FIRST READING: Carney is an ‘illusion,’ says Poilievre

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre speak before proceedings in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa February 11, 2026. Photo by Blair Gable /Photo by Blair Gable / Postmedia

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First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here.

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As Prime Minister Mark Carney continues to enjoy sky-high approval ratings more than one year into his term, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called it the result of a temporary “illusion” that will eventually collide with reality.

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“I think we’re in a funny phase where people are judging Carney on his announcements and his promises and his perceived intentions, not on his actual results,” Poilievre said in a one-hour interview with podcaster Aaron Pete released this week.

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“The Liberals and the media created a false delusion around Carney about the things he will do somewhere down the road, and he’s being judged on that illusion rather than on people’s real life experience,” said the Tory leader.

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Poilievre said he sees his job as forcing a “collision between reality and the illusion,” and that he sees a future where the Canadian electorate will ultimately feel “justifiably disappointed” at the Carney record.

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It was one of two parts in the interview where Poilievre referred to Carney’s appeal as illusory. In the interview’s opening minutes, he called the prime minister someone who had “failed at everything he’s done” and “been wrong about every single major economic issue of the last decade.”

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The release of the interview just happened to coincide with a Conservative cabinet shuffle that saw veteran MP Michael Chong bumped to the position of finance critic, in an apparent effort to better highlight Liberal economic performance. In an interview with the National Post, Chong mirrored Poilievre’s claim that Carney’s honeymoon period may have already peaked.

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“I think Canadians are a fair-minded and generous people,” Chong said. “With the appointment of a new prime minister 15 months ago, I think they were willing to give him some time to present an economic plan that would turn things around, but I now think that Canadians are looking for results.”

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Although Carney’s approval has been in steady decline since February, he still retains majority support among the Canadian electorate, a situation that is rare for any prime minister over a sustained period.

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A mid-June poll from the Angus Reid Institute, for instance, found 55 per cent approval for Carney. An Abacus Data poll from around the same time found Carney’s approval at 51 per cent against 37 per cent for Poilievre.

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Every single Canadian pollster, meanwhile, is currently tracking a massive Liberal lead over the Conservatives.

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Poilievre is not the first to note that this has all occurred despite lagging Canadian performance on several key economic indicators, including on some where Carney had specifically promised better outcomes.

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One frequent Conservative criticism, for instance, has been to contrast rising food inflation with Carney’s statement, shortly after his election, to “judge me by the prices at grocery store shelves.”