Poilievre says the federal election can't just be about Donald Trump

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 31, 2025 1:15 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre mounted a defence of his run messaging Monday, saying helium has nary qualms astir focusing connected issues similar the lodging crisis, outgo of surviving concerns and comparatively anemic economical growth, adjacent arsenic immoderate of his critics accidental helium should spell each successful connected Canada-U.S. relations.

In the archetypal week of this national campaign, Poilievre has truthful acold mostly stuck to the playbook that catapulted him and his enactment to the pb successful the polls for overmuch of the past 2 years.

He's been rolling retired specified measures as an income taxation cut, a TFSA top-up and a tough-on-crime agenda with mandatory beingness sentences successful situation for cause traffickers, portion besides prosecuting the Liberal government's tenure — adjacent arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump's threats loom large.

He made those announcements past week astatine sites that could beryllium seen arsenic a motion to U.S. commercialized tensions — a institution that works with alloy and a B.C. sawmill — but mostly avoided talking astir the cross-border dispute.

Trump's sanction gets scant notation astatine his rallies or quality conferences, unless he's asked by reporters to comment.

That has prompted immoderate enactment grandees, similar elder strategist Kory Teneyecke, to accidental Poilievre is missing the people by not aggressively taking connected Trump, regarded by galore Canadians arsenic a menace and a menace.

Poilievre's enactment has besides mislaid its pb implicit the governing Liberals, according to CBC Poll Tracker, causing anxiety among some campaign unit who accidental there's no clear program to get it back.

WATCH: Conservative run is 'a mess,' enactment insiders say: 

Poilievre said Monday he'll marque nary apologies for pushing what helium calls a "Canada archetypal agenda," which is mostly focused connected rectifying perceived Liberal failures.

He said helium volition speech astir however to code U.S. tensions — his superior gains taxation transportation Sunday was specifically designed to thrust concern astatine home, helium said — but won't disregard the different issues that person emerged retired of what helium called the "lost Liberal decade."

"Some radical person said I should halt talking astir the doubling of lodging costs that person denied an full procreation the accidental to ain a location aft the mislaid Liberal decade. They accidental we shouldn't beryllium debating wherefore azygous moms are lined up astatine nutrient banks successful grounds numbers," Poilievre said.

He said helium volition basal up for the millennial women "whose biologic timepiece is moving retired faster than they tin spend to bargain a location and person kids."

"They suggest that we shouldn't statement wherefore 50,000 of our citizens person mislaid their lives to cause overdoses nether the extremist Liberal cause policies," helium continued.

"My intent successful authorities is to reconstruct Canada's promise," helium said. "So we volition continue, contempt calls to the contrary, to speech astir those things adjacent if I americium the lone person successful the state that offers immoderate change."

WATCH: Poilievre says, 'My intent successful authorities is to reconstruct Canada's promise':

There's a crushed wherefore Poilievre wants to speech astir those issues much than the Trump factor.

A caller Angus Reid Institute poll suggests non-Liberal survey respondents are astir acrophobic astir the outgo of surviving and inflation, portion the Liberal ones, some longtime supporters and caller switchers, accidental Canada's narration with the U.S., including tariffs, is the astir important issue.

Poilievre said contiguous helium volition basal against "unjustified threats by President Trump," and helium pitched a longtime Conservative committedness to physique a nationalist vigor corridor to fast-track projects similar an east-west pipeline to yet determination much Alberta lipid and state to eastbound markets.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney has promised thing similar.

Poilievre said a authorities led by him volition streamline biology reviews and make a "pre-approved transport corridor," which volition spot each levels of authorities supply legally binding commitments to o.k. projects similar transmission lines, railways and pipelines that run on the route.

The enactment is promising to enactment with First Nations to guarantee immoderate economical benefit flows to their communities.

WATCH: Poilievre outlines connection for nationalist vigor corridor: 

Poilievre said gathering much vigor infrastructure volition assistance Canada basal connected its ain 2 feet and lessen its dependence connected the Americans. So overmuch of Canada's lipid and state is exported to that 1 market, making the state beholden to a azygous customer. It besides deprives cardinal and eastbound parts of the state from Canadian energy, forcing refineries determination to trust connected overseas supplies from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, among different places.

Poilievre said helium won't basal for that anymore. Carney has signalled helium won't, either.

Just earlier calling the national election, Carney met with the premiers to hash retired a caller statement that volition spot Ottawa slash immoderate reddish portion arsenic portion of the approvals process connected large projects.

He's calling it a "one project, 1 review" licence strategy to trim duplicative federal-provincial processes.

"It's clip to build," Carney said.