Read Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s election concession speech – National

After a projected win for Liberals, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addressed supporters in Ottawa Tuesday morning, suggesting he has no plans to step down as party leader.

While votes are still being tallied in some parts of the country, it is unclear as of 1:37 a.m. Eastern on April 29 whether the Liberals will form a majority or minority government.

“It will be an honour to continue to fight for you and be a champion for your cause as we go forward,” Poilievre said to a cheering crowd.

“I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Carney on leading this minority government. We will have plenty of opportunity to debate and disagree, but tonight we come together as Canadians.”

Here is the transcript of Poilievre’s remarks.

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It’s with profound gratitude that I stand before you today at the moment of this historic election because only in Canada could the story that Ana and I bring to the stage be possible; an adopted son of school teachers and a Venezuelan refugee, stand on this stage in front of our proud country, offering ourselves up to serve for the future, after millions of people have shown up and marked their X, spoken their voice, and exercised their democratic rights.

We could not be more proud.

We could not be more grateful for the opportunity the Canadians have given us.

Speaking now of Ana, I want to take a moment to thank my incredible wife. She’s been by my side. She’s my rock. I love and cherish you and our little ones more than you’ll ever know and I could not have done any of this without you. Thank you so much. I love you.

Now my message to Canadians, the promise that was made to me and to all of you, is that anybody from anywhere could achieve anything that, through hard work, you could get a great life, you have a nice, affordable home on a safe street.

My purpose in politics is and will continue to be to restore that promise.

To the candidates who ran under our banner as Conservatives, to the volunteers who knocked on the door’s made phone calls, put up lawn signs, rallied at our events, donated their hard-earned money to our cause, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To the millions of people who voted for the Conservative Party, and put their hopes and dreams in our vision. Thank you. It will be an honour to continue to fight for you and to be a champion of your cause as we go forward. 

To my fellow Conservatives, we have much to celebrate tonight.

We’ve gained well over 20 seats, and we got the highest share of vote our party has received since 1988. We denied the NDP and Liberals enough seats to form a coalition government. And we did all of this in a very difficult environment.

That said, we are cognizant of the fact that we didn’t quite get over the finish line yet. We know that change is needed, but change is hard to come by. It takes time. It takes work. And that’s why we have to learn the lessons of tonight so that we can have an even better result the next time the Canadians decide the future for the country.

Canadians have opted for a razor-thin minority government, a virtual tie in the vote count. So I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Carney on leading this minority government.

[Boos from the crowd]

No, no. We’ll have plenty of opportunity to debate and disagree, but tonight we come together as Canadians. We will do our job. Yes, we will do our job to hold the government to account. But first, we congratulate people from all political backgrounds on participating in the democratic process.

And as I said, while we will do our constitutional duty of holding the government to account and proposing better alternatives, we will always put Canada first as we stare down tariffs and other irresponsible threats from President Trump.

Conservatives will work with the prime minister and all parties with the common goal of defending Canada’s interests and getting a new trade deal that puts these tariffs behind us while protecting our sovereignty and the Canadian people.

I want to thank my Conservative team, my caucus, my members of the Conservative staff and others who have helped reshape the entire political landscape in this country.

Conservatives have achieved major breakthroughs tonight. We brought in record support from blue-collar and unionized workers, youth, new Canadians.

We gave voices to countless people across this country who’ve been left out and left behind for far too long. We won the big debates of our time on the carbon tax, on inflation, on housing, on the drug crisis, on crime.

Conservatives have been leading the debate and we will continue to put forward the best arguments to improve the lives of our people right across this country.

But we will not stop there. Every single day, our conservative caucus and I will be holding the government to account on behalf of the millions of Canadians who believed in the message of change. 

Everywhere I went, hardworking people took precious time out of their day to tell me about their struggles, their pain, their fears, but also their hopes and dreams.

Welders and waitresses, farmers and factory workers, seniors, small business owners, and single mothers, young Canadians and young families, pleading for the chance to own a home.

Parents who worried that their kids would never be able to move out of their home.

Grandparents who saw their grandchildren suffering from the shortfalls of our economy and countless others who are afraid to go outside because of the rising wave of crime.

All of these stories touched my heart and gave me inspiration to work towards something better. These people continue to need voices, and I will continue to fight for them every day and every day we will never give up on fighting for the Canadian people.

We hear your stories. We will carry those stories with us into parliament. We will not forget the people for whom we work and for whom we fight every day.

Now I know that some of you might be disappointed that change did not get over the finish line tonight. Change takes time. Most of all, it requires that we never give up because our people and our country are worth fighting for. 

I will never give up on fighting for everyone who stood with us today and the millions of people who voted for other parties.

And so my message tonight, for the single mother working two jobs but still has an empty fridge and an empty bank account, for the young people who despair at never being able to afford a home, for the seniors on fixed incomes whose savings are eroded by inflation and no longer feel safe in their local neighbourhood parks, for those who are now living in fear and terror because of crime, for those worried about losing their jobs because of unacceptable tariffs from the United States of America.

For all of those who feel left behind and forgotten, my message is one of hope.

Change will take time, but we will fight for that change.

And we will deliver that change. And we will never give up on fighting for the great Canadian promise that anyone from anywhere can achieve anything. That hard work gets you a great life in a beautiful house on a safe street protected by our brave troops under our proud flag.

Canada first, Canada always. Let’s bring it home.

Thank you very much, Canada. Merci beaucoup Canada.