The man who could become the future Prime Minister of Canada

At the age of 20, Pierre Poilievre already had a road map to Canada.

The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada – now 45 – laid out a vision for the low-tax, small-government country in an essay contest about what he would do as prime minister.

“A dollar left 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 making his vision a reality and even endorsed 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 stepping down, and with an election looming soon, Poilievre is promising a return to “common sense politics.”

For Canadians frustrated by the sluggish economy and the housing and affordability crisis, he offered 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 incumbent governments in the west.

Although he’s drawn comparisons to Donald Trump — and he has fans like Elon Musk and others in the US president-elect’s orbit — Poilievre’s story is largely Canadian.

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

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

“That’s sort of my starting point.”

As a teenager, Poilievre took an early interest in politics and campaigned for the local Conservatives.

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

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

“He impressed me from the start,” Day said in an interview with the BBC. “He seemed like a level-headed person, but full of energy and able to get people’s attention.”

Day’s bid for the leadership was successful and he left for Ottawa with Poilievre as his assistant. Some time later, Poilievre walked into his office on a cold winter’s night to ask his opinion on the potential candidacy.

Poilievre won a seat in Ottawa in 2004. at the age of 25, making him one of the youngest elected Conservatives at the time. He has held this 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 “highly combative and partisan,” said Randy Besco, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

Behind closed doors at Conservative caucus meetings, Poilievre showed his diplomatic side, Day said.

“Pierre was always good at saying, ‘Okay, you know what? I hadn’t thought of that,’ or he would listen and say, ‘Have you thought about that?’” Day said.

Still, confrontational politics became a cornerstone of Poilievre’s public persona. After becoming Conservative leader in 2022, he targeted Trudeau with scathing remarks as a way to connect with disgruntled voters.

This has sometimes gotten him into trouble. In April, he was expelled from the House of Commons for calling the prime minister a “freak”.

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

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

His fighting style is also controversial, and he has been criticized for oversimplifying complex issues for political gain.

Although Canadians were open to the opposition leader’s message as a change from Trudeau’s progressive policies, just over half of them have an unfavorable opinion of him. according to recent sociological surveys.

Poilievre also had to change his outlook after Trudeau’s resignation was announced to head off the inevitable showdown 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 vaccine mandates during the 2021 Freedom Convoy demonstrations that blocked Ottawa for weeks.

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

On social issues, Poilievre rarely intervenes – something that Prof. Besco said it was typical of senior conservatives to see these topics as a “losing issue.”

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

The Conservatives also do not support legislation to regulate abortion, although they allow MPs a free vote on the issue.

“I would run a small government that goes about its business,” Poillievre said in June.

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

Poilievre’s wife, Anaida, arrived in Canada as a child refugee from Caracas, Venezuela.

The Conservative leader pushed for integration of newcomers, saying Canada does not need to be a “hyphenated society.”

One of his key promises – to scale back Trudeau’s national carbon pricing program, saying it was 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 high tariffs when Trump takes office later this month, with US-Canada relations expected to be a major challenge.

Poilievre pushed back Trump’s comments suggest Canada will become the 51st an American state promising to “put Canada first.”

Otherwise, he doesn’t dabble much in foreign policy, with his messages instead focused on restoring the “Canadian Dream.”

Above all, Poilievre says he wants to do away with the “grandiosity” and “utopian wokesim” that he says have defined the Trudeau era, in favor of “great and great things for ordinary people.”

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