The National Democratic Party released an attack-style video this week in an attempt to portray the new leader of the Conservatives as a person who is not "of such importance to stand for the people's interest."

John Baird, the former co-chair of Pierre Poilievre's campaign, believes the National Democratic Party criticizes the new Conservative leader because he is "eating their lunch" among working-class voters and could pose a threat to the New Democrats in the upcoming federal elections in Ontario.

In his conversation with journalist John Ivison from the National Post, Baird said he expects many competitive races between the Conservatives and the National Democratic Party now that Poilievre has become leader. He expects the Conservatives to be able to win seats like the veteran National Democratic MP Charlie Angus.

Baird also predicted that the Conservatives could make gains in the National Democratic stronghold of Vancouver Island, although he admitted that his party was not "even competitive" in the previous elections. In 2021, for example, Conservative results ranged between second and third place. The National Party did not provide any comment to the National Post regarding Baird's claims by the deadline.

Also, Poilievre was able to register hundreds of new members in those races during the leadership race and won them all by a wide margin over his rivals. He also visited Northern Ontario and Vancouver Island on several occasions, boasting of his large gatherings there.

According to Baird, even if the leadership race is not a general election, the National Party does not intend to let Poilievre spread his message without a fight, as Jagmeet Singh’s party released an attack-style video on social media earlier this week in response to Poilievre’s claims that he is fighting for the people and instead tries to portray the new Conservative leader as a dishonest person. As of Friday afternoon, the video had been viewed 95,000 times on Twitter and liked more than 2,100 times.