As the Liberals try to reverse their political fortunes with the latest federal budget, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ratcheted up attacks against his Conservative opponent on Wednesday, tying him to a far-right American figure.
Polls suggest the Liberal budget released last week has yet to resonate 鈥� but Trudeau suggested it鈥檚 still more of a plan than what Poilievre has on offer, other than trying to exploit public anxieties.
During a stop to promote the budget in Oakville, Ont., Trudeau was asked about Poilievre鈥檚 recent appearance alongside anti-carbon price activists in Atlantic Canada who were waving expletive-laden flags bearing the prime minister鈥檚 name.
Every leader has to decide how they are going to operate, Trudeau said.
鈥淎re they a kind of leader that is going to exacerbate divisions, fears and polarization in our country, make personal attacks and welcome the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists? Because that鈥檚 exactly what Pierre Poilievre continues to do.鈥�
A spokesman for the Conservative leader said Poilievre 鈥渕ade a brief, impromptu stop鈥� when he noticed the protesters during a drive between events in the region Tuesday evening.
Sebastian Skamski said Poilievre greeted them because he saw it was an 鈥渁nti-carbon tax protest鈥� and because of his vocal opposition to the federal consumer carbon price.
If Trudeau is concerned about extremism in Canada, Skamski said, he should be paying closer attention to protests against the war in Gaza. Some of them have included demonstrators praising the deadly Oct. 7 attacks against Israel by Hamas. Both Trudeau and Poilievre have condemned such rhetoric.
Videos posed to a Facebook group called 鈥淣ationwide Protest Against the Carbon Tax鈥� show Poilievre shaking hands with some of the protesters, introducing himself to one woman as 鈥渢he guy who鈥檚 going to axe the tax.鈥�
In the video, Poilievre says he was travelling from P.E.I. to Nova Scotia when he spotted the group, which he mentions hearing about on the news. 鈥淚 will axe the tax,鈥� he tells protesters, adding that others support their cause.
He mentions Trudeau by name, saying that 鈥減eople believed his lies鈥� and that 鈥渆verything he said was bulls鈥攖.鈥� He then tours the site and is shown vehicles that owners say they had slept in for more than three weeks 鈥� a scene reminiscent of the 2022 鈥淔reedom Convoy鈥� in downtown Ottawa.
At one point, a man asks Poilievre for a photo, suggesting they pose in front of a row of flags, one of which includes an expletive about Trudeau. Poilievre can be heard suggesting they stand elsewhere.
Poilievre then praises the group, telling them to 鈥渒eep it up,鈥� calling their protest 鈥渁 good, old-fashioned Canadian tax revolt.鈥�
Leaders are supposed to bring people together, but Poilievre 鈥渋s irresponsible with language鈥� and 鈥渟tokes division,鈥� NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday during an event in Edmonton.
At the event in Oakville, Trudeau took pains to note Poilievre has done nothing to reject the endorsement of notorious right-wing commentator Alex Jones.
Jones was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion in damages to the families of the victims of the deadly 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, which he long portrayed as a hoax.
鈥淭his is the kind of man who鈥檚 saying Pierre Poilievre has the right ideas to bring the country toward the right, towards conspiracy theories, towards extremism, towards polarization,鈥� Trudeau said.
鈥淭he fact that he continues to encourage the kind of divisive approaches to Canada that I don鈥檛 think Canadians want to see really shows that he will do anything to win, anything to torque up negativity and fear.鈥�
Asked about Jones, Skamski said 鈥渨e do not follow鈥� him 鈥渙r listen to what he has to say.鈥�
鈥淚t is the endorsement of hard-working, everyday Canadians that Conservatives are working to earn. Unlike Justin Trudeau, we鈥檙e not paying attention to what some American is saying.鈥�
Trudeau鈥檚 Liberals have spent the better part of the past year badly trailing Poilievre鈥檚 Conservatives, polls suggest.
Ahead of a federal election that must happen no later than October 2025, the Liberals are using their latest budget to address what they see as primary reasons younger Canadians are turning to the Tories.
It is heavily focused on measures intended to ease the rising cost of living and a housing crisis that has left millennial and gen-Z Canadians squeezed out of the market.
Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland are selling the spending plan as one that is about offering fairness to young people by requiring the wealthiest Canadians and businesses to pay more tax on their profits.
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