Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Canada should not have an election before it reviews the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) this year, and is instead calling for the Carney government to set up an all-party committee on the matter.
“I think that being united will be a real force going forward. We have disagreements, but I think all parties agree that we want tariff-free access to the United States,” Poilievre said in an interview on The Bridge that airs Monday.
“We also agree on the sacrosanct nature of Canadian sovereignty — that we need to protect our country and its distinctiveness,” Poilievre told host Peter Mansbridge, former chief correspondent for CBC News and anchor of CBC’s The National.
CBC was given a recording of the interview ahead of its airing.
Poilievre said his main critique of Prime Minister Mark Carney is that “in 10 months he hasn’t done very much. There’s been lots of announcements and papers signed and ceremonies, but not actual results.”
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“And I think it would be better for us to see some results for him than to spend a half a billion dollars on an election less than a year after the last one,” Poilievre said.
The Conservative leader’s interview comes on the heels of a speech he delivered at the Economic Club of Canada earlier this week, where he laid out his vision for tackling U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade and tariff policies.
Poilievre said he would press for a full exemption from Trump’s “Buy American” policies and look to relaunch talks over the Keystone XL pipeline.
He also would try to strike a new tariff-free auto pact with the U.S. and Mexico that would protect the North American sector from competition with China — a critique of Carney’s deal to let some Chinese-made EVs into the country in exchange for tariff relief.
“It’s not that I object to opening the doors to talking trade and diplomacy with China,” Poilievre said. “But there’s just no way we should proceed with a permanent rupture with our biggest customer that buys three-quarters of our exports.”
Trump has threatened tariffs on all Canadian goods if Canada “makes a deal with China” — though he has not specified what a “deal” means.
In spite of their political differences, Poilievre told Mansbridge he has a “very respectful” relationship with Carney — and credited the prime minister for his actions after the horrific mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., earlier this month.
“I thought he performed admirably on that trip,” Poilievre said.
Poilievre also shared that when he was out on a bicycle trip with his daughter in Ottawa, she had a “funny near-collision” with one of Carney’s daughters, who “skillfully negotiated around” his kid’s “zigging and zagging” bike.
“And so I talked to [Carney] the next time and I said, ‘Did your daughter almost collide with my daughter on the pathways of Ottawa?’ And he said ‘you know, she did mention that.'”
“We disagree on our politics, but we’re both fathers, we are both proud Canadians. And in that sense, I think there’s a mutual respect,” Poilievre said.
The Conservative leader is planning his first official international trip as opposition leader next week, with plans to meet with parliamentary colleagues and business leaders in both the U.K. and Germany.
When asked whether he’s considered going to Washington, Poilievre said he “always believed in the rule of one prime minister at a time.”
“And what I wanted to allow was for the government of the day to have enough room to operate and negotiate on behalf of Canada. And I never wanted our country to be divided,” Poilievre said.
Poilievre asked if Jivani’s Washington trip helpful to Canada
It’s for that reason he’s not inclined to travel to Washington, but Poilievre said he’s told Carney he’d be happy head down there if asked — and Carney expressed “some openness” to the idea.
Poilievre also said he’s never received any formal invitation to visit the White House.
But one of his MPs, Jamil Jivani, went to Washington earlier this month to visit his longtime friend, U.S. Vice-President JD Vance.
After the trip, Jivani found himself in hot water after he told right-wing U.S. media outlet Breitbart News that “we are shooting ourselves in the foot if we continue this anti-America hissy fit.”
At the time, Poilievre said that Jivani “speaks for himself, I speak for the party.”
When asked whether he was OK with Jivani’s trip, Poilievre said he believes all MPs “should be fighting for jobs in their communities. And that’s what [Jivani] tells me he was doing.”
In the last four months, Poilievre has lost three MPs to the Liberals: Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux, Nova Scotia MP Chris D’Entremont and Toronto-area MP Michael Ma.
Each time, Poilievre has accused the Liberals of using “dirty backroom deals” to sway floor-crossers — and he told Mansbridge he doesn’t take back his words.
“These members were elected on a Conservative platform with me as their Conservative leader and nothing has changed about our agenda since that time,” Poilievre said.
The Conservative leader also criticized the political discourse in Ottawa and said it’s too fixated on the “inside baseball” and not focused enough on Canadians lining up at food banks of young people struggling to afford a home.
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“We’ve talked more in Ottawa about three MPs than all of those issues combined,” Poilievre said. “So that’s where my focus is. My focus is on the lives of people here at home in Canada.”
But, Poilievre did explain how he’s changed since the 2025 federal election — namely going on shows and talking to people who he may disagree with or have an audience of voters that are in different parties.
“I think in order to grow, we have to reach out and talk to people who have different viewpoints than us,” Poilievre said.
