Rob Breakenridge: Pierre Poilievre ably makes the case for Canada, in America

Two days after Pierre Poilievre made the case for freer trade to Americans, on the Fox Business network, Donald Trump is suddenly upbeat about the prospect of a deal with Canada.

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There is near-zero possibility the two events are anything but coincidental, although the U.S. president is a noted and devoted devourer of cable news. They are instead concurrent events that reveal what it looks like when a leader knows he’s losing a trade war — and when another may be finding his feet.

Trump has been dismissive of Canada’s Conservative leader in the past, and one has to wonder how he felt watching otherwise friendly cable news personalities nodding at Poilievre’s arguments against tariffs and in favour of free trade.

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We’re left to speculate as to Trump’s apparent shift Saturday morning, when he suggested in Ireland we’d see a Canada deal “fairly soon.” As for CUSMA’s future, Trump stated that, “We’re doing great. We’re going to have a great relationship with Mexico. We actually have a good one with Canada.”

While that may seem at odds with assorted trolling from the president, it implies that those efforts to cast Canada as the villain are falling flat.

It becomes even harder to make that case when Canadian leaders are laying out a calm, rational argument that it’s in both countries’ best interests to retain our close trading relationship.

It’s been a difficult and delicate balance for the Conservative leader. Trump’s tariffs and overall belligerence have been a political blessing for the Liberals, and Trump himself has been an albatross for western Conservative parties more broadly.

Here at home, Poilievre finds himself torn between those who feel the Conservatives have been too critical of the prime minister on this file and those within the Conservative party who are determined to cast blame on Mark Carney for the escalating trade dispute.

Poilievre’s effective messaging this week was a blow to the strident elbows-up crowd who would reject even the notion of stepping foot on American soil, let alone talking to and with Americans. It was also a strong message to those Conservatives whose sympathy toward Trump and MAGA is undermining both the country and their party.

Poilievre’s New York visit was, in part, to attend ceremonies commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But it also presented the opportunity to make Canada’s case directly to an American audience.

On Thursday, Poilievre appeared on both CNBC’s Squawk Box — which includes Trump-friendly host Joe Kernen — and on Larry Kudlow’s show on Fox Business. Kudlow is a close Trump ally who previously served as director of his National Economic Council.

Importantly, Poilievre wasn’t there to grovel on Canada’s behalf or to throw the prime minister under the bus. In fact, the Conservative leader went out of his way to make it clear that “I’m not going to attack my prime minister on foreign soil. It’s just not something I’m going to do.”