Conservatives Target Mark Carney in New Ad as Liberals Close Polling Gap
The Conservative Party has launched a new attack ad targeting Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney, as recent polling suggests a narrowing gap between the Liberals and Conservatives ahead of a potential early federal election. The ad, released Friday, focuses on the economic threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, claiming Carney is “just the man” to help Trump take Canadian jobs. It concludes with the slogan, “If Carney wins, Canada loses.”
Carney’s campaign swiftly responded, drawing parallels between Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s tactics and those of Donald Trump. “Pierre Poilievre continues to pull from Donald Trump’s playbook with empty and misleading slogans,” said campaign spokesperson Emily Williams. “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.”
The ad comes as Conservative MPs gathered in Ottawa on Friday, using the opportunity to launch fresh partisan attacks on Carney. Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer criticized the Liberal government’s energy policies, linking Carney to what he described as a failure to support Canada’s energy sector. “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.
Scheer also took aim at Carney’s recent comments on the fentanyl crisis, accusing him of being out of touch with everyday Canadians. “He lives in a completely different world. He doesn’t have to buy groceries in tough neighbourhoods or take public transit,” Scheer remarked.
Meanwhile, Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman criticized Carney’s stance on carbon pricing, calling his pledge to scrap the consumer carbon tax misleading. “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’ renewed focus on Carney comes amid shifting political dynamics. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he will step down once the Liberals elect a new leader on March 9, and the threat of U.S. tariffs under Trump has become a central issue in Canadian politics. Recent polling indicates a tightening race, with the Conservatives leading the Liberals by eight points in a Nanos Research survey. However, another Nanos poll suggests more Canadians believe Carney would outperform Poilievre in negotiations with Trump.
A Leger survey also shows that a Carney-led Liberal Party could boost support by six points, putting the Liberals in a statistical tie with the Conservatives. Despite these developments, Conservative MPs avoided addressing the latest polling data when questioned by reporters on Friday.
The possibility of an early election has added urgency to the political landscape. An internal NDP memo obtained by CTV News urged candidates to prepare for a federal election “as early as March 10,” one day after the Liberal leadership vote. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confirmed his party is preparing for a snap election, stating, “Our understanding is Mark Carney is going to call an early election. So, we’re preparing for that. We’re getting ready for that.”
With Parliament prorogued until March 24, opposition parties have vowed to bring down the Liberal minority government at the earliest opportunity. Both Poilievre and Singh have called for Parliament to reconvene to address Trump’s tariff threats and pass legislation to support Canadian workers. However, Singh dismissed the idea of choosing between toppling the government and supporting emergency measures, calling it a “false choice.”
Carney, for his part, has not ruled 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,” he told 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.”
As the political stakes rise, longtime NDP MP Charlie Angus struck a conciliatory tone, urging Parliament to focus on addressing the challenges posed by Trump’s policies. “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.”