EDMONTON — The Conservatives are pledging to crack down on offshore tax loopholes by appointing a “bring it home tax task force” -- a policy pitch that Pierre Poilievre used to launch an attack on his Liberal opponent on Tuesday. But the Conservative leader seemed almost as keen to talk about the size of the crowd at his rally in Edmonton on Monday night. At a media event in the city on Tuesday, the Globe and Mail’s Laura Stone asked Poilievre whether the messages he’s delivering to those enthusiastic crowds of supporters are appealing to undecided voters or Liberal supporters. Before responding, Poilievre asked when there had last been a political rally that big in Canada, calling it “magic.” “You’re a very well-informed person,” he said. “I know that if there were a bigger rally than that, you would know about it.” The party said 10,000 people registered for the event just outside Edmonton, where former prime minister Stephen Harper gave a hearty endorsement to Poilievre. “I think to have 10 or 15,000 people at one political rally, this is a movement like we’ve never seen, because people want change,” Poilievre said. Fred DeLorey, the chair of North Star Public Affairs and the Conservatives’ national campaign manager in the 2021 election, said talking about crowd size “drowns out the important message.” “For their campaign to be successful, they need to be message-disciplined,” he said. “They need to focus on why they are the best to lead Canada.” Tuesday’s press conference was the second occasion when Poilievre asked a reporter about the size of his rallies. He did the same in Kingston, Ont., on April 3, when Poilievre inquired of a reporter at the microphone, what he thought of the rally the night before and how many people he thought were there. “Did John A. Macdonald have crowds like that when he was the MP here,” Poilievre asked, referring to Canada’s first prime minister who represented Kingston in the House of Commons for about 15 years between 1867 and 1891. Later in the day on Tuesday, Poilievre held another rally where he filled a hall in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., with hundreds of supporters. Among the crowd was retiree Errol Caldwell, who said he was “teetering” between the Liberals and Conservatives in this election but was “really impressed” with Poilievre’s presentation. “It’s very smooth, very well thought out, and no hesitancy there at all. Really pumped up the crowd,” Caldwell said, adding he had never seen a crowd like this in his 42 years in Sault Ste. Marie. Poilievre’s Tuesday night rally was held steps away from the Canada-United States border. Caldwell, donning a “Canada is not for sale” hat, said the election isn’t about Donald Trump for him -- but the U.S. president has shown Canada that it needs to learn how to independent again. “We’ve got to build this country up again. We need to rely on ourselves,” he said. DeLorey said Poilievre seemed to have found a way to talk about Trump and his tariffs by the middle of last week. “They were missing the entire Trump and tariff and that part of the narrative for quite some time. They really clearly didn’t quite know how to handle that. But they’ve adapted, I would say, where they are now realizing they can fit their message into it,” he said. The podium where Poilievre delivers his daily message now features a placard with a red Maple Leaf on a blue background, instead of the slogans the party was using earlier in the campaign. On Tuesday, Poilievre laid out the choice facing voters as he sees it. “Do we want a fourth Liberal term of rising costs and crime and a falling economy under America’s thumb? Or is it time for a change, with a new Conservative government that will axe taxes, build homes, unleash our resources to bring home our jobs and stand up to the Americans from a position of strength by putting Canada first?” he said. Week three of the federal election has so far been less focused on the White House, after Trump’s tariffs dominated the discussion for several days in each of the first two weeks. Poilievre didn’t mention Trump by name Tuesday as he laid out a plan to close tax loopholes. He said the Conservatives would launch a task force to make the country’s tax rules simpler and more fair and ensure large companies can’t “stash their money in offshore tax havens.” The party would set up a website to “name and shame” the wealthy companies that are dodging taxes. The Conservatives said that list includes Brookfield, the company that Liberal Leader Mark Carney chaired before he took on the party leadership. Radio-Canada has reported that Carney was leading $25-billion worth of green investment funds that were headquartered in Bermuda, a country that’s viewed as global tax haven. Poilievre took aim at Carney directly in a press conference on Tuesday. “Can you imagine? He was advising Justin Trudeau to hike the carbon tax, and increase inflationary spending, while his company stashed its cash in Bermuda to avoid paying their fair share,” Poilievre said. “Mark Carney, like all Liberals, is a high-tax hypocrite.” The Conservatives say they also plan to instruct the Canada Revenue Agency to redirect its staff away from auditing small businesses and charities and toward cracking down on tax havens. They’re also calling for an expansion of the offshore tax informant program to offer whistleblowers up to one-fifth of the money recovered from illegal tax schemes. Carney has said the Brookfield investment funds were structured to avoid having to pay tax multiple times and pointed out that the beneficiaries included Canadian pensioners. Speaking to reporters in Montreal last week, Carney said Brookfield’s arrangements “follow the rules, including the tax rules, of this country and other countries.” Asked on Tuesday whether he would condemn the use of tax havens, Carney said, “What’s important is that we have an effective tax system and that companies -- every company -- follows the rules.” “We need to continue to refine our tax system to ensure that companies are paying their fair share of tax,” he said, adding that his Liberal government would “spend less.” Poilievre’s announcement follows a similar pledge from the New Democrats last week. Leader Jagmeet Singh said the NDP would make companies provide a “genuine business reason” for having offshore accounts. The NDP also would end tax agreements with countries like Bermuda, review the tax code to find and close loopholes on corporate taxes and conduct public, country-by-country financial reporting. The NDP says Canada loses $39 billion annually through unpaid corporate taxes, and Singh said Brookfield avoided $5.3 billion in Canadian taxes between 2021 and 2024. -- Written by Sarah Ritchie in Ottawa and Craig Lord in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., with files from Fakiha Baig in Edmonton and Jim Bronskill in Ottawa This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2025.
