How Canada’s Trump-Style Candidate Blew a 20-Point Polling Lead

The Wall Street Journal ^ | April 22, 2025 | Vipal Monga and Paul Vieira

[MinorityRepublican]

Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, seemed set to become Canada’s next prime minister at the start of 2025.

For more than a year, his party had a 20-point lead in opinion polls over then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party and momentum toward a landslide victory.

Then came President Trump.

Trump’s trade war and threats to annex Canada have upended Canadian politics. In less than three months, the Conservatives have gone from heavy favorites to underdogs in an election set for April 28.

Poilievre’s problem is bad timing. His preferred foil, the unpopular Trudeau, resigned in March, when Trump’s belligerent rhetoric sparked a patriotic backlash that rallied Canadians around their government. The Conservatives trail the Liberals by five points, according to polling aggregator 338Canada.

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TOPICS: Canada; China; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: canada; concerntroll; concerntrolling; electionfraud; fakenews; howrinogotzotted; murdochrag; nottrumpstyle; openbordersrag; paulvieira; poilievre; redchina; redtories; stolenelection; stopthesteal; tds; vipalmonga; voterfraud

[FlingWingFlyer]

We’ve got to stop trying to stop every other country on the planet from trampling and spitting on America and just continue sending them all the money and everything else they want.

[palmer]

Real title should be "How Canada's Mitt Romney was rejected by Canadians"

[Robert DeLong]

That’s because unlike Trump he caved and modified his stance.

[frogjerk]

I do not believe these polls but Canada is hopelessly liberal.

[avital2]

WSJ continues its Blame Trump Now and Forever campaign...yawn.

[PGR88]

I find the WSJ increasingly full of sh**. Its become a deep-state rag, which sees its job as trying to cajole wayward MAGA republicans to return to the uniparty fold.

Pierre Poilievre, sadly, is much closer to Mitt Romney than he is to Donald Trump

[Bob434]

the wsj is following the “success story” of wapo lol

[Alberta's Child]

The headline is a joke. Pierre Poilievre may be a lot of things, and he's far and away the best PM candidate up there, but "Trump style" is about as idiotic a description of him as you can find.

He's Canada's version of Jeb Bush.

[Dogbert41]

Canada is like California, only worse.

[Antoninus]

Pierre Poilievre has zero in common with Trump. He’s a loser with no message except “We’re 5% better than the political left.”

In other words, he’s Canada’s version of every loser Republican candidate that the WSJ loved.

[dforest]

Pierre is not anything like Trump. This guy is a lefty who talks good.

Maxime Bernier is much more Trump like.

[MinorityRepublican]

That’s because unlike Trump he caved and modified his stance.

Seems like he's the designated loser.

[Red Badger]

A ‘conservative’ Canadian is about equal to an American RINO............

[Jim Noble]

Pierre P is no MAGA (or MACA) candidate, he's a CINO - but he still would have won without the 51st State stuff, which has caused a wave of Canadian patriotism.

Too bad the wave is going to elect an anti-nationalist neoliberal globalist banker - but nobody ever got rich betting on voters being smart.

[FreeReign]

WSJ continues its Blame Trump Now and Forever campaign...yawn.

Amazing, isn't it.

Open borders, free (slave labor) trading WSJ is lecturing Donald Trump how not to screw things up.

[existentially_kuffer]

What’s happening to the WSJ these days? Just another unfair & unbalanced article.

[Baldwin]

That guy is NOT a Trump like candidate. More like a RINO like candidate.

[x]

From what I can see in the snippet, they’re right. Poilievre would have beaten Trudeau. With Trudeau gone, Canadians revert to supporting the Liberal Party. A more right-wing Poilievre wouldn’t be doing better against Carney than he’s doing now.

Even if you think a Canadian Trump could win, what would that mean? Right now Canadians are circling the wagons against Trump. A pro-Trump Poilievre would be more likely to lose than he is now. There’s also no room for a MCGA Poilievre, since the Libs are wrapping themselves in the Canadian flag. They are portraying themselves as hawks in the tariff war, and that leaves no room for Poilievre.

Also, look at the structure of Canadian politics. Erin O’Toole, who really was the Canadian Mitt Romney, got more of the popular vote than Trudeau last time — a full percentage point higher — and the Conservatives got 41 seats fewer than the Liberals. Trudeau could also count on support from the other left parties (56 seats from NDP, Bloc, Greens). Canada is that kind of country, with that kind of political system.

[Nextrush]

Pierre Poilievre is not Donald Trump totally mushy especially on social issues like abortion.