest rate of income tax to 12.75 per cent, saying it would save the average worker $C900 ($1000) a year.

The Conservatives have vowed to build tens of thousands of affordable houses. Echoing Mr Trump’s promise to “drill, baby, drill”, Mr Poilievre pledged to unshackle Canadian energy, giving the green light to new drilling, mines and pipelines.

His “Canada First” slogan aped the US President and he has echoed the culture war battles, supporting a ban on transgender girls in women’s sport. Mr Trudeau criticised him as “Trump-lite”.

David Coletto, who runs the polling company Abacus Data, said the dominant concern among voters since January was that “Trump is going to make them all worse”.

He said: “Trump has fundamentally altered the mindset of Canadians. They’re deeply anxious, not just about their day-to-day lives but the actual existence of the country.”

Mr Carney has emphasised his experience running the Bank of England, presenting himself as the man for a crisis.

“Poilievre’s association or perceived association with Trump ... is undermining his ability to focus the public on the things he wants them to focus on, which is change and those pocketbook issues,” Mr Coletto said.

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