MARCH 25th, 2025- A recent Globe and Mail hit piece alleging ties between Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party and India’s government reads less like journalism and more like a script penned by Mark Carney’s PR team. The article, dripping with innuendo, tries to pin foreign interference on Poilievre without a shred of hard evidence—just vibes and recycled Liberal talking points. It’s a textbook smear, and it’s not hard to see why it’s raising eyebrows.
The Globe’s narrative hinges on a supposed “pro-India” shift in Conservative rhetoric, pointing to Poilievre’s criticism of Justin Trudeau’s handling of the Hardeep Singh Nijjar affair and his party’s reluctance to echo Ottawa’s line on New Delhi. Yet, as the article itself admits, there’s no smoking gun—no leaked memos, no secret meetings, just speculation about Indian influence based on unnamed “experts” and a few Tory MPs meeting Indian officials. It’s flimsy stuff, the kind of story that collapses under its own weight when you squint at it.
What’s telling is the timing. With Trudeau out and the Liberals scrambling under new leadership, this feels like a preemptive strike. The Globe even drags in a retired CSIS official to muse about Poilievre’s “alignment” with India’s Hindu nationalist agenda, despite the Conservatives’ clear stance against foreign meddling of any kind. It’s a stretch that conveniently mirrors Carney’s past digs at Poilievre, painting him as a populist lightweight cozying up to unsavory regimes.
The irony? Poilievre’s been vocal about cracking down on foreign interference. Contrast that with Trudeau’s tenure, marked by cozy dinners with Chinese officials and a blind eye to Beijing’s sway. If anyone’s got a record of winking at foreign influence, it’s not the Tory leader. Yet here’s the Globe, cherry-picking quotes and ignoring context to suggest otherwise.
This isn’t about evidence; it’s about narrative. The Liberals, flailing after nine years of scandals and economic woes, need a bogeyman. Poilievre, neck-and-neck or leading in the polls ahead of the April 28 election, is the obvious target. The Globe’s piece leans hard into that, even tossing in a bizarre aside about Indian bots boosting Conservative posts online—again, no proof, just whispers from “analysts.” It’s the kind of guilt-by-association tactic that Carney, a Bay Street weasel with globalist credentials, might greenlight to kneecap a rival.
Poilievre’s team has dismissed the report as “speculative nonsense,” and they’re not wrong. The story’s own sources—like a former diplomat calling it a “nothing burger”—undercut its premise. Even the Globe concedes CSIS has bigger fish to fry, like China and Russia, not India’s hypothetical Tory fan club. So why run it? Maybe because a Conservative win threatens the progressive establishment, and mudslinging is easier than defending a crumbling Liberal record.
The Globe’s not alone—expect more of this as the campaign heats up. But if this is the best shot the anti-Poilievre crowd can muster, it’s a dud. Canadians aren’t dumb; they’ll see through the fog of insinuation. With bread-and-butter issues like housing and taxes dominating voters’ minds, this India sideshow feels like a desperate distraction from a party—and a media ally—running out of steam.
604News Analysis
The Carney Liberals are showing signs of desperation. The party is running a bland and temperamental bureaucrat against a seasoned and lovable party leader in Poilievre, while apparently trying their hardest to keep Carney’s temper and unlikable personality from surfacing by reducing engagements as much as possible. The party has been refusing access to the media, to constituents, and there are signs that their confidence in Carney’s ability to keep his cool is considerably compromised.
