Who is Pierre Poilievre? The leader of Canada’s conservatives wants to become the next prime minister after Trudeau leaves
OTTAWA, Canada— WITH Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement Monday morning that he will step down as leader of the Liberal Party, whoever succeeds him, will face official opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, whose Conservative Party has nearly three times the support of committed voters (47% compared to 18% for liberals) in this year’s general elections.
First elected to the House of Commons in 2004, Calgary-born Poilievre, 45, became leader of Canada’s Conservatives in 2022 and has seen his party grow in popularity as Canadians grow weary of Trudeau, 53, whose Liberals formed the government in 2015.
“Bring home the Canadian dream” has been one of the Conservatives’ main themes, and Poilievre described the Liberals in a recent publication as ruling with an “extremely radical ideology,” which he described as “basically authoritarian socialism.” A 90-minute interview with popular podcast host Jordan Peterson.
The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, speaks during the ‘Spike the Hike – Ax the Tax’ rally in Edmonton, March 27, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“People are tired of grandiosity,” Poilievre said. “Horrible, utopian wakeism” serves, he said, “selfish figures at the top” rather than “ordinary people”.
Trudeau said Poilievre wanted to “make canada great again” comparing the Tory leader to future US President Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” mantra.
But while Poilievre’s populist message has drawn comparisons to Trump’s political approach, the leader of Canada’s Conservatives dismissed the president-elect’s recent comments about making Canada the 51st country.
“I have the strength and the brains to stand up for this country and my message to future President Trump is that, first of all, Canada will never be the 51st state of the United States,” Poilievre said in an interview with a Canadian television company. CTV newsbefore Christmas.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media outside Rideau Cottage on Monday, Jan. 6, in Ottawa. (AP/Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
The incoming Trump administration will almost certainly be dealing with Poilievre’s government as the Conservatives are poised to win the next Canadian election, which could happen as early as this spring. When the House of Commons resumes on March 24, opposition parties are likely to defeat the minority Liberal government in a confidence vote, which would trigger a national vote.
In his Peterson interview, Poilievre admitted that Trump — who proposed a 25% duty on Canadian exports — “negotiates very aggressively and likes to win.” But as prime minister, the Conservative leader said he would seek “a grand deal that will make both countries safer, richer and stronger”.
Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre holds a news conference in a hotel ballroom in Ottawa, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (ustin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Poilievre said he would speed up approvals to build oil refineries, liquefied natural gas plants and nuclear plants and increase his surplus electricity with the U.S.
He also told Peterson that Canada was selling its oil and gas to the US at “huge discounts”, which he characterized as “robbery”, in which “Canada is robbing itself”.
A Poilievre-led government would also embark on “the biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history” and that “persistent offenders will no longer be released from prison,” the Conservative leader said.
On foreign affairs, the Canadian Conservatives’ 2023 policy document states that, as a government, they will “take the necessary steps to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the US to close loopholes related to illegal entry into Canada “, and that the Conservative Party will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Canadian Embassy in Israel is currently in Tel Aviv.
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The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, speaks during a rally in Edmonton, March 27, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In a statement released in response to Trudeau’s resignation on Monday, Poilievre said “this changes nothing” and that Canada’s conservative government will “take back control of our border, take back control of immigration, take back control of spending, the deficit and inflation. Take back control. over our streets by locking up criminals, interdicting drugs, treating addictions and stopping gun smugglers.”
Conservatives, Poilievre added, would “secure our borders, arm our forces, restore our freedom and put Canada first.”
