‘Based on a False Premise’: Poilievre Reacts to Media Accusations He’s Courting the Far Right

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks with reporters before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 6, 2023. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre fired back at a reporter’s accusation during a press conference in Prince Edward Island on Aug. 16 that he’s attempting to “court the far right,” saying it has no basis in reality.

“I’m sorry that your question seems to be based on a false premise. You can’t even tell me who these experts are. It sounds like it’s just a CBC smear job,” Mr. Poilievre said.

He was responding to a question from a reporter who began by stating that a number of Mr. Poilievre’s “own comments and actions have been characterized as dog-whistling to the far-right.”

“Are you trying to court the far right?” the reporter asked.

After Mr. Poilievre asked who was making the assertion, the reporter replied that it was “a number of different experts.”

“Who are these experts? You’re saying that there are experts who are saying this. Who are they?” he asked. The reporter did not name experts but instead said, “I think it’s been established that this is a concern.”

Mr. Poilievre said he was focused on a “common sense agenda” to get rid of the federal carbon tax, bring home “powerful paycheques” for Canadians, and “clear the way” to build affordable homes. “I know that [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau’s supporters are so desperate to distract from that because his political career is falling apart,” he added.

During media events, Mr. Poilievre has often sparred with reporters accusing them of bias and of conniving with the ruling party.

This week, the CBC and a number of other outlets ran a wire story by the Canadian Press (CP) headlined: “Poilievre’s Conservative Party embracing language of mainstream conspiracy theories.”

“Trudeau’s media are desperate to stop his continued downfall. Today, CBC’s news service CP wrote a hit piece on me because I dared criticize the World Economic Forum—a group of multinational CEOs and powerful politicians that push their interests,” Mr. Poilievre wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Aug. 13. CBC uses CP as a news service but does not own it.

Mr. Poilievre previously criticized CBC’s president and CEO Catherine Tait who said that the federal opposition leader has been stoking criticism of the public broadcaster.

“CBC’s overpaid President & CEO is not even pretending to be unbiased,” he wrote on X on Feb. 9. “She launched a partisan attack against me, proving my claim that the $1.2 billion corporation is a mouthpiece for Justin Trudeau.”

“There’s a lot of CBC bashing going on—somewhat stoked by the Leader of the Opposition,” Ms. Tait said in a Globe article published on Feb. 7. “I think they feel that CBC is a mouthpiece for the Liberal government.”