Conservative Party

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Jan. 6 announcement that he intends to resign as Canadian prime minister has shined a bright media spotlight on the man who is the odds-on favorite to succeed him: Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre.

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s poll tracker, on Jan. 6, Poilievre’s Conservatives commanded the support of 44% of Canadian voters. The Liberals lagged far behind at only 20%, with the leftist New Democratic Party that has propped up Trudeau’s minority government since 2022 polling even lower at 19%. If these current polling numbers hold up after Trudeau’s departure, Poilievre (who pronounces his name in English as “Paul-ee-ev”) will remain on course to secure a massive parliamentary majority in the upcoming Canadian election that must be held no later than this October. 

Recently, Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre appeared on Jordan Peterson’s podcast, and the interview has received north of 40 million views when both YouTube and X viewership are included. These are numbers associated with celebrity social media views and pop songs, but a Canadian opposition leader — not the prime minister — is captivating the podcast and alternative media space talking about his policy goals for when he becomes prime minister of Canada, which is inevitable at this point.

So, the question must be asked: Who is Pierre Poilievre? And what is he all about?

Pierre Poilievre, the man who is the favorite to become Canada’s next leader, has painted his country as “broken” and ridden with “crime and chaos.” He has derided Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a “wacko” and his ministers as “crazy,’’ “disastrous,’’ “incompetent and discredited.’’

In Parliament, he called a leftist opposition leader and former Trudeau supporter “a fake, a phony and a fraud’’ and a “sellout.’’ Enraged, the leader stood up from his seat, walked into the aisle, and yelled, “I’m right here, bro.”

“Do it,’’ Mr. Poilievre shot back as the House speaker struggled to restore calm and pleaded that lawmakers respect “the rules that we have.’’

Last week, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre sat down with Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson on his DailyWire podcast for a wide-reaching long-form interview.

For nearly two hours, they discussed a range of topics, including inflation, the housing crisis, immigration, wokeism, and what a Poilievre government would look like.

The current turmoil inside the Trudeau government makes a future Conservative win even more likely.

Naturally enough, shrewd politician that he is, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre will be taking nothing for granted and will be trying to win every possible vote. Still, after almost a decade of Liberal rule, culminating in a housing crisis, a cost-of-living crunch and a crime wave, a smart opposition would be thinking almost as much about how to govern well as about how to win the coming election.

Pierre Poilievre has gained supporters for his populist rhetoric and Conservative policies — freedom, small government, border control and low taxes

At the WoodSource timber yard outside Manotick, a suburb of Canada’s capital where roaring sawmills churn out lumber, staff and customers long to see the back of Justin Trudeau.

“We’re all feeling it. Something’s got to give — I can’t afford groceries, I can’t afford gas,” said Philip Scott, 27, a warehouse manager who is married with two small children.

Many young and working-class Canadians have long blamed the prime minister for soaring inflation and perceived political chaos.

Yes, longtime Conservative voters joined Pierre Poilievre’s rally in Montreal on Friday. But worryingly for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, so did a growing number of disenchanted former Liberal supporters.

Held at the Mega Centre des Sources in Pointe-Claire, a suburban strip mall, the event of around a couple hundred drew voters looking for change, with cost of living and identity politics firmly on people’s minds.