Election Files: Poilievre is lagging in polls, but packing arenas

We’re halfway through the election period, and polls still have the Liberals in the lead.

But there’s more to the story. Even as his party trails in the polls, Pierre Poilievre continues to draw thousands to massive rallies across the country and commands a deeply committed base. 

For years, the Conservatives have been building a well-oiled machine—more door-knocking, sharper voter data, and growing support from people who don’t usually vote. 

In this edition of The Breach Election Files, we dive into our archives to bring you all the reporting and analysis we’ve on Pierre Poilievre—his playbook, his agenda, and the forces behind his rise.

The playbook

Masquerading as an anti-establishment populist, Poilievre aims to ride anger over inequality and the cost of living into office—then hand the keys to the one percent.

📽️ WATCH:  The Secret to Pierre Poilievre’s Success

Pierre Poilievre’s Fake Populist Playbook

The agenda

He’s Harper—his former boss and recent endorser—but with a sharper edge and a populist facade. And he’s prepared: our exclusive reporting uncovered the blitz of cuts his transition team has planned for the first 100 days in office—if he wins.

➡️ READ: Harper, but with fangs bared

Pierre Poilievre—Harper but with fangs bared

➡️ READ: ‘Hard and fast from every direction’: inside the group plotting Poilievre’s ‘blitzkrieg’ of cuts

‘Hard and fast from every direction’: inside the group plotting Poilievre’s blitzkrieg of cuts

The company he keeps

Poilievre may present himself as the champion of the common person, but his inner circle, elected party officials, and the wealthy donors flocking to private fundraising events tells a different story. Behind the populist rhetoric, he is closely aligned with corporate elites, lobbyists, and billionaires. 

➡️ READ: Poilievre’s ‘anti-elite’ Tories stack top council with corporate lobbyists

Poilievre’s ‘anti-elite’ Tories stack top council with corporate lobbyists

➡️ READ: Corporate lobbyists are flocking to Pierre Poilievre’s cash-for-access fundraisers  |  📽️ WATCH: Pierre Poilievre’s little lobbyist secret 

Corporate lobbyists are flocking to Pierre Poilievre’s cash-for-access fundraisers

➡️ READ: Pierre Poilievre is cozying up to Canada’s far-right broligarchs

Pierre Poilievre is cozying up to Canada’s far-right broligarchs

➡️ READ: Pierre Poilievre is parroting ‘crooked Big Pharma’ talking points  |  📽️ WATCH: Who said it? Pierre Poilievre or Big Pharma

Pierre Poilievre is parroting ‘crooked Big Pharma’ talking points

The hypocrisy

Poilievre blames migrants for the housing and affordability crisis while turning a blind eye to wealthy investors and developers who are the true culprits. And he has vowed to track down and deport undocumented people—except those he personally knows, as our exclusive reporting has revealed.

➡️ READ: ‘Deeply hypocritical’: Pierre Poilievre slammed ‘illegal border crossers,’ but his own relative crossed and stayed

‘Deeply hypocritical’: Pierre Poilievre slammed ‘illegal border crossers,’ but his own relative crossed and stayed

➡️ READ: Poilievre’s rhetoric about immigrants causing Canada’s housing crisis doesn’t track  |  📽️ WATCH: Pierre Poilievre is wrong: immigrants aren’t the culprit of the housing crisis 

Investors, not immigrants, are fuelling the housing crisis

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That brings us to the end of this edition of The Breach Election Files.

For more election analysis, be sure to tune in to our podcasts! You can get The Breach Show on Apple, Spotify, Iheartradio, Google, or your favourite service.

See you next week!