The man who could become the future Prime Minister of Canada

At the age of 20, Pierre Poilievre already had a roadmap for Canada.

The leader of Canada’s Conservative Party – now 45 – outlined a vision of a low-tax, small-government country in the competition in an essay on what he would do as prime minister.

“A dollar that stays in the hands of consumers and investors is more productive than a dollar spent by a politician,” he said.

Poilievre is one step closer to realizing his vision, even lending his support to the essay in a recent interview with conservative psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson.

For months, Poilievre’s conservatives have enjoyed a wide lead over the struggling Liberals in national polls, suggesting they would win a majority government if elections were held today.

Now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he is resigning, and with an election likely to be called soon, Poilievre is promising a return to “common sense politics.”

For Canadians frustrated by a sluggish economy and a housing and affordability crisis, he offers an alternative to what he called Trudeau’s “authoritarian socialism.”

A victory would make him part of a wave of populist leaders on the right that have toppled current governments in the west.

While he invites comparisons to Donald Trump — and he has admirers like Elon Musk and others in the US president-elect’s orbit — Poilievre’s story is very much a Canadian one.

Poilievre was born in the Canadian western province of Alberta to a 16-year-old mother who gave him up for adoption. He was taken in by two school teachers, who raised him in the suburbs of Calgary.

“I’ve always believed that voluntary generosity among family and community is the greatest social safety net we can have,” he told Maclean’s Magazine in 2022, reflecting on his early life.

– That’s kind of my starting point.

As a teenager, Poilievre showed an early interest in politics and advocated for local conservatives.

Poilievre was studying international relations at the University of Calgary when he met Stockwell Day, who was a minister in the government of former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

At the time, Day was seeking the leadership of the Canadian Alliance — a right-wing party with Alberta roots that became part of the Modern Conservatives in a 2003 merger — and selected Poilievre to help him on campus.

“He impressed me from the start,” Day told the BBC in an interview. “He seemed to be a calm guy, but full of energy and able to get people’s attention.”

Day’s leadership was successful and he headed to Ottawa with Poilievre as his assistant. Some time later, Poilievre entered his office on a cold winter’s night to ask his opinion on a potential candidacy.

Poilievre won the Ottawa seat in 2004 at the age of 25, making him one of the youngest elected Conservatives at the time. He has held that position ever since.

In Ottawa, Poilievre was nicknamed Skippy by peers and enemies alike for his youthful enthusiasm and sharp tongue.

He built a reputation for being “very combative and partisan,” said Randy Besco, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

Behind closed-door Conservative caucus meetings, Poilievre showed his diplomatic side, Day said.

“Pierre would always say, ‘Okay, you know what? I didn’t think of that,’ or he’d listen and say, ‘Have you thought about this?'” Day said.

Nevertheless, the politics of conflict became the cornerstone of Poilievre’s public persona. After becoming Conservative leader in 2022, he would target Trudeau with scathing remarks to connect with disaffected voters.

This sometimes got him into trouble. In April, he was kicked out of the House of Commons for calling the prime minister a “lunatic”.

Poilievre told the Montreal Gazette in June that he was a fan of “honest conversation.”

“I think when decency conflicts with the truth, I choose the truth,” he said. “I think we’ve been too polite with our political class for too long.”

His combative style was also divisive, and he was criticized for oversimplifying complex issues for political gain.

While Canadians were receptive to the opposition leader’s message as a change from Trudeau’s brand of progressive politics, just over half of them have an unfavorable opinion of him, according to the latest polls.

Poilievre also had to change his outlook since Trudeau’s resignation announcement, to face the inevitable face-off between him and the next Liberal leader.

The Conservative leader has been described as a “soft” populist for his direct appeals to ordinary Canadians and criticism of establishment elites, including corporate Canada.

He came out in support of those protesting the vaccine mandate during the 2021 “Freedom Convoy” demonstrations that brought Ottawa to a standstill for weeks.

He vowed to carry out “the largest crackdown on crime in Canadian history,” vowing to keep repeat offenders behind bars.

On social issues, Poilievre rarely spoke out – something Professor Besco said was typical of older conservatives, who see the topics as a “loser’s issue”.

While Poilievre voted against legalizing gay marriage in the early 2000s, he recently said it would remain a legal “point” if elected.

Conservatives also do not support laws regulating abortion, although they allow MPs to vote freely on the issue.

“I would run a small government that minds its own business,” Poilievre said in June.

In the middle of a public debate in Canada in recent months on immigration, the party said it would link levels of arrivals to the number of new homes built and focus on bringing in skilled workers.

Poilievre’s wife, Anaida, arrived in Canada as the child of refugees from Caracas, Venezuela.

The Conservative leader pushed for the integration of newcomers, saying Canada doesn’t have to be a “hyphenated society.”

One of his main promises – to scale back Trudeau’s national carbon pricing program, arguing it is a financial burden on families – has raised questions about how his government will tackle pressing issues like climate change.

Canada also faces the threat of heavy tariffs when Trump takes office later this month, with the US-Canada relationship expected to be a major challenge.

Poilievre retorted Trump’s comments suggesting that Canada become the 51st the US state, promising to “put Canada first”.

Otherwise, he has not stepped much into foreign policy, and his messages are aimed at restoring the “Canadian dream”.

Above all, Poilievre says he wants to end the “grandiosity” and “utopian wokeism” that he believes has defined the Trudeau era, in favor of “things that are big and big with ordinary people.”

“I say the exact same thing all the time,” he told Mr. Peterson.