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Many prominent business leaders formally supported Pierre Poilievre in the upcoming federal election on Saturday, who believes his Conservative Party will best deal with Canada’s slowdown in economic growth.
More than 30 current and past executive groups include Fairfax Financial Ceo Prem Watsa, Canaccord Genuity CEO Dan Daviau, former RBC Capital Markets CEO Anthony Fall and former Scotiabank CEO Brian Porter.
They published an open letter in several Canadian newspapers on Saturday saying Poilievre’s plan would be best to bring the country’s economy back on track.
“Performance has stalled. Economic growth has slowed. Our per capita GDP is shrinking.”
“Nevertheless, this decline is not inevitable – it’s not Canada we know and love.”
To turn things around, Canada needs to remove barriers to productivity by simplifying licensing procedures and cutting outdated regulations to prevent investment and job creation.
It also said the government needs to impose stricter discipline on its spending, impose lower taxes to make Canada more competitive and develop the country’s natural resources by building pipelines, expanding mining and investing in energy.
The letter, also signed by former Riocan REIT founder Edward Sonshine, Mattamy Homes CEO Peter Gilgan and past Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey, is one of the strongest support performances Poilievre has seen from the business community.
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His rival, liberal Mark Carney, summed up most of the campaign when Canadians participated in a poll on April 28, touting his experience as a leader of the Canadian and English Central Bank.
He believes that experience makes him best able to address the economic hardship and tariff threats of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Liberals did not immediately respond to requests to comment on the letter.
However, conservatives see it as a signal that their platform is resonating with the business community.
“Pierre Poilievre’s Canada First Economic Action Plan is considered a powerful plan to lower taxes and eliminate the traditional tape festival to free up our industry and bring strong wages to our people and a thriving economy,” conservative spokesman Sam Lilly said in a statement.
Poilievre revealed earlier this week that his plan aims to cut bureaucratic traditional Chinese tape festival by 25% in two years through a “one-on-one” law. The law will repeal two regulations for each new statute and require that every dollar spent on new administrative costs trigger cuts in other areas.
Meanwhile, Carney said he would improve inter-provincial trade by eliminating all exemptions under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, developing a new fund to help connect natural resource extraction sites with rail lines and roads, and create new programs for training workers.
New Democratic leader Jagmeet Singh said some business leaders are supporting Poilievre and Carney because they provide tax breaks to super-wealthy people rather than focusing on “the things people actually need – health care, housing and support when they are out of work.”
“Canadians are working hard but are lagging behind,” Singh said in a statement. “Wages are out of place, housing is out of reach, and public services are stretching. The economy doesn’t work for most people.”
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
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