Pierre Poilievre’s populism – taking his party “from suits to boots,” as he smartly puts it – has struck a chord. He’s riding a wave. He crushed the field in the Conservative leadership campaign. The inflation surge has the population angry, seemingly ready for change. And he’s the self-proclaimed tribune of the underclass ready to bring it.
But there’s a problem. The new leader’s timing is way off. With an election two or, more likely, three years away, his momentum now means next to nothing.
Give Pierre Poilievre credit for running one of the most successful political leadership campaigns in Canadian history.
His overwhelming victory in the Conservative leadership race in which he captured nearly 70 per cent of the votes on the first and only ballot is a clear sign of his strategic smarts, his ability to energize his followers and of his team’s organizational skills in signing up hundreds of thousands of new party members.
Commentators who insist Canadians will never vote for a true conservative – and I would estimate that that is the majority of people in my profession, plus most academics who speak to the media – forget Stephen Harper won three elections, including one majority. (In case you’re keeping score, that’s the same record as Justin Trudeau.)
The words we choose matter. Words are how we communicate ideas, demonstrate priorities and show allegiance.
And words are also how we break through in the increasingly competitive marketplace of public attention, and win over hearts and minds. Words mean even more when the message we’re trying to deliver is complicated, complex, or just plain boring.
When considering Pierre Poilievre, you need to distinguish between the incoherence of some of his policy and this fact: In politics, either you’ve got it or you don’t. He’s got it.
As a populist politician, the new Conservative Leader often appeals to emotion over reason. Firing the governor of the Bank of Canada, as he proposes, will have no impact on inflation. Compelling universities to protect free-speech rights would simply mandate what already exists.
Pierre Poilievre and a test of conservatism
Just how angry are Canadians? And how long will this anger last?
If, in fact, there is an enduring angst in the land and the era of Sunny Ways has long since passed, new Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre arrives at Stornoway riding a wave.
He has proved adept at tapping into this anger, both exploiting it and, lamentably, fomenting it.
In Pierre Poilievre, the federal Conservative Party of Canada has found its most effective, electable leader since Stephen Harper.
And perhaps someone who can vanquish Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the next general election and cast the federal Liberal Party to the political sidelines.
While one may not like the way Mr. Poilievre achieved his victory – among other things, by flirting with freedom protesting extremists and promulgating crazy conspiracy theories – it must be acknowledged that his straight-ahead march to his party’s leadership was singularly impressive.
He’s got the Smurf vote.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be facing off against Pierre Poilievre in the next election, whether it’s three years away or a matter of months. In an uncertain universe it appears at this point to be the Conservatives’ game to lose.
Thank God, the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race is over. To paraphrase Thomas Hobbes, it was nasty, brutish and long, way too long for anyone’s mental health. Especially if you were volunteering on a campaign, and even more so if your candidate did not win. Which was my experience: despite valiant efforts, and a noble fight, Jean Charest did not take home the crown. In the end, rival Pierre Poilievre swamped all his adversaries, winning 68 per cent of the points. Let’s just say the after party was not exactly a rocking good time.
Pierre Poilievre is quick-witted, more libertarian — and he may change his country yet
Contrary to media messaging, Pierre Poilievre, the new leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, is no Donald Trump. But he does represent a challenge to the left, so the brush must be dipped in the most lurid colors available.
On September 10, Poilievre won the Conservative leadership contest in a landslide, giving the party its first credible leader since Stephen Harper. Andrew Scheer, a former leader who squared off against Justin Trudeau, was likable but failed to project confidence, notably when the left held his feet to the fire over his Catholic pro-life views. Far less convincing was Scheer’s successor, Erin O’Toole, who wasn’t even likable. When it came to policy, O’Toole acted like a Liberal who’d somehow wandered into the Conservative caucus.
Canada’s new Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to “fight tooth and nail” for Canadians as he sets his sights on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.
“Canadians are hurting, and it is our job to transform that hurt into hope,” Mr Poilievre said in his first address to his party caucus on Monday.
Mr Poilievre was elected leader of the Conservative party on Saturday after winning it in a landslide first-ballot victory with nearly 70% of the vote from party members.
Commentators have said the leader of the right-wing party will usher in a new era of populist politics in Canada.
Pierre Poilievre became the new leader of the Conservative party on Saturday, sweeping the contest with 68 per cent of the vote. Poilievre’s victory is good for Canada — his disruptive politics, while not always pretty, are sorely needed in a country where the seldom-challenged status quo has left too many Canadians behind.
In his first speech to caucus since winning the party’s top job, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Monday his focus at the helm will be on holding the government to account for its perceived failings on the economy and inflation.
Poilievre — who spoke for roughly 10 minutes, sometimes to thunderous applause from the assembled MPs and senators — said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the governing Liberals are out of touch with the struggles of working people.
He said that, as the son of a single mother and the adoptive son of two school teachers, he comes from “humble origins” and can sympathize with the plight of Canadians struggling to get by.
OTTAWA — Despite the carefully crafted strategy that delivered Pierre Poilievre a resounding victory in the federal Conservative leadership race, campaign insiders say they were caught off guard during the six-month campaign by the thousands of young people who flocked to take out memberships and support Poilievre.
Pierre Poilievre’s new challenge
Pierre Poilievre needs to engage the issues with serious debate and policy and leave behind the fringe theories and divisiveness of his leadership campaign.
The candidate is now the leader. Can Pierre Poilievre rise above the divisive tactics of his Conservative leadership campaign to grow into the role of a potential prime minister in waiting?
That is, after all, the role that Poilievre now has after his overwhelming win to become leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and leader of the official opposition.
The answer to that question will determine whether Poilievre can build the Conservatives to be a credible challenger to the governing Liberals, a task that requires the support of a broader base of Canadians beyond what he built to win the leadership.
