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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during the annual Canada Strong and Free Network in Ottawa on Thursday.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he’s not changing who he is or who he is fighting for in a speech where he also sought to push back against a sentiment in some political circles that Prime Minister Mark Carney is more of a Conservative than a Liberal.
Mr. Poilievre told a grassroots conservative conference on Thursday that he is fighting against a club of Liberal elites who dominate Ottawa, and who are setting up a system that rewards their friends and businesses at the expense of everyday people.
“All of this to enhance their privilege, and that is exactly why they want to stop and change me,” he told the Canada Strong and Free Network conference.
Mr. Poilievre said those elites are saying conservatives should just join their club, accept the status quo and blend in.
“But that would mean leaving behind the record smashing 8.3 million Canadians who voted for us. They voted for us to fight for them,” he said.
“And some people have accused me of being a fighter, but that’s because some things are actually worth fighting for.”
More than half of Conservative voters want Poilievre to lead the party into next election
Though Mr. Poilievre did win a historic number of votes in the last election, he lost to Mr. Carney’s Liberals – and also lost his own seat. He later ran in a by-election in an Alberta riding.
Now, his party is far behind the governing Liberals in the polls and Mr. Poilievre lost four of his MPs to the Liberals, helping Mr. Carney form a majority government.
But Mr. Poilievre sought to throw cold water on the idea that Mr. Carney’s ambitions or policies are truly conservative.
“The illusion was that Mark Carney was not as woke as Justin Trudeau, and certainly, he is not quite as nauseating,” Mr. Poilievre said to laughter.
“The illusion was that he would be more moderate, maybe even a little bit conservative, but the reality is that he’s not changed the Trudeau agenda.”
Conservatives say Poilievre’s leadership is secure after Liberals land majority
Mr. Poilievre castigated Mr. Carney for stealing conservative ideas like speeding up natural resource development but then not actually following through.
The organization hosting the conference was started up in 2005 to be a training ground for the next generation of conservative activists.
The impetus was the federal party’s dissolution into warring factions in the late 1980s and 1990s and its ultimate reinvention as the modern-day Conservative Party in 2003.
Mr. Carney’s success in wooing voters – and MPs – away from Mr. Poilievre’s party has many conservatives privately worrying whether another such split could be on the horizon.
But there are no public challengers so far to Mr. Poilievre’s leadership, and no voices publicly calling for him to step down.
He signalled Thursday he does not intend to go anywhere.
“I keep fighting,” he said.
“And I hope you will, too.”
