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OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre warned U.S. President Donald Trump not to turn a “loyal friend into a resentful neighbour” with his incessant threats of tariffs on key sectors to the Canadian economy and of making Canada into the 51st state.

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Poilievre was speaking to hundreds of supporters at a “Canada First” rally on Saturday afternoon, to coincide with Flag Day, in the same downtown Ottawa convention centre where Poilievre’s leadership of the party began more than two years ago.

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“Sometimes it does take a threat to remind us of what we have, what we could lose and what we could become,” he told the crowd. “The unjustified threats of tariffs and 51st statehood from Donald Trump have united our people to defend the country we love.”

Speaking to Americans, Poilievre gave them two options. The first one would be to carry out an “unprovoked attack” on the Canadian economy with tariffs, making their consumers pay more, their workers make less money, and make gas prices skyrocket.

“You will turn a loyal friend into a resentful neighbour, forced to match tariff with tariff and to seek friends everywhere else, both our economies will weaken, leaving less money for defence and security, and our enemies will grow stronger,” he said.

Or, the second option would see Canada and the U.S. trade even more, he said, making consumers pay less for goods and workers have more money in their pockets.

“I would ask you this question, which other country would you rather have as your neighbour? If Canada is not your friend, who is?” he asked Americans.

Poilievre said Canadians are nice and polite, slow to anger and quick to forgive.

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“But never confuse our kindness with weakness,” he said, prompting loud cheers from the crowd.

“We will never be the 51st state.”

But Poilievre also accused the Liberals, and especially their leadership contenders, of instrumentalizing the looming threat of tariffs to distract from their record. He also said that many of them are proving that Conservatives were “right on everything.”

“Everyone now admits… that Conservatives were right on the Liberal capital gains tax, that Conservatives were right on the carbon tax, on pipelines, on LNG, on fentanyl, the borders, immigration and the need to celebrate rather than cancel our proud history,” he said.

The rally is an exclamation mark on a broader message change by the Conservatives, which sees them move away from earlier calls for a “carbon tax election,” to a campaign theme more in tune with the current moment, battling multiple threats from Trump.

That did not stop Poilievre from attacking Mark Carney, seen as the frontrunner to become Liberal leader, on his promise to “change” the consumer carbon tax.

“Mr. Carney will pause the carbon tax, hide it out of sight, so that you won’t see it for the duration of the election period,” said Poilievre. “God forbid, if he were elected, he would bring in a much bigger tax that has no rebate whatsoever.”

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“They will be popping the champagne at the Trump Tower when ‘Carbon Tax Carney’ comes in,” he added.

Poilievre fleshed out his election promises, promising a “patriotic tax cut” for Canadians if he is elected prime minister and to axe the sales tax on new homes.

He got some of the loudest cheers during his hour-long speech when promising to cut foreign aid to “dictators and terrorist groups,” bringing back Canadian symbols and figures such as Terry Fox in passports, and restoring in-person citizenship oaths but changing the words of the existing oath.

Conservatives were hoping to make a big splash with the “Canada First” rally, but it was also a victim of its success.

About 30 minutes before the start of the rally, the room was at full capacity with a thousand Conservative supporters showcasing their best red and white outfits, and another thousand watching the speech in two separate overflow rooms.

But there was still a long line of supporters spilling outside the venue, some of them angry or disappointed that they were unable to get inside the main room or one of the overflow rooms.

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“If they can’t organize a rally, how the heck are they going to organize a country?” asked Paul Touzin as he was leaving the venue, unable to get in.

Liberals criticized Poilievre’s shift in strategy, saying it was incoherent.

“You can’t say that Canada is broken and at the same time say that Canada is the best country in the world,” said Immigration Minister Marc Miller before the rally.

“The two just don’t go together.”

Too watch the recording of the rally, click here.

— With files from Stephanie Taylor.

National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com

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