Poilievre loses battle to force election

Tory leader’s non-confidence motion fails

OTTAWA On Thursday morning, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was thundering from his seat in the House of Commons, demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government fall over its plan to raise the consumer price on carbon.

The fact he was set to attend a $1,725-per-person fundraiser Thursday night in Toronto underscored the fact his effort to bring them down on this very day was unlikely to succeed.

However, if an election had been held today, a new poll by Abacus Data says Conservatives would win.

They currently enjoy the support of 41 per cent of Canadian voters, compared to the Liberals at 23 per cent, the data suggests — a number relatively unchanged from the last time Abacus was in the field.

Poilievre has been consistent on his anti-carbon-price messaging.

He has long blamed the levy for the affordability challenges facing Canadians — a focus on economic themes is what his team argues has brought so many people his way, and polls suggest people no longer trust the Liberal government.

The non-confidence motion moved by Poilievre Thursday was rooted in that point: Canadians no longer trust Trudeau, and therefore the House shouldn’t either. MPs disagreed, with the motion failing in a vote of 204-116. Both Poilievre and Trudeau voted remotely.

Leading into the vote, the Tories launched a new round of anti-carbon-tax ads and held rallies.

With the poll numbers static, does it mean the issue has stalled as a vote getter for the party?

Poilievre is not giving up. He has a new round of rallies and events planned with a focus on the same issue until the end of the month.

As of April 1, the price per tonne will rise to $80 from $65 per tonne, adding roughly three cents a litre to gasoline, among other increases.

The call for a pause on the pertonne increase underpinned Thursday’s motion.

Debate on Poilievre’s motion, however, saw his opponents try to pick his logic apart.

Ok, said NDP MP Randall Garrison during debate — let’s suppose there was an election.

In the last three votes, the majority of Canadian voters opted for parties who support the existing carbon pricing system: the Liberals, the New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois, he pointed out.

“Why do they think Canadians would change their minds?” he said.

To which the Tories in turn replied — are you sure they aren’t doing that already?

Seven out of 10 provincial premiers have come out against the planned increase.

Even in British Columbia, which has its own carbon pricing program Poilievre is trying to whip up support against the scheme, sparring publicly with Premier David Eby on the issue this month.

Still, along with the April 1 increase, the cheques the government gives to Canadians to cover their increased costs will go up, too — one message the Liberals keep trying to hammer in their attempt to dampen enthusiasm for Poilievre’s affordability argument.

Another is pushing for Poilievre to explain how a Tory government would fight climate change.

“His climate plan is essentially to let the planet burn,” Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said..

The party says their environmental policy will come before the next election — which didn’t start Thursday.