Poilievre tells Conservatives he will stay on and 'keep fighting' after Carney secures majority

conservativist Leader capital of south dakota Poilievre made the caseful for his continuing leaders to company faithful Thursday, saying he will keep fighting the Liberals even after party turbulence on his watch helped deliver Prime Minister Mark Carney a majority government.

Speaking at the conservative Canada Strong and Free Network conference in Ottawa, Poilievre said he will not bend to the will of what he called "the club of liberal elites that dominate this town" by changing the style or substance of his political messaging.

Nodding to those pundits who say Poilievre should be more moderate or present a sunnier disposition to improve his electoral chances, he said: "They say we should just join the club, accept the status quo, blend in. But that would mean leaving behind the record-smashing 8.3 million Canadians who voted for us.

"Some people have accused me of being a fighter, but that's because some things are actually worth fighting for," Poilievre said to applause from the relatively subdued crowd at the event, a yearly highlight on the calendar for Conservative politicos.

Poilievre says he won't be swayed by 'club of liberal elites'

Poilievre's pitch comes as some polling data shows his support has slipped among party members, some of whom are frustrated with the spate of Conservative floor-crossings that gave Carney the MPs he needed to claim a majority.

A recent Angus Reid Institute poll shows about 57 per cent of past Conservative voters think Poilievre should lead the party into the next federal election, down from the 68 per cent who said the same last August.

The number who think he should be replaced has nearly doubled, rising from about 18 per cent last summer to 30 per cent now.

While Poilievre has struggled to appeal to the electorate more broadly, he has always enjoyed strong support among Conservative voters drawn to his skilled prosecution of Liberal failures.

However, that Angus Reid Institute survey shows his favorability rating has dropped slightly from a commanding 88 per cent last summer to about 75 per cent now — still a strong showing but a slip nonetheless.

In the days since that byelection shellacking — when Carney's party not only triumphed but the Conservative vote collapsed in the three ridings up for a vote — Poilievre has sharpened his attacks on the prime minister, calling him "badly educated" on economics and a poor negotiator who has been a "catastrophic failure" on the Canada-U.S. File.

Poilievre continued with that theme Thursday as he signalled his broader strategy: dent Carney's personal popularity, which is relatively high, even among some past Conservative voters. 

Poilievre said Carney ran on turning the page on the Trudeau era, but little has changed in the year since.

Poilievre said Carney is "not quite as nauseating" as Trudeau, but federal deficits remain high, affordability concerns continue, there's no tariff deal with the Americans, and stringent environmental laws like Bill C-69 or the B.C. Tanker ban haven't changed to allow for more development. Plus, ministers from the last government are still in charge of important files, he said. 

"The allusion was that he would be more moderate, maybe even a bit conservative, but the reality is he hasn't changed the Trudeau agenda, he's accelerated it," Poilievre said.

Poilievre signalled that one of the party's objectives is pushing the Carney government to fast-track oil and gas projects at a time when global turmoil has roiled energy markets.

The Carney government created the Major Projects Office (MPO) to speed up approvals for energy and natural resources projects by bypassing laws that snarled some development under Trudeau.

The government is also weighing legislative changes to further expedite projects.

Last week's spring economic update included a promise to develop "policy, operational, regulatory and legislative measures to achieve all federal decisions on major projects within a maximum of two years, down from the previous five-year target."

And while a pipeline to the Pacific is still pending as Alberta prepares its submission to the MPO, Ottawa has given the green light to other developments under Carney's watch, including the Sunrise Expansion pipeline project.

It's also helping the Bay du Nord offshore project in Newfoundland and Labrador get built.

Senior reporter

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