Pierre Poilievre is trying to shore up the seniors' vote as he heads into the final stretch of the election campaign.
In a speech to a seniors' lobby group Monday, the Conservative leader made the case that Canada’s generational promise is broken.
"That deal in Canada was very simple: you work hard, you get a nice life and a beautiful, affordable house. You get to live on a safe street. And when all that's done, you get a peaceful, tranquil retirement watching your kids and your grandkids enjoy the same promise," Poilievre said in a speech hosted by the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) and ZoomerMedia in Toronto on Monday.
"That is what I understood Canada to be, and that's the thing that makes me most proud to be Canadian," he continued. "And what we have seen over the last 10 years is that promise is broken."
The Conservatives released an ad over the long weekend that drives home that message. It shows two seniors at a driving range talking about how their children have been having a tough time getting ahead, with one saying he had to pay for his daughter's down payment. They decide to vote Conservative.
"Are we really going to give these clowns another term? I'm voting Conservative."
We can’t afford fore more years.
— Conservative Party (@CPC_HQ) April 19, 2025
Vote for Change. Vote Conservative. pic.twitter.com/i68ZbqwFgM
Recent polling shows the Conservatives trailing the Liberals in voters aged 55-plus — who parties often court as the cohort of voters who most reliably turn out to vote. To woo them, Poilievre is promising to preserve the retirement age at 65, boost what seniors can earn in employment income tax-free from $24,000 to $34,000, and increase the age seniors can contribute to their Registered Retirement Savings Plans until from 71 to 73.
Meanwhile, the Liberals are promising to reduce the minimum amount that must be withdrawn from a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) by 25 per cent for one year and temporarily boost the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) by 5 per cent, providing up to an additional $652 in tax-free income, and to preserve the retirement age.
Poilievre has long been making the case that "Canada is broken" under the Liberals, and the only way to fix it is to elect a Conservative government.
The Liberals, however, are now trying to use that line against him by arguing that it makes him the wrong leader to take on U.S. President Donald Trump's threats against Canada.
Poilievre was asked about Trump at the CARP event: who he'd met who is most like Trump, and how he'd dealt with that person.
Someone in the audience shouted out that "Pierre Poilievre" was the answer to that question.
"I don't think there's anyone quite like him — he's a different cat," Poilievre responded.
He went on to argue that Trump must be dealt with from a position of strength and that Trump himself wants Mark Carney's Liberals to win the election because they're "weak."
But it was the host of the event, media mogul Moses Znaimer, who got the most laughs with a dig at Poilievre's chief opponent.
"It's widely known that your handlers have been holding back your natural exuberance in order to project an image of gravitas and restraint, but I think they may have gone too far," said Znaimer. "I mean, really, is it necessary to be as boring as Mr. Carney in order to prove that you can be a leader?"
