The CPC: Conservative Party Collapse

There are 4 main factors that led to Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives losing this election in what was expected to be a blowout.

• Trump’s annexation threats, saying he wants to make Canada the 51st state of the United States, leading to nationalistic “rally-around-the-flag” fervor

• Trump’s tariffs, which started a trade war within Canada, and has led to measures such as Premier Doug Ford’s threat to cut off electricity and a rise in blame game opportunities

• Mark Carney took over as leader of the Liberal Party, and as an economist and banker, was widely regarded as more fit to lead the country than Trudeau, who was deeply, deeply unpopular and was widely expected to lead the Liberals to a landslide loss, but stepped down

• Both leaders playing the blame game, yet Poilievre being perceived as not being combative enough against the unpopular Liberal policies, and instead focusing his view on Trump

Poilievre was heralded as the election winner before the election even happened. 

Trudeau had been implicated in numerous controversies, such as the trucking scandal, the SNC-Lavalin affair, and the WE Charity Scandal. (read the Special Report for more info)  Moreover, the carbon tax was a losing issue for the Liberals, as practically everyone deeply hated it. Contrary to that, Pierre Poilievre’s policies were popular, and yet after Carney took over, the polls started suddenly bouncing back in the Liberal’s favor. Carney was seen as someone who was battle-tested within leadership, as he was an investment banker and was perceived as having more credibility in the face of adversity, especially with tariffs. Poilievre was seen as way too combative with President Trump, and it led to his party slumping in the polls, all the while the Liberals were surging. 

Moreover, in terms of the other parties, Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the NDP, the social democratic party, was widely, widely unpopular. After backing off from the supply motion to keep the government up and running, and Carney took over, the NDP’s support practically vanished, with most going to the Liberal Party. It was a shocking sight to see for a party, which under Jack Layton, was the official opposition.

So, on April 28, 2025, the Canadian federal election was held.  The exit polls were clear: in the face of Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, the Liberals would win. As the night progressed, we saw some wins in Newfoundland for the Conservatives, yet they still couldn’t fix their shortcomings. Shortly later, major news networks projected the obvious: The Liberal Party would win the election, forming a minority government. It was an unprecedented surge for a party that would be in 4th place if polls had stuck after January 2025. 

You see me talking about Pierre Poilievre a lot. However, while his Conservatives lost the election while gaining seats, one notable seat was lost. This seat loss was a shocker, and something that was completely unexpected. Pierre Poilievre (yes, the leader of the Conservatives,) lost his seat. This happened to many other leaders as well. The leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh also lost his seat. The leader of the Greens also lost his seat. It was a bad night for leaders.

Yet, Poilievre may just come back to Parliament like nothing. A few days ago, an MP named Damien Kurek, in a completely different region of Canada, announced that he would give up his seat so that Poilievre could come back to Parliament. So it shows that Poilievre is widely popular among the Conservatives, even though he fumbled the election.