Poilievre says the federal election can’t just be about Donald Trump [Video]

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre mounted a defence of his campaign messaging Monday, saying he has no qualms about focusing on issues like the housing crisis, cost of living concerns and relatively weak economic growth, even as some of his critics say he should go all in on Canada-U.S. relations.

In the first week of this federal campaign, Poilievre has so far largely stuck to the playbook that catapulted him and his party to the lead in the polls for much of the last two years.

He’s been rolling out such measures as an income tax cut, a TFSA top-up and a tough-on-crime agenda with mandatory life sentences in prison for drug traffickers, while also prosecuting the Liberal government’s tenure — even as U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats loom large.

He made those announcements last week at sites that could be seen as a nod to U.S. trade tensions — a company that works with steel and a B.C. sawmill — but …