Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre not only failed to become prime minister but also lost his own parliamentary seat in Monday’s Canadian election, a stunning personal defeat that came despite his last-minute effort to distance himself from US President Donald Trump.
Poilievre, who had held the riding of Carleton since 2004, was defeated by Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy by 3,793 votes with nearly all polls reporting. Fanjoy secured 42,374 votes compared to Poilievre’s 38,581, according to Elections Canada.
The Conservative leader’s stern message to Trump to “stay out of our election” came hours after the US president posted on his Truth Social platform suggesting Canadians should vote for him, calling Canada potentially “the cherished 51st state of America.”
“President Trump, stay out of our election. The only people who will decide the future of Canada are Canadians at the ballot box,” Poilievre posted on social media Monday morning as Canadians were heading to the polls.
But it was apparently all too late. The personal defeat represents a dramatic fall for Poilievre, who had led his party since 2022 and had been the Official Opposition leader in Parliament. His party enjoyed an over 20-point lead in opinion polls at the start of the year, only to see its fortunes reverse after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down and Trump intensified his ’51st state’ rhetoric.
Throughout the campaign, Trump injected himself into the Canadian election repeatedly, most notably in a Fox News interview when he said he’d “rather deal with a Liberal over a Conservative” because the Conservative was “stupidly no friend of mine” and had said “negative things.”
“The Conservative that’s running is stupidly no friend of mine. I don’t know him, but he said negative things,” Trump said. “I think it’s easier to deal, actually, with a Liberal. And maybe they’re gonna win, but I don’t really care. It doesn’t matter to me at all.”
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