Pierre Poilievre kicks off Conservative election campaign, taking aim at Liberal government record

Open this photo in gallery:

Pierre Poilievre sought the leadership of the Conservative Party nearly three years ago saying he was running to be prime minister – and on Sunday, he began that bid in earnest with the start of the general election campaign.

He began the first day with a Parliament Hill backdrop, the place he’s called his professional home for more than 20 years. But he ended it with a rally in the vote-rich Greater Toronto Area, where support for his party is crucial should he wish to move from the opposition benches and back into government.

The Conservative Party rally at the Pan Pacific Hotel in northeast Toronto started late because of the size of the crowd, which crammed the hotel’s main ballroom. Organizers estimated that more than 2,400 people attended the event.

Mr. Poilievre arrived on stage with his three-year-old son Cruz in his arm and pointed out that his child was wearing a baseball jacket.

The Conservative Leader then hit on his main message of the night, saying the Liberal government’s record shouldn’t be rewarded with a fourth term. “My little boy understands something those Liberals do not: In baseball and in politics, it’s three strikes and you’re out.”

The fight Mr. Poilievre has on his hands in this campaign is markedly different than his leadership bid, where he batted away all opponents with ease. For a time last year, it appeared that the general election would be a cakewalk too – he drove his party to dominance in public-opinion polls thanks to Canadians’ frustration and fatigue with the Justin Trudeau Liberals and Mr. Poilievre’s promise to restore order to a country he kept telling people was broken.

But then Mr. Trudeau quit and Mark Carney became Liberal Leader.

Federal election campaign begins, with leaders pitching themselves as best option amid trade tensions

In his maiden campaign remarks Sunday, Mr. Poilievre took aim at Mr. Carney and acknowledged that there’s another foe: U.S. President Donald Trump, whose threats to use economic force to annex Canada have created an unprecedented amount of uncertainty for the country as a whole, and for Canadians personally.

“I share your anger and I share the worry for our future, but I also draw great resolve in knowing that we can transform the anxiety and anger into action,” he said, standing on the rooftop of a building next to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., his family watching from a nearby bench.

Polls suggest the anxiety among Canadians is being channelled into support for the Liberals, something that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith – an ally of Mr. Poilievre’s – told an American conservative news outlet she expressed to the Trump administration.

But, she said to Breitbart, if the administration is willing to wait, it may find that a Poilievre government would be more in sync with its aspirations – comments that sent Conservatives cringing and hurrying to point to the times in recent days that Mr. Trump has disparaged the Conservative Leader and said he’d prefer a Liberal running Canada.

That Canadians see negative parallels between Mr. Trump and Mr. Poilievre – both pledge to end “woke” culture, both promise major cuts to foreign aid and to the public service – was put to Mr. Poilievre on Sunday. He was asked what he would say to them.

In French, he answered, “I’m Canadian.”

Mark Carney defends launching election campaign, with more U.S. tariffs expected

In English, Mr. Poilievre said that when he promises to cut taxes, increase natural-resource production and create jobs, it is “bad news” for the President, because it means Canada will become more self-reliant and sovereign.

But Conservatives fear that the linkage will endure throughout the campaign. An early attack ad from the Liberals featured Mr. Poilievre’s comments and approach to the media juxtaposed against Mr. Trump’s own.

The Conservatives will seek to neutralize those attacks with the argument that Mr. Trump is preying on a weak economy created by the Liberals.

In the weeks before the start of this campaign, the Conservatives had blanketed the airwaves with ads in English, French and other languages in an early attack on Mr. Carney.

Now, the groundwork begins in earnest. After spending the first few days in the Greater Toronto Area, Mr. Poilievre is expected to tour Quebec and then head west, with British Columbia being a similarly important battleground.

Jagmeet Singh says NDP is best positioned to champion Canadians through trade war

His focus isn’t just in keeping the Liberals out of power, but also driving NDP voters to his side, especially in rural regions and the B.C. Interior.

But a sign of how quickly the ground appears to be is shifting for the Conservatives could be found locally in Ottawa Sunday.

Mr. Poilievre went to his home riding of Carleton to open his campaign office, and paid tribute to local candidates from the Ottawa area. In particular, he singled out Barbara Bal – who has spent well over a year campaigning for the party in the Ottawa riding of Nepean. The party thought the riding could be a simple pickup from the Liberals, especially after the MP, Chandra Arya, was kicked out of the Liberal leadership race and then told he couldn’t run for the party this campaign.

Late Saturday, Ms. Bal discovered who her new opponent was: new Liberal Leader Mark Carney.