The man who could be the future Prime Minister of Canada

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

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

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

Poilievre is one step closer to making his vision a reality, and even agreed to an essay in a recent interview with conservative psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson.

For months, Poilieu’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 likely to be called soon, Poiliev is promising a return to “common sense politics.”

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

A win would make him part of a wave of populist leaders from the right who have toppled incumbent governments in the West.

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

Poillieur 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 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 protection we can ever 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.

Poulevre 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 leadership in the Canadian Alliance — a right-wing party with roots in Alberta that became part of the Modern Conservatives in a 2003 merger — and he recruited Pouilleur to help with campus outreach.

“He impressed me from the start,” Day told the BBC. “He seemed like a level-headed guy, but full of energy and able to get people’s attention.”

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

Pallevre 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 this position ever since.

In Ottawa, Puelieuur was nicknamed Skippy by peers and enemies alike because of his youthful enthusiasm and sharp tongue.

He has built a reputation as “a very combative and partisan person,” said Randy Besco, an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

Behind closed-door meetings of the Conservative caucus, Poillevre showed his diplomatic side, Day said.

“Pierre always knew how to say, ‘Okay, you know what? I didn’t think about that,’ or he would listen and say, ‘Did you think about that?'” Day said.

Nevertheless, confrontational politics became the cornerstone of Poilieu’s public persona. After becoming Conservative leader in 2022, he began targeting Trudeau with scathing remarks to connect with disaffected voters.

Sometimes it got him into trouble. In April he was expelled from the House of Commons for calling the Prime Minister a “fool”.

In June, Poilievre told the Montreal Gazette that he was a fan of “straight talk.”

“I think when politeness goes against the truth, I choose the truth,” he said. “I think we’ve been too nice to our political class for too long.”

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

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

Poilieuur also had to change his mind after Trudeau’s resignation announcement to get ahead of the inevitable matchup between him and the next Liberal leader.

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

He spoke in support of those protesting vaccine mandates during the 2021 Freedom Convoy demonstrations that shut down Ottawa for weeks.

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

On social issues, Poillieur rarely weighed in – Professor Besco said this was typical of senior conservatives who see the topics as a “losing issue”.

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

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

“I would lead a small government that does its own thing,” Pouilleuvre said in June.

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

Pouilleur’s wife, Anaida, came to Canada as a child refugee from Caracas, Venezuela.

The Conservative leader is pushing for newcomer integration, saying Canada should not be a “hyphenated society.”

One of his top promises – to cut Trudeau’s national carbon pricing program, which he says is a financial burden on families – has raised questions about how his government will tackle pressing issues like climate change.

Canada will also face the threat of high tariffs when Trump takes office later this month, and the US-Canada relationship is expected to be a major challenge.

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

Otherwise, he did not particularly interfere in foreign policy, instead his messages focused on restoring the “Canadian Dream”.

Above all, Poilletre says he wants to do away with the “grandioseness” and “utopian vaquessim” that he believes have defined the Trudeau era, in favor of “the things that are grandiose and wonderful about ordinary people.”

“I’ve been saying the same thing all this time,” he told Mr. Peterson.