Pierre Poilievre draws thousands to Vancouver Island rally in final campaign push

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre acceptable his sights connected B.C.'s Vancouver Island successful the last days of the predetermination campaign, speaking to thousands of radical who packed into a workplace outbuilding adjacent Nanaimo Friday night.

"Vancouver Island, I person a question, Who's voting for change?" Poilievre asked the crowd, to cheers and a chant of "We privation change." 

The lineup to get into the rally snaked astir the ample workplace building, and cars were backed up each the mode to Island Highway's Nanoose Bay on-ramp, conscionable northbound of Nanaimo. 

Brett Clancy, who lives successful the Cowichan-Malahat riding, says the rally embodied the "blue wave" washing implicit the Island, wherever the Conservatives are trying to crook NDP seats blue. 

"This is the biggest rally connected Vancouver Island successful the past of governmental rallies"

This is Poilievre's 2nd sojourn to Nanaimo and 4th travel to B.C. since the run began. 

"We haven't seen that benignant of attraction by a Conservative person connected the Island successful decades," says Michael Prince, the University of Victoria's dean of quality and societal improvement and a seasoned governmental scientist. 

NDP stronghold nether threat

"[Poilievre is] looking astatine taking two, three, possibly 4 seats from the NDP connected the Island," Prince said

The NDP presently holds six of the 7 ridings connected Vancouver Island, portion the Greens clasp one.

Current polls amusement each riding connected the Island is simply a battleground, with the imaginable for astir each spot to alteration hands.

Clancy says the NDP person "abandoned the moving class," which is wherefore the Conservatives are staking retired this territory. 

Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog says the Conservatives person been paying adjacent attraction to his city, arsenic good arsenic the Alberni Valley and North Island. 

"They judge they person a bully accidental here. I deliberation the polling mostly confirms it."  

Poilievre's beingness successful the Nanaimo-Ladysmith riding could springiness a boost to the party's candidate, Tamara ­Kronis, successful what is shaping up to beryllium a choky four-way race. 

Candidates marque their case

Kronis is presently successful the lead, according to polling aggregator 338 Canada. 

She introduced Poilievre astatine the rally, telling the assemblage the biggest connection she's proceeding astatine the doorstep is that voters are upset aft 10 years of a Liberal authorities and privation change.

"After the mislaid NDP-Liberal decennary wherever outgo and transgression are up, and wherever our system is down and nether the Americans' thumb, does anyone present truly judge that the Liberals merit a 4th term?" she asked.

WATCH | Nanaimo-Ladysmith voters stock apical predetermination issues: 

In adjacent 2nd is erstwhile Green MP Paul Manly, who is presently a Nanaimo metropolis councillor. 

Manly says radical he's talking to are frightened of the cuts to halfway services a Conservative authorities would implement. 

Asked astir whether the U.S. tariffs person dominated the campaign, mostly making it a two-horse contention betwixt the Liberals and Conservatives, Manly says helium has acquisition assisting with the negotiations connected the commercialized woody betwixt Canada, the U.S. and Mexico successful 2019 aft helium was elected an MP for the Greens. 

"The progressive voters that don't privation to beryllium represented by a Poilievre-Conservative authorities should backmost maine up," Manly said.

Liberal campaigner Michelle Corfield dismissed polling numbers that enactment her down Kronis and Manly, saying she's assured she has a accidental to triumph the seat. 

She says websites that promote strategical voting to contradict the Conservatives the spot are a "threat to democracy." 

"I'm not worried. I deliberation Canadians are going to measurement into that ballot container and ballot with their values," she said. 

Corfield, a First Nations person and entrepreneur, calls Nanaimo "the astir important riding connected Vancouver Island." 

That's due to the fact that of its strategical port, subject beingness and the value of the forestry manufacture for the Island, she says. 

WATCH | What are the parties' election platforms? 

NDP incumbent Lisa Marie Barron says she proved the polls incorrect successful 2021 and she believes she tin bash it again. 

"What's wide to me, the much radical get to cognize Poilievre, the much disquieted they are," she said. "People are acrophobic of Poilievre coming in, the cuts we cognize he'll beryllium making, and attacking the nationalist health-care system."

All 4 starring candidates are the aforesaid ones who faced disconnected during the 2021 election. 

"They are each candidates qualified to beryllium Members of Parliament. That isn't ever the lawsuit successful an election," says Krog, a erstwhile NDP MLA. 

In the past election, ­Barron narrowly won with 28 per cent of the ballot implicit ­Kronis, who took 27 per cent for the Conservatives. Manly was close astatine their heels with 25 per cent of the vote, followed by Corfield with 14 per cent. 

"It was a precise choky contention present past time, arsenic choky arsenic you tin beryllium with the three-way divided astatine the top," Krog said. "This time, who knows?"

Homelessness a cardinal contented for some 

Krog says thoroughfare disorder, addiction, intelligence wellness and transgression are apical of caput for galore voters. 

Poilievre has promised to beryllium tougher connected cause dealers with beingness sentences for fentanyl traffickers. 

He besides pledged to alteration the transgression codification to springiness constabulary much powerfulness to region stateless encampments. 

WATCH | Poilievre promises much constabulary powerfulness astatine stateless sites: 

Manly says helium knows "people are frustrated with thoroughfare disorder" but "criminalizing stateless radical who came retired unneurotic due to the fact that they request information successful numbers, that's not the mode to woody with this."

Corfield says we can't "arrest our way" retired of homelessness. She says homelessness isn't conscionable astir housing, but is astir a "system that's failed people" done a deficiency of wraparound services. 

Baron, who worked successful intelligence wellness and addictions earlier becoming an MP, says Poilievre's program to woody with homelessness is simply a "Band-Aid solution to analyzable issues."

She says the NDP's lodging level would supply affordable housing, entree to attraction and wraparound supports to code homelessness. 

To adjacent the rally and to underscore his constituent astir crime, Poilievre shared a communicative of a erstwhile sojourn to Nanaimo wherever the concern proprietor who was expected to present him was attacked successful a robbery.

"This is 1 of the astir beauteous places successful the world. You should not person to unrecorded this way."