Poilievre skirts issue of how Conservatives might deal with capital gains tax changes

Public opinion polls show younger Canadians increasingly support the Conservatives — a trend Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has long relied on voters under 40, is hoping to reverse.

The government calculates the change would create more than $19 billion in tax revenue over the next five years, helping to fund new spending, including on measures meant to spur housing construction.

He put what he described as the "attack" businesses and entrepreneurs are facing at the feet of corporate leaders themselves, writing that their approach of sucking up to Trudeau's Liberals hasn't worked.

"They had been planning to do nothing except complain and hope their useless and overpaid lobbyists meet Chrystia Freeland or Justin Trudeau to talk some sense into them while the Opposition hounds the government to reverse course," Poilievre wrote last Friday in the National Post.

His comments — which were heavily circulated by his MPs and other Conservatives on social media — are in keeping with the populist message Poilievre has been sending to the business community since becoming leader: he will prioritize everyday people, not "corporate Canada."

17 days agoAt Issue this week: The Liberals work to sell their multibillion-dollar spending plan and capital gains tax hike.