Conservative leader speaks to packed house in northern Ontario

Packed rally in Kirkland Lake for Pierre Poilievre Here is what federal conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said at a Kirkland Lake stop on his latest tour of northern Ontario.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been touring northern Ontario this week.

Wednesday night, Poilievre held a rally in Kirkland Lake in front of a packed crowd, anticipating higher interest in the Conservatives amid affordability concerns and disappointment in the Trudeau government.

Judging by the crowd, the Conservative leader appears to have large support in Kirkland Lake and area.

Poilievre’s ‘Axe the Tax’ message is ringing true for his supporters, honing in on the Trudeau government’s failure to adequately address higher costs of living and inflation.

“People can't afford to eat, heat or house themselves and they're supporting my common sense plan to axe the carbon tax, lower income tax and cap spending to bring down inflation and interest rates,” he told the crowd.

While New Democrats put the blame for higher grocery costs on corporations, Poilievre’s message centres on government inaction to lower the cost of production through fuel.

His key criticism of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is his agreement to support the minority Liberal government and extend the election period.

“Sellout Singh,” Poilievre said.

“He gets his pension, Trudeau gets the power, you get the bill.”

'Powerful message'

Northern political science Prof. David Tabachnick said it’s a powerful message, calling it “smart politics” that, like many politicians, favours emotion over accuracy.

Focusing on the working class, typically NDP domain, Tabachnick said growing Conservative popularity is making its way north.

“Northern Ontario has become something of a battleground,” he said.

“This has been building in the last few election cycles.”

Northern Ontario is a battleground that New Democrats risk losing, as two long-time MPs retire and Ottawa redraws riding borders to give the north one less seat.

With Poilievre’s tour coming on the heels of Singh’s northern visit last week, the region is awaiting a visit from Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Poilievre’s rallies are spending less time on far-right topics like the World Economic Forum and central digital currency. Tabachnick said the “common sense conservative” slogan is garnering more points than Donald Trump-like tactics.

With Trump, he said “it’s really a cult of personality. They’re voting for Trump, they’re not really voting for Republicans. I don’t think that’s true for Pierre Poilievre. He’s just not that kind of politician.”

Poilievre recently received pushback from Indigenous communities for lack of engagement -- and from supporters of safe consumption services for focusing more on addiction treatment services.

“You become prime minister, you’re investing in treatment services. In the interim, how do you plan to prevent people from dying?” one person asked.

“We have to get them detox treatment, recovery, counselling, group therapy and job training,” Poilievre replied.

With northern polling data lacking, Tabachnick said there’s potential for Poilievre to sweep the region, though NDP and Liberal support are still strong in some areas.

The Conservative leader wraps up his tour Friday with stops in Sudbury, Espanola and Elliot Lake.