Editor's note: This article originally appeared on Parliament Today, a Village Media newsletter devoted exclusively to covering federal politics.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wants you to know his rallies are big.
At a campaign stop in Edmonton on Tuesday, Poilievre asked a Globe and Mail reporter, “How did you like our rally last night?”
The reporter was questioning Poilievre about the rallies, asking him if he feels he's “talking in an echo chamber” to party faithfuls rather than trying to swing votes.
She also asked whether "size matters," eliciting a laugh from the Conservative leader.
Instead of answering the part about the CPC strategy, Poilievre asked the reporter how many people she thought were at the rally.
On social media, he said that over 15,000 people attended the event Monday.
“When was the last time we had a rally that big in Canada?” a smiling Poilievre said during the news conference.
“I think to have 10,000 or 15,000 people at one political rally, this is a movement like we've never seen. Because people want change.”
This isn’t the first time the CPC leader has brought up crowd sizes in an exchange with a reporter.
In Kingston last week, Poilievre asked a journalist how many people they thought were at a rally held the night earlier.
“How did you like the rally yesterday?” Poilievre asked on April 3.
“It was nice. Big crowd,” responded Bill Hutchins with Kingstonist.com.
“Very big. How many people do you think were there?” Poilievre asked
“Three to four thousand,” the reporter responded, noting he learned that a lot of Conservative supporters came from across the region.
“That was nice of them in this rain. A rough night to drive in. Did John A. Macdonald have crowds like that when he was MP here?”
The Liberals have jumped on these comments in their advertising, comparing Poilievre’s statements to that of U.S. President Donald Trump, who is known for fixating — and sometimes lying — about the size of crowds at his event.
Poilievre is obsessed with crowd sizes. Who does that remind you of? pic.twitter.com/kstKHJhqme
— Liberal Party (@liberal_party) April 5, 2025
The other parties aren’t immune to this fixation themselves. The Liberal Party has been touting turnout at their own events on social media, however those posts have primarily included photos rather than a reference to size.
Braeden Caley, a former senior director of communication for the Liberals, has been publishing videos of lines of people wrapping blocks, all waiting to get into one of Leader Mark Carney’s events.
Absolutely huge turnout for @MarkJCarney in Victoria BC tonight
— Braeden Caley (@braedencaley) April 7, 2025
West Coast Strong. 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/PxfbGzLsXS
Asked about the size of Conservative rallies at a campaign stop in B.C., Carney vowed to serve “all Canadians equally” rather than just a “segment” of the population that votes for him. “It’s a sacred honour to be bestowed upon individuals and one I take exceptionally seriously,” he added.
The size of these events, particularly for the Conservatives, have sometimes become problematic, with spectators crammed into facilities with few amenities and in some cases leading to medical emergencies.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was asked by a reporter why he wasn’t holding any rallies while in British Columbia for two nights. Singh responded by saying his party is “focused on events that showcase our policies.”