Evan Bray: What would 'associate' EU membership mean for Canada?
There's been a lot of talk about Canada possibly becoming an "associate member" of the European Union. Evan Br...
OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre kicked off his address to his caucus Thursday with a promise that the Official Opposition will unite behind the national interest and urged his MPs to be a voice for Canadians in the House of Commons.
“Our duty is country before party, now and always. As Canadian patriots, we must reflect on the job we have as loyal Opposition in these challenging times,” he said at a caucus retreat in Penticton, B.C.
Poilievre painted a picture of a country in precarious times: “People can’t afford their bills, are losing their jobs, the economy is flat, crime is worsening, and our economy is facing unfair tariffs,” he said.
He said his party has a duty to fight for people who are struggling.
“Should we shut up about their stories until Donald Trump goes away? No,” he said to applause from gathered members of the caucus.
Poilievre also warned against conflating criticism of the government with criticism of the country itself, arguing it is not disloyal to hold the Liberals to account.
The Conservatives have taken aim at Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals this week over the news Canada is being invited into discussions about becoming the first “associate member” of the European Union.
Carney is set to address the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, this week, a day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced she was opening the door to Canada becoming an EU associate member — a title that currently does not exist.
It’s not clear what that would entail. Carney has suggested tighter alliances are being discussed on a number of fronts, including energy and security.
In his speech on Wednesday, Poilievre accused Carney of “secretly negotiating” with the EU and said decisions for Canada “must not be made in Washington, Beijing or Brussels, but by Canadians here at home.”
“While we support free trade and continued NATO co-operation with our European allies, Conservatives say no EU taxes, no EU laws and no EU open border rules on immigration in Canada,” he said.
The Conservatives are meeting after a tumultuous few months that saw them lose a fifth House of Commons seat to the government benches.
The trade war with the U.S. has dominated the news cycle and the Tories are polling well behind Carney’s Liberals.
Inside conservative circles, public infighting about the direction of the federal party has drawn in some members of Parliament.
That’s led a number of Conservative strategists to publicly question Poilievre’s control of caucus and the discipline in the ranks.
Political science professor Lori Turnbull said there are real differences of opinion among Conservatives over what the party ought to do going forward, and it’s not clear that Poilievre can regain the control he had before last year’s election.
“It doesn’t matter how disciplined they are, they’re not going to beat Carney now,” said Turnbull, a professor at the Dalhousie University faculty of management.
“There’s no election in the offing. The (majority) government is secure.”
As for Poilievre’s efforts to lead the Official Opposition through this moment, Turnbull said “he’s totally screwed.”
“He’s got to hold the government to account, that’s his job in a formal sense, but he’s also got to figure out how to get the party more rallied around him,” she said.
When the Conservatives were preparing to return to the House of Commons a year ago, the party had 144 MPs and vowed to bring strong opposition to the House of Commons.
At the time, Poilievre had just returned to the role of Opposition leader in the House, having spent the summer campaigning in a byelection after losing his longtime Ontario seat in April’s national vote.
Since then, MPs Chris d’Entremont, Michael Ma, Matt Jeneroux and Marilyn Gladu have defected to the Liberal benches. The popular Quebec MP Richard Martel accepted a seat in the Senate this summer, and the Conservative party posted a disappointing third-place result in the byelection to replace him last month.
Cathay Wagantall has stepped aside, leaving her eastern Saskatchewan seat vacant, and her Conservative colleague Larry Brock is set to resign his seat this week. Byelection dates haven’t been set in those ridings yet.
Poilievre is set to hold a campaign-style rally on the weekend in Brantford, Ont., in Brock’s riding.
That will mark the first time the Tory leader has stepped onto a rally stage since the April 2025 election. Those rally events were a key part of the campaign and contributed to Poilievre’s rise in the polls between 2022 and 2024.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2026.
Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press
