Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. — The two sisters, both silver haired and in their sixties, arrived at Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s rally in Sault Ste. Marie later than they wanted. The line had already snaked around the corner of The Machine Shop – an event venue housed in a historic paper mill.
Among the crowd, parents with toddlers bundled in toques, and burly steelworkers dressed in plaid. It was -5 degrees and colder with the windchill.
Older sister Cathy Nichols once worked for the provincial conservative party. She wanted to come and assess the federal leader in person.
“I just want politicians to really stand up for the people in the country and to be honest and sometimes set aside the politics and do what’s right for the country,” said Nichols.
Nichols thinks Poilievre will be the leader to do that, but she wanted to hear it with her own ears, in person.
“I want to hear how he’s going to cut the deficit as well. We are hearing how they’re spending money, but not how they’re going to find the money to pay for all the promises they’re making,” she said.
Nichols also wants to see if Poilievre strikes the right balance between toughness and diplomacy to take on the U.S. president in a trade war.
“You can’t ruffle the feathers too much.”
But it’s younger sister Beth Mills who has the most questions. She’s still undecided, and this will be her first political rally.
“I think people are like me. They’re undecided and this is where they’re going to make their final decision,” Mills said.
After nearly two years of a double-digit lead in popularity, the Conservatives are now trailing the Liberals after Mark Carney became leader.
Nanos Research data shows that the Liberals’ lead over Conservatives is at six points nationally. But Carney’s once 20-point lead over Poilievre on who Canadians prefer as prime minister has narrowed to 13 points.
Nichols thinks if Poilievre can soften his edges, he could win over new voters and become prime minister.
“I think people are afraid. Poilievre has changed his ways. He’s not as flippant. I was worried about his one-liners. We need to see the serious side, and I’m seeing that now.”
In “the Soo,” a city of 76,000, Conservative organizers said that about 2,000 people had registered to attend the Canada First rally.
Jason Delaney brought his young daughters, Sophia, Lily and Chloe to participate in a democratic event.
“I want them to learn about this. When it’s time to vote they should put a lot of thought about it and look at our government and how it’s working,” said Delaney, who has already decided to vote for Poilievre.
“He’s a hero for Canada. I’ve been following him on YouTube for a very long time and everything he says just makes sense,” Delaney said.
Inside the cavernous Machine Shop, local candidate Hugh Stevenson, asked people to turn on the flashlights on their phones as he led them in singing O Canada.
Stevenson had been the city’s police chief until he resigned on March 23.
The Conservatives want to repeal Bill C-75, to restore jail, not bail for repeat, violent offenders, and to create a new offence for “assault of an intimate partner.”
The new offence according to a news release would impose “the strictest bail conditions” for those accused in a domestic assault and ensure that the murder of a partner or a child would be treated as first-degree murder.
While the writ was dropped only three-and-a-half weeks ago, Poilievre has been campaigning, in a sense, since September 2022 when he ran for the leadership of the party. He’s criss-crossed the country holding rallies to axe the carbon tax. Poilievre appeared practiced and polished during his speech.
He rarely glanced at the teleprompter which was at stage level. He didn’t speak much about Trump’s trade war but returned to common themes: Axe the tax. Build the homes. Stop the crime. He also referenced Carney’s use of a Bermuda tax haven located in a building that houses a bike shop several times.
After nearly an hour of speaking, Poilievre delivered his stump-speech vision of Canada, where “hard work gets you a great life, in a beautiful, affordable house, on a safe street protected by brave troops, under a proud flag.”
That got people in the crowd up on their feet, including Beth Mills, who became a Conservative convert because Poilievre spoke to the issues that felt close to home.
“I think people were saying this isn’t an election just about Trump. This is about our country. We need to see what (leadership candidates) can do for our country. Trump is there and we have to deal with that, but this is about us, about Canadians.”
Correction
A photo caption has been corrected to reflect the date the photo was taken, April 8.
