Conservatives take aim at Carney in new ad as Liberals appear to narrow polling gap

Strategists Scott Reid, Shakir Chambers and Kathleen Monk discuss how the political parties are doing amid the Liberal leadership campaign.

With a potential early election looming and an apparent loss of momentum in polling, the Conservatives are taking aim at Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney in a new ad released Friday.

The ad, which addresses the economic threat of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, claims Carney is “just the man” to help Trump take Canadian jobs and ends with “if Carney wins, Canada loses.”

In response to the ad, Carney’s campaign compared Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his tactics to Trump.

“Pierre Poilievre continues to pull from Donald Trump’s playbook with empty and misleading slogans. While Pierre continues to think about Mark, Mark will continue to focus on his real plan to build our economy and stand up for Canadian workers against President Trump’s threats,” campaign spokesperson Emily Williams said.

The new ad comes as Conservative MPs met in Ottawa on Friday and launched new partisan attacks on Carney.

Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer went after the Liberal government’s energy policies while linking Carney to them.

“The Carney-Trudeau Liberal approach has made Canada more vulnerable by telling our allies that we’re not going to sell them our clean and ethical LNG. That’s ridiculous,” Scheer said. “The Carney-Liberal approach has made Canada more vulnerable.”

Carney has said he would be open to new pipeline and clean energy projects.

Scheer also criticized Carney for saying earlier this week that fentanyl is a serious crisis in the United States but only a challenge in Canada.

“He lives in a completely different world. He doesn’t have to buy groceries in tough neighbourhoods or take public transit,” Scheer said.

Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman, meanwhile, called Carney’s pledge to scrap the consumer carbon tax misleading, since he also plans to maintain the industrial carbon levy.

“I think over the last two days, Mark Carney again admitted his own lie about not wanting to impose a carbon tax. In fact, he says he’s changing the carbon tax,” Lantsman said. “A new and bigger carbon tax, and in particular insanity, a carbon tax on steelmakers at a time where we’re staring down tariffs.”

The Conservatives returned to Parliament Hill for the first time since December and now face a different political landscape. Since then, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he will be resigning once the Liberals pick a new leader on March 9, while Trump’s ongoing tariff and annexation threats appear to be shifting the focus of the next federal election.

New polling from multiple outlets also shows a narrowing gap between the Liberals and Conservatives. The latest survey from Nanos Research shows the Conservatives leading the Liberals by eight points, while a separate Nanos poll released last week shows more Canadians believe Carney would do a better job at negotiating with Trump compared to Poilievre.

Meanwhile, a new Leger survey suggests a Carney-led party would boost Liberal support by six points to 37 per cent, putting them in a dead heat with the Tories.

Conservative MPs did not directly address the latest polling when asked by reporters on Friday.

Poilievre is holding a “Canada First Rally” in Ottawa on Saturday, where a rebranding of the Conservative campaign is expected.

Is an early election on the horizon?

Earlier this week, CTV News obtained an internal memo from the NDP’s national campaign director Jennifer Howard, which urged candidates to be ready and prepare for a federal election “as early as March 10,” one day after the Liberals pick its next leader.

Speaking to reporters in Toronto on Friday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh addressed the possibility of a snap election.

“Our understanding is Mark Carney is going to call an early election. So, we’re preparing for that. We’re getting ready for that,” Singh said.

The general election is currently scheduled for October.

With parliament prorogued until March 24, opposition parties have vowed to bring down the Liberal minority government at the earliest opportunity once the House of Commons returns. Poilievre and Singh have also said Parliament must return so the federal government can pass new legislation to address Trump’s tariff threat.

Asked if he would either bring down the government or support the government to pass legislation to help Canadians amid a potential trade war, Singh responded, saying “it’s a false choice.”

“If the government is serious about putting in place supports for workers, I believe we should do that. I’ve called on that. Call back Parliament. Let’s get it passed immediately,” Singh said. “I can’t imagine any opposition leader opposing a package to support workers.”

On Thursday, Carney wouldn’t rule out calling an early election if he becomes prime minister.

“Let’s see what the situation is in the middle of March and do what is best for Canadians, and the government will do what’s best for Canadians,” Carney said when asked by reporters in Vancouver. “If Parliament needs to be recalled for certain reasons, it will be. If it makes sense to get a strong mandate at that point, that is what will follow.”

Longtime NDP MP Charlie Angus has previously said he will not support a Conservative motion to bring down the Liberal government, which contrasts with Singh’s position to topple the Liberals regardless of who the leader is.

Asked if that’s still his view, Angus said Canada and the world are in “uncharted territory” because of Trump.

“My simple position as a member of parliament is to encourage all parliamentarians to say, let’s go back to Parliament. Let’s see if we can put a plan in place to get Canada through this period,” Angus said. “There will be lots of time to bicker and batter, as we love to do. But right now, I think my focus is Canada.”