‘Trump’s threats should not be ‘another excuse for Liberal failure’: Eight key quotes from Stephen Harper’s speech at Pierre Poilievre’s massive Edmonton rally

On Monday night, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave a rousing speech at a Conservative rally in Edmonton, introducing Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. Estimates had some 12,000-15,000 people filling the Alberta warehouse, making the rally one of the largest in Canadian history and certainly the largest of this election campaign.

This rare appearance from Harper marks the first time he has hit the campaign trail since he ran against Justin Trudeau in 2015. He stayed on the sidelines when Conservative leader Erin O’Toole campaigned in 2021, and played a very minor role during Andrew Scheer’s run in 2019.

Poilievre served in Harper’s cabinet, including as minister of employment and social development, minister of democratic reform, and as Harper’s parliamentary secretary.

As the race tightens and fresh polls put the Liberals firmly ahead, Harper delivered a forceful endorsement of his former colleague. He also, in his words, set the record straight about another former colleague, Mark Carney, and his time serving as the governor of the Bank of Canada. Harper recently spoke out about a Liberal campaign that insists Carney steered Canada through the 2008 financial crisis.

The Hub has compiled a list of Harper’s key quotes from his speech at the Edmonton rally.

1. Canada is in desperate need of change

“Canada right now needs change more desperately than it perhaps ever has—and it needs someone to lead that change, my friends. As someone who had the honour of serving as your prime minister, I know that being prime minister is a trust. It is a trust to take this incredible country that our ancestors bequeathed us and to leave it stronger, more united, more compassionate, and more confident than we found it.

That’s what we did, my friends. But that is not the story of the past decade—and that has got to change for Canada.”

2. A strong endorsement for Poilievre, a rejection of Carney

“I am in a unique position in this federal election. I am the only person who can say that both of the men running to be prime minister once worked for me. And in that regard, my choice—without hesitation, without equivocation, without a shadow of a doubt—is Pierre Poilievre.”

3. Don’t let Carney parachute into the top job

“Friends, don’t let anyone tell you that he was born to be prime minister or that he can just somehow parachute into the job fully prepared. Political experience—elected, accountable political experience—and the capacity for growth with that experience: that is what Pierre has demonstrated for two decades. And that is the single most important characteristic a prime minister needs.”

4. On Carney taking responsibility for leading Canada through the financial crisis

“As the guy who actually did lead Canada through the global financial crisis, I hear there’s someone else claiming it was him. It was, of course, our government—the late, great Jim Flaherty—and our Conservative team who were responsible for the day-to-day macroeconomic management during that challenging time.”

5. Liberals are responsible for Canada’s problems, not Trump

“Friends, it’s no secret that our country faces today another historically challenging time. There is no sugarcoating that. But the bulk of the problems that afflict our country—falling living standards, declining employment and housing opportunities, rising crime, the growing divisions between our regions and our people—these were not created by Donald Trump. They were created by the policies of three Liberal terms—policies that the present prime minister supported and wants a fourth term to continue.”

6. Poilievre’s push for solutions

“Pierre has consistently opposed those policies—policies that have put costs up, accelerated crime, left our wealth in the ground, and made our economy vulnerable and under America’s thumb. And Pierre has, just as importantly, long advocated the positive alternatives for change: to axe those taxes, build homes, bring back jobs, get our resources to the whole world, and stand up to Washington from a position of strength.”

7. International threats should spur domestic reform

“Friends, I believe that the challenge this country faces today from the United States—as real and serious as it is—should not be another excuse for Liberal failure.

Instead, it should be a historic opportunity. That’s how we’ve got to see it: an opportunity to make Canada what it should be—internally united, internationally connected, a truly independent economy with the highest living standards in the world. And with those benefits enjoyed not just by protected elites, but by all the people of this country in every region of this country.”

8. The future of Canada is not up to Trump, it’s up to Canadians

“And do bring it home, friends, because that goal does not depend on Donald Trump. It depends on us. But we will only get there with leadership from a person who has an actual policy plan, from a person who has been right on all the big issues for a decade, and a person who has the energy—and yes, the youth—to take us forward into a better, stronger, and more united future.”