A Conservative candidate running in a federal byelection in B.C. acknowledged this week he’s heard criticisms about party leader Pierre Poilievre from voters as he campaigns, while seeking to separate himself from the rest of the Conservative caucus.
The comments came during an all-candidates panel for the Aug. 31 byelection in the riding of North Vancouver—Capilano, held Thursday at the Amica Lions Gate senior’s residence in West Vancouver.
The event was not open to the media, but Global News obtained video of the exchange between an audience member and Conservative candidate Stephen Curran from a source involved with the campaign of Liberal candidate Braeden Caley, who was also at the event along with Green Party candidate Shelley Luce.
In the video, the audience member called Poilievre “divisive in the extreme” and asked Curran about the perception that the Conservatives were unwilling to collaborate with the Liberal government and other opposition parties.
“I’ll confess, it’s not a question that I haven’t heard on the doorsteps as well,” Curran replied.
Although he pushed back on the suggestion that Poilievre and Conservatives aren’t collaborative — noting the party supported passing the government’s landmark infrastructure and trade law, Bill C-5, and successfully pushed the Liberals to cancel the consumer carbon tax — he acknowledged that “the one criticism I get a lot too is, well, your leader and your party are always criticizing. You’re never offering any solutions.”
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He noted the role of the official Opposition is to criticize and “offer direction to the government of the day,” but added his priority as a member of Parliament would be “to do so respectfully and constructively.”
“The last thing I’ll mention to you is that Mr. Poilievre and the rest of the Conservative caucus are not on the ballot,” Curran said.
“It’s up to you to look at me and look at my face and see if you think I’m telling the truth, and whether I am actually going to be a constructive agent representing your interests in Parliament or not. And I hope that you believe that I will, because I’m going to be working very hard for you.”
The audience member responded to Curran, “I think you will, but I think Mr. Poilievre won’t let you.”
“I’m a big boy,” Curran replied with a smile.
Curran is set to attend a campaign rally with Poilievre in North Vancouver on Saturday.
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Poilievre has been struggling to rebuild momentum for the Conservatives after the Liberals’ come-from-behind general election victory last year under Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Although polling from Angus Reid Institute suggests public support for Carney and the Liberals has been falling since February, allowing Conservatives to partially close the gap, Poilievre himself remains unpopular.
Sixty per cent of respondents held an unfavourable view of the Conservative leader in June, a number that has stayed steady for nearly a year, while just 33 per cent were favourable.
Multiple sources speaking to Global News last month described a disheartened party, doubtful Poilievre can win the next election and concerned that fundraising could be affected.
Infighting within the caucus has also led to multiple MP defections to the Liberals — giving Carney’s Liberals a majority government — and resignations in recent months.
Poilievre has vowed to fight on, pointing to his decisive victory in a leadership vote at January’s Conservative party convention, and a considerable number of MPs remain in his camp.
North Vancouver—Capilano was held by Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Jonathan Wilkinson from 2015 until his resignation this year, after Carney appointed him ambassador to the European Union.
Curran lost to Wilkinson by 26 points in last year’s election.
The Conservatives held the riding for seven years before Wilkinson’s election.
—with files from Global’s David Akin and Alex Boutilier
More liberal lies to destract from Carney’s continued failure.
Keith Wallace is triggered.
This is a hit piece against Pierre by the Liberal propaganda arm,Global News.
Government – When you have no record to stand on attack the opposition.
Media – When your viewership is declining, instead of rebuilding trust and loyalty, work harder to maintain government funding.
Petulant Pierre is unqualified, unteachable and singularly unlikeable.
Happy Chaos
August 16, 2026 at 9:25 am
P.P. is my MP here in Battle River Crowfoot. We’ve heard that Damien Kurek will return to run in the next general election (in 2029 . . . or sooner). Does anyone know where Parachute Pierre will be running ?
On yer mom…
Another attack piece from a bought and paid for media. The Liberals are a disgusting bunch of f*scist par*sites.
Carney is going down and so are these fascist swine with him!
Conservatives have ZERO ground talking about debt.
40 Trillion
Funny the conservatives are not in power and none of the failures or massive debt we have seen over the last decade can be pinned on them but liberal bots would rather talk about the conservatives than their own record?
Conservatives are traitors to Canada. They hate this country and all they do is refuse to participate and lash out get rid of all of them
“Conservative” = lie cheat steal blame whine run away fail bankrupt fail scandal incest rape deviance derangement genocide psychopathy narcissism brain damage denial… weakness, weakness, pathetic absolute scumbag loserdom, revenge on smart people.. corruption. Criminality. No family values. No awareness of self. No responsibility for anything. No accountability for anything. A national disgrace. A disgrace to humanity. A stain on the world.
The one thing that allows me to to sleep at night is knowing that Polly doesn’t actually support and believe many of the absurd things that the far right wing, white nationalists believe. They want him to be their champion. And he tried to appeal to them to push away the People’s Party. But he isn’t really one of you. He thinks you are fools. There is plenty about him that is ugly, vulgar and comes off like a barking dog that is true to him. And it is enough to eliminate from serious consideration as a leader from a liberal or a progressive perspective. But he isn’t the things the trolls and the bots want to pretend that he is.
That is the only reason why I can sleep when I see his poll numbers are high. And since now they are not very good, sleep comes easily.
Meanwhile a liberal MP who says he is retiring because of an single car accident where the police report shows no breath analyzer test was performed just recently flew to China even though he says travel is now difficult for him and met with the CCP.
Why do so many liberal MP’s meet with or have ties with the CPP?
I guess we will never know since Poilievre smears are being used to cover up real news about the liberals lack of results and their scandals..
While Canadians worry about their jobs and their future Carney takes a holiday, you can’t make this stuff up.
P.P. is my MP here in Battle River Crowfoot. We’ve heard that Damien Kurek will return to run in the next general election (in 2029 . . . or sooner). Does anyone know where Parachute Pierre will be running ?
How many conservative paid bots can you fit in one comment section?
We are about to find out.
The paid Conservative bots are in full force today. They know the end is near. Lethbridge Liberace has already begun setting up his right wing podcast career with Slow Rogan. He has failed again and is looking for an exit strategy, only the most desperate and pathetic are still holding on hope for the paper boy turned failed politician. Bahahaha this is great.
Rumors of a possible snap election. That is why all the hit pieces on Poilievre lately by the Liberal subsidized media
Liberals seem to forget that their last leader,Trudeau was so bad he got ejected by his own party.The guy was an absolute failure so the opinions and thoughts of those who supported the Liberal Party over the last decade are null and void.They have proven their poor decision making with Trudeau
He only won a “decisive victory” in the leadership review because he engineered it so that it was almost entirely populated with his loyalists. The voters aren’t fooled; Poilievre is a regressive contrarian loser with an attitude and ego that he can’t back up. He offers nothing more than petty insults, childish nicknames and temper tantrums in the House floor. Canada deserves better.
Wow. But holiday Carney is above criticism? The flagrant bias is offensive. Do you genuflect like this to get your subsidy, or are you that ideologically captured?
Carney will no doubt throw out a bubble gum or 2 a few months before the next election in order to woo the votes UNLESS Poilievre completely changes his strategy and finds an alternative to constantly criticizing.
Poilievre is exactly what Canada needs right now.
Ignore the smear campaigns pay attention to failures and the scandals of Carney and the liberal party
We agree with most of whats said here..Pierre should have stepped down after last election…only problem ,there isn’t a front person to take his place.We really want to hear a plan P.P.
What a bunch of baloney from Global News who are paid by the Liberals to attack Pierre and the Conservatives. They are scared stiff of PP. What a state Canada is in when we don’t have a free press. Shame on you Global News.
Saying Pierre is your only hope is like saying my lottery ticket I just bought has to be a winner so I can pay my bills. Its my only hope. AS SOON as Pierre admits he needs to go back to Walmart….the conservatives will be NULL AND VOID. Just like the NDP ….federally.
Don’t believe all the naysayers, Pierre will get his chance, he is our only hope.
Poilievre had to go ‘seat shopping’ because no one in his home riding would vote for him. Now he has to do it again and the Conservative Party has confirmed he will run in a different, yet-to-be-disclosed riding for the next federal election. Why? Is it because he needs a seat and doesn’t care about representing his constituents?
I have yet to hear anything but angry retoric come from PP for years. No constructive alternatives offered just liberals bad/consertatives awesome. No suggestion of how to build the country just “it’s broken “. I’ve voted conservative for years, there’s no chance I’ll do it again with him in a leadership position.
Earlier in his political career, one of Polly’s signature efforts was to push the Republican union busting scheme called Right to Work – in a unionized workplace the members could just opt out of paying dues, resulting being unions soon can’t operate without funding, employer wins. Existing Canadian law does not allow that but Polly wanted that overturned. Basically he’s not a Canadian conservative but a US baby maga. So blame Carney for everything real and imagined and demand utter perfection, the weather, etc but right now there is no viable alternative to help us survive the Trump era.
Holy bot responses
That guy is a CINO (Conservative in name only) because real conservatives know that the Carney Liberals have no way to defend Carney’s time in office because they have no achievements to point to. Anything he has done has been minuscule and has no real affect on our economy but gives him an opportunity for a press conference and photo op. Their only strategy is to deflect and focus on Poilievre who is not PM and who’s job it is to criticize the Carney Liberal government, which he is doing very well BTW. A recent think tank report shows just how badly Carney’s policies really are because Canadians are now paying more in taxes (52%) than they do on food, housing and transportation combined, thanks to the Carney Liberals. Poilievre is doing his job but Carney isn’t and it shows.
People are forgetting Poilievre is not in power Carney is. Poilievre cannot make changes Carney can. Poilievre is the opposition leader and his job is to criticize the government on things that they are not doing and Carney and this Liberal government give him lots to criticize. Carney and this Liberal government have not kept the promise to get a deal with the US instead we gave more tariffs coming. We wouldn’t have had a carbon tax break but for Poilievre and the Conservatives pushing for it. What is going to happen when the time is up on the carbon break will Carney and the Liberals allow the price of gas to go up which in turn will put prices up on everything for shipping
Global News is a lying, disgusting, one sided news media.
Poilievre is a negative person who does not give details of how and what he will do for Canada but instead condemns the Prime Ministers every chance he gets. First it was Trudeau this Trudeau that and now it’s Carney this and Carney that. He is like a mini Trump and Canada does not need that type of person. We need a leader that can bring Canada together not apart like Poilievre at this critical time.
Can you believe the liberals ( usually their Hitman,the guy frrom TOronto who tried to take over the Conservative party in B.C. is lying through his teeth to create a negative image about Pierre) found one person that was questioning Pierre’s leadership???? I Know we could find many people who are upset with Carney’s lies. Ask his friend Steven Guilbault.
What a pile of B.S. Look at what Carney is doing to our great Country. People who voted for Carney are also to be held accountable for the destruction of this great Country, CTV and CBC ( TRash Rags)should be ashamed of themselves in their support for Carney.What happened to any in depth reporting on Mr Chen”s lying excuse of leaving parliament.He needs to be investigated for his close ties to China.Smarten up Canada,,all these remarks about Pierre are due to the liberals being afraid as Hell about him defeating The liberals in the next election.
CBC and CTV how about some honest and Fair reporting?????
The facts are clear. As long as PP is leader, they will never form government.
The conservatives in the comments are, as usual, trying to distract from Poilievre’s leadership problems by attacking Carney. We here in Canada are faced with an unprecedented threat from the US and all the conservatives are doing is playing petty politics. How unpatriotic!
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Seems odd that Canadian legacy media is doing so many hit pieces against Pierre in the last day or two. Why? The guy is apparently polling super low, Carney has a majority.Wont be an election in 3 years. Realistically they shouldn’t even bother with Pierre. But here they are. In another large attack campaign. Very odd. 🤔
Remember that Carney Iied during the Liberal party nomination process and stole credit from Jim Flaherty for actions taken in 2008, just to boost his record and appear like a brilliant economist.
And schmucks swallowed it up and ushered him in.
Trudeau shut down parliament and then resigned as party leader just to delay the election and save the LPC. We had no federal representative at a crtical time. Doug Ford as head of the association of premiers was the only person making attempts to speak to then incoming Trump administration.
Maybe if PP was leader he would be talking to the USA instead of being on holidays in Italy during critical trade talks?
So one… one… person at a rally questioned Pierre’s ability to lead the Conservatives and it’s splashed across the media!
Continuous hit pieces on Poilievre. Rumors are a snap election if the trade talks fail and the Liberal subsidized media absolutely don’t want Poilievre to become Prime Minister and take away the taxpayers money from the media.
Poilievre conservatives try to blame the media for their leaders failure. Canadians who aren’t brainwashed see articles critical of Carney all the time. Do we whine and cry and point fingers? No. Maybe ask why Poilievre is at 18% approval.
Two hit pieces in two days. Maybe start asking Carney why his MP’s are quitting.
I have no issues with PP, but it might be best for the party if he steps down. Whether right or wrong, it seems his appeal is dwindling. I don’t like Carney either.
Some need things spelt out for them.
But what DID PP do wrong for real? Never mentioned a word in this article.
With all on the line it’s time! PP to bring Canada’s to the top oh the heaps with other world leads countries! By corn carney, tine to straight out the country!
If people dont like fair criticism about Carney and his absolute inefficacy, thats pretty much too bad for them
Keep PP!
bwahahahahaha
This news is a distraction. Is someone in Ottawa going to do something about the state of decline in this country? What about the disabled, veterans, students and graduates, and everyday people looking to escape poverty? People cannot afford rent or mortgages, insurance, food, many can’t afford to attend post secondary education.
Right wingers are trying to spin this into something about the Liberals, but this is entirely about the poor leadership of Polly. Give it a few weeks and the same right wingers will be spinning the new message and pretending that they never supported Polly in the first place.
It’s time to kick Polieve to the curb! He’s a loser who the electorate have repeatedly rejected.
@Elizabeth. Carney went from “Elbows Up” to total boot licking of MAGA /Trump.
How is Carney numbers in a safe Calgary seat? They probably want to sent him to the gallows.
We see the Poilievre conservatives in full damage control trying to blame Carney for PP’s leadership. Liberals take RESPONSIBILITY and ate accountable. Conservatives just point their finger somewhere else, in this case Carney. Just outrageous behaviour on the part of the unaccountable conservatives!
Media doing its best to distract you from Carney’s failures.
The media is in the middle of a full court press on trying to take out Poilievre. Ask yourself why that is.
This is the same riding who voted for Jonathan Wilkinson. With Trudeau they destroyed Canada economy with green fantasies.
So we care about a riding that loved Trudeau and “Elbows Up” for over a decade. Not really.
Dude in this riding has no chance of winning.
What a do fuss this guy turned out to be we helped elect. Hope the party selects a better one to lead our party next time.
Need a new leader people.
Poiluevre doesn’t work with the Liberals on trade. He and the conservatives actively support Trump and the USA. Canada doesn’t appear united when Poilievre won’t co operate with the Liberals on trade.
I couldn’t see this guy as PM, neither could it I would bet.
You fools kicked me out.
Where did this guy take you?
Nowhere!
Axe tha tax.
‘ “The last thing I’ll mention to you is that Mr. Poilievre and the rest of the Conservative caucus are not on the ballot,” Curran said.’ All well and good, Curran, but your party leader is Poilievre, so a vote for you is, in essence, a vote for the leader of your party. Even many conservatives are waning in their enthusiasm for PP. There are reasons why a bunch of Conservative MPs have crossed the aisle, and number 1 is PP’s leadership.
THIS IS THE MAN WIT BALLS, THAT WILL TAKE US TO THE PROMISED LAND. NOT THAT SOFT, WEAK, OLD, YELLOW, PUPETT, BENDOVER CARNEY.
lol. A safe Liberal seat. Hilarious. They never ever vote Conservative.
But everyone absolutely loves carney’s carnival of errors.
The leadership convention was a joke,
No way, vancouver area doesnt like a conservative leader. On another note water is wet
@ Don Davis
That’s quite the spin doctor comment. The article is clearly about the conservatives and you spin it that it’s all the Liberals fault. Hahahaha
Lmao
L
At least you can admit that you are working with the Liberals to undermine their opposition
Its fascinating how brainwashed so many are. The LPC has been dividing everyone, by every single way possible and now they accuse Pierre of being divisive. I vote NDP, but this is just stupid.