Poilievre fires up Conservative caucus ahead of House of Commons return

Wind in his sails and up in the polls, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre keeps his message tight on housing affordability and economic issues.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is positioning his party for the future with a promise to return to the past.

In a public speech to the Conservative caucus Sunday, Poilievre laid all the troubles of the country – housing affordability, inflation, crime rates and uncertainty on the world stage – at the feet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

A Conservative government, he charged, would roll back the clock to 2015 when Trudeau was first elected.

“Let me be very clear and let me say it again and again. Conservatives will fight throughout this session to axe the (carbon) tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime,” Poilievre told his MPs during the televised speech.

The Conservative leader has good reason to be bullish. According to Abacus Data’s latest tracking numbers, the Conservatives are leading in every region of the country outside of Quebec – up 15 percentage points nationally over the governing Liberals, with 40 per cent support to the Liberals’ 25 per cent.

In the crucial battleground of Ontario, Abacus had the Conservatives at 43 per cent support to the Liberals’ 29 per cent – a sign that Poilievre’s party would likely win a majority government if an election were held today.

In his speech, Poilievre promised to focus on four key areas – doing away with the federal carbon tax, enticing more home construction, “fixing” the federal budget and “stopping” crime.

Abacus CEO David Coletto said the Conservatives relentless focus on those talking points have registered with the Canadian public, who view both the country and the world as heading in the wrong direction. But Coletto added that there’s a sizable part of the Canadian electorate that is unsure what a Conservative government would actually do.