Conservative, NDP leaders portray starkly different visions for Canada's future
The only thing Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh had in common Thursday was their timing.
Separately but simultaneously, Canada's federal Conservative and NDP leaders laid out their respective visions for how best to defeat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
And while each took aim at Trudeau's record and rallied the party faithful with now-familiar pitches, only one of them spent any time attacking the other.
Singh — speaking at the NDP's annual Progress Summit — said while Trudeau has failed to improve the lives of middle-class Canadians, the Conservative alternative would be no better.
"Everyone in this room knows that Pierre Poilievre would just make things worse," he said.
Singh mentioned Poilievre by name no fewer than four times, dismissing as disingenous his promises to help the working class and noting he lacks a coherent, meaningful plan to confront climate change.
"Pierre Poilievre doesn't care about working families," Singh said. "He doesn't care about working class people."
Public opinion polls show Poilievre's affordability message has been resonating with voters, particularly among those 35 and younger, as well as with those who identify as working-class Canadians — two demographics that have long been critical sources of NDP support.
Under Poilievre, the Conservatives have been aggressively targeting NDP ridings, especially vulnerable ones in British Columbia and northern Ontario.
Poilievre, however, left those tactics at the door of the annual Canada Strong and Free Network conference, entirely ignoring his NDP counterpart.
Instead, Poilievre lingered on former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, dubbing the long-rumoured potential Trudeau successor as "Carbon Tax Carney" for his support of the Liberal policy.
Poilievre also took aim at Trudeau's credentials as a Liberal, painting himself as the "common sense" alternative Canadians need to bring down the cost of living and crime.
Trudeau's late father, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, once said the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nations, Poilievre said.
"Now, his son wants the government to be in every room of your house," he said.
"And your business, and your wallet, and your bank account, and your internet account — he wants to be everywhere always. See, the thing is, it's not that Justin Trudeau is too liberal. It's that he's not liberal at all; he is deeply, deeply illiberal."
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs delivers the State of the Province speech in Fredericton, N.B. on Thursday, January 25, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs used similar language during a fireside chat earlier in the day, where he discussed becoming the first premier to lead the charge on requiring teachers to seek parental consent before using a student's preferred pronouns.
Demands to do so have been bubbling up among conservative and right-wing circles across the United States and Canada in recent years, but Higgs became the first Canadian leader to leap headlong into the debate around "parental rights."
The term refers to the widespread concerns of parents about what children are learning about LGBTQ2S+ issues in schools — often fuelled, some say, by misinformation and outright bigotry.
Higgs said he never expected his policy changes to prompt other conservative premiers, like his counterparts in Alberta and Saskatchewan, to make similar moves.
"We certainly have talked amongst colleagues," Higgs said.
"And so in those discussions, did I think it would turn into a national thing? No, that wasn't a discussion."
New Brunswick became the first province in Canada to impose the rule for students under 16 last year, prompting backlash from the LGBTQ2S+ community, doctors and the province's advocate for children, who warned it could place vulnerable kids at risk.
Higgs, who has been premier since 2018, is facing an election this year, a fight made tougher by a caucus revolt spurred by his gender policy changes.
He says the week he introduced those changes, he and his wife of more than 40 years said: "This could be the issue that either continues us in government or takes us out."
Poilievre did not make any mention of gender issues in Thursday's speech, reflecting how Conservatives want to focus on affordability and housing concerns, rather than leading the charge on culture-war issues.
Avoiding those issues has not always been easy, however, thanks in large part to provincial conservatives bringing them to the forefront.
Poilievre has said he believes minors should not have access to puberty blockers and that transgender athletes should be barred from female sports and change rooms.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2024
IN DEPTH
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6922467.1718138898!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6850735.1713368648!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6978861.1722008569!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are 'standing and intact,' including its iconic main lodge.
Major Canadian bank experiences direct deposit outage on payday
Scotiabank says it has fixed a technical issue that impacted direct deposits on Friday morning.
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
Sask. appeal court says anti-trans group cannot join constitutional dispute over pronoun law
Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has denied a political group that opposes so-called “gender ideology” intervener status in a legal dispute over the province’s controversial pronoun law.
Justin Timberlake's attorney disputes he was intoxicated when arrested for DWI
A hearing in the case of Justin Timberlake being accused of driving while intoxicated was held Friday, where an attorney for the singer disputed his arrest in June.
Elon Musk's estranged daughter calls out his 'entirely fake' claims about her childhood
Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk's estranged daughter, publicly refuted several recent anti-trans statements her Tesla CEO and X owner father has made about her.
What we know about 'malicious' attack on French train network ahead of Olympics opening
French transport was thrust into chaos Friday just hours ahead of the Olympics 2024 opening ceremony after a series of co-ordinated 'malicious acts' upended high-speed train lines.Here's what happened and what we know so far.
Reported rate of child pornography increased 52% in 2023, total crime up 3%: Statistics Canada
Last year, reported child pornography cases increased by more than 50 per cent in Canada, in part due to more cases being sent to police by specialized internet child exploitation units, according to a Statistics Canada report.
When Barbie learned what a gynecologist was, so did many other people, according to new study
A new study published Thursday in the journal JAMA Network Open has found that the ending in the 2023 blockbuster film 'Barbie' had an influence on online search interest in terms around gynecology, the branch of medicine that deals with women’s reproductive health.
Local Spotlight
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6978272.1721953528!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'She led it the whole way': 18-year-old B.C. woman leads hikers to safety in Jasper National Park
As fire threatened people in Jasper National Park, Colleen Knull sprung into action.
'There's mom and dad's house': New video appears to show destruction of Jasper neighbourhood
Video posted to social media on Thursday morning appears to show the charred remains of a Jasper, Alta., neighbourhood.
Sask. Second World War veteran, 103, receives France's highest national order
A Saskatchewan-born veteran of the Second World War was recently presented with France's highest national order.
Former First Nations chief voices Disney's first Ojibwe language Star Wars movie
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
Ottawa Humane Society reunites Montreal family with cat missing for 8 years
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
Waterloo, Ont. woman out thousands after car totalled in hit-and-run
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
'It looks scary, but they're harmless': Bees removed from Winnipeg street light
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
'Powerful symbol of the progress we have made': Land being returned to Manitoba Métis Federation
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Cape Breton moose hunting suspended for 3 years due to 'significant' drop in population
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.