An estimated 6,500 supporters turned out to see Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre at a rally in Oshawa, Ont. The Thursday night event attracted many from the surrounding Durham Region and the GTA, eventually filling an airport hanger.
It took True North nearly seven minutes to travel the length of the crowd lined up outside the venue as more participants gathered half an hour before the doors were set to open.
During his speech, Poilievre reaffirmed key campaign pledges, including eliminating federal sales tax on made-in-Canada cars and new homes, rebuilding the military and reducing crime. He also spoke about building pipelines, creating savings for Canadians who invest in the economy and immigration reform.
The rally was delayed three times due to medical emergencies, likely due to the heat generated by the large volume of people. First responders who were in attendance helped the individuals until the ambulance could assist them further.
Poilievre brought one of the nurses who happened to be in the crowd on stage to thank her personally for helping a man who collapsed before his speech began.
Michael Sullivan, a rallygoer, told True North while lined up to enter the hangar that a fourth Liberal term in office would be “very dangerous” and he doesn’t know if there would be “a lot of hope left.”
“This government has no concept of what the cost, what the meaning of money is, and what they’re doing. I’m going to say (this) is really important for young people, because effectively, what they’re doing is they’re saddling young people with massive debt,” he said. “This government and Carney is just a reincarnation of Trudeau.”
He said the future of the country was at risk.
“Today’s liberals are not yesterday’s liberals. Really, they’re globalists and so what we stand to lose is, in many respects, is what built this country, and it’s not the government,” he said.
He noted a lot of young faces walking by and he wanted to urge young people and non-voters to turn out for the Conservatives and help turn the direction of Canada around.
“Don’t take this passively. The fact that Carney and the Liberals are in the lead in the polls is a very bad sign,” he said. “People need to get out and vote.”
Multiple ralliers told True North they felt that the survival of Canada was at stake in this election.
Michael Corvese, an entrepreneur who lost his business due to the government response to COVID, said he’s supporting Poilievre because he’s had enough of Liberals destroying Canada.
“The last 10 years have been excruciating to live in this country. It’s been very hard to be proud to be a Canadian in this country because of what the Liberals have done, and I’m here to back the (Conservatives) because of Pierre’s platform,” he said. “There couldn’t be a better person right now to represent Canada and get this country back to where it used to be before the Liberals took over.”
He said the country would be destroyed if the Liberals won a fourth term in the election.
“What Trudeau has created in the destruction of this country, Carney will continue. The industry will be decimated, the net-zero carbon tax scam. It’s disgusting what they’re trying to do. Carney is an outsider. He doesn’t speak for Canadians…it would be the destruction of Canada.”
“We share a country with people who just let Trudeau and the Liberals get away with scandal after scandal. They don’t care about corruption; they’re just in a cult,” he said. “It comes to a point where if we’re going to keep rewarding these liberals. Eventually, we’re just going to snap, and this is all going to fall apart, and the country is going to get torn apart.”
Ryan Cabildo, a 30-year-old renter, travelled from Scarborough to attend the rally.
“Pierre’s right when he says it’s been a lost liberal decade. And you could see it all around you: the housing prices, groceries, inflation and everything. And I do believe in his idea of ‘axing the tax’ and hopefully this is what will bring us back to where we were,” he told True North.
Cabildo said he’d never voted before in his life, but he felt compelled to vote for a change this election.
“It’s really come to a time where I think that I need to vote. And if I don’t, things will get worse–much, much, much worse,” he said. “This is for the future. I can make a change, do something, do what I can, and I’ll vote. I need to vote. Everyone needs to vote.”