They may be bitter rivals in the House of Commons, but outside the chamber, recent events may have led to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Prime Minister Mark Carney forging a bond. 

In recent interviews, Poilievre has said he is communicating regularly with Carney to present a united front while travelling abroad.

“Even on my visit [to the United States], I’m sending him text messages to tell him what’s going on, to try and support his work … we both want what’s best for Canada,” Poilievre told American podcaster Joe Rogan this week.

“I won’t criticize him on foreign soil. We have a mutual respect,” he said later in the interview.

The warmer tone marks a sharp shift for the Opposition leader, who spent years hurling insults at Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, branding him — among other things — “a wacko,” “an embarrassment to all Canadians” and “our weak, pathetic prime minister.”

Poilievre has recently made headlines for two major trips — his first international travel as Opposition leader. He went to England and Germany, and then to the U.S., with stops in Detroit, Texas and New York. His U.S. focus was on trade, autos, energy and finance.

He has defended not travelling to the U.S. capital to date — saying he wants to cede space for actual negotiating to the current prime minister — but told journalists Peter Mansbridge and Paul Wells that he is keeping the government informed of his actions. 

“I never wanted our country to be divided, and I didn’t want any foreign regime of any kind to say, look, we’ve got two different powers coming to negotiate, and I’m going to play one off of the other,” he told Mansbridge.

Before travelling to the U.S., Poilievre said he met with Carney on the margins of question period to discuss his plan.

“We had a pull-aside meeting, and I told him where I was planning to go … and that I would keep him apprised. He raised no concerns whatsoever about it. And in fact, I think he suggested some ideas on some people I might meet,” he said to Wells. 

Poilievre said that he planned to debrief the prime minister upon his return.

Neither the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) nor Poilievre’s office answered questions about the ongoing talks between the two leaders, saying they would not discuss private conversations. 

Carney performed ‘very admirably’ in Tumbler Ridge

In February, Carney took all of the opposition leaders, including Poilievre, with him to attend a vigil following the shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., that left nine people, including the perpetrator, dead.

Poilievre was asked about his relationship with Carney on Manbridge’s The Bridge podcast — and seemed to indicate that it shifted on that trip.

“Tragically, we travelled to Tumbler Ridge together and got to know each other a little better,” said Poilievre. “I thought he performed very admirably as a prime minister on that trip.”

The two men were filmed standing next to each other at the memorial, at one point joining hands as an Indigenous leader led a prayer.

Poilievre told Mansbridge that he respects Carney, and believes Carney respects him as well. 

He also shared an anecdote about taking his seven-year-old daughter out biking in Ottawa, and a near-collision that happened with a young woman who Poilievre recognized as Carney’s daughter.

He said he raised this with the prime minister the next time they spoke.

“It made me think, we disagree on our politics, but we are both fathers,” he said. “We’re both proud Canadians and in that sense, I think there’s a mutual respect.”