Montreal, Canada – Following a string of electoral losses, the federal Conservative Party of Canada has selected populist career politician Pierre Poilievre as its new leader, counting on him to challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals.
Since most polls conducted prior to the party convention on Saturday night indicated that Poilievre's fiery political speech connected with party members and gave him a comfortable advantage over his closest challenger, the more centrist Jean Charest, Poilievre's triumph had been predetermined for months.After his resounding victory was declared, Poilievre addressed the crowd on the convention stage in Ottawa, saying, "This is not my victory, it is yours." On the first ballot, he received 68 percent of the vote, whereas Charest only received 16 percent.
In his words, "Tonight begins the path to replace an old government that costs you more and provides you with less, with a new government that puts you first – your paycheque, your retirement, your house, and your country.According to experts, the longstanding politician's ascent represents the main opposition party of Canada's rightward tilt and adoption of right-wing populist ideology, which has been gaining popularity both domestically and internationally.
Although it's unclear whether Poilievre's popularity among conservatives will spread to other voters in Canada or result in a triumph over the Liberals, who have been in power since 2015, his influence on the country's political climate is already apparent.According to Jim Bickerton, a political science professor at St. Francis Xavier University, "His ascendance… does indicate for us that the membership of the Conservative Party has clearly moved in a right-wing direction and is now more receptive to that kind of populist message that he has perfected."
Poilievre was dubbed "perhaps the most right-wing" head of a major political party in Canada by Bickerton. He was a highly provocative libertarian.In his interview with Al Jazeera, he said that "[he] employs the populist vocabulary that we associate with American politics, particularly with the Republican base in the United States, around personal independence and liberty and opposition to any constraints on that imposed by government."A career in politics
Since her initial election to the House of Commons in 2004, Poilievre has served as a representative for districts in the Ottawa area. In the cabinet of longstanding Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was in power from 2006 until the party lost to the Liberals in 2015, he held the portfolios of democratic reform, employment, and social development.Those appointments happened after Poilievre developed a reputation as Harper's personal attack chihuahua, as recently described by a Canadian columnist.
Poilievre gained notoriety at the time for being a conservative right-wing politician who angered opposition politicians and political observers with his provocative and hyperpartisan language in parliament. His ascent, according to the left-leaning New Democrats in 2013, proved that "you must leave the truth behind and embrace mean-spirited attacks to become a minister for Stephen Harper."
In more recent times, Poilievre has devoted a large portion of his campaign for the Conservative leadership to preserving individual freedoms.He has criticized Trudeau for cost-of-living hikes, criticized the Liberal administration for enforcing vaccine requirements and other policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, and threatened to fire the governor of the Bank of Canada if inflation continues to rise. Earlier this year, he supported anti-vaccine demonstrators who held Ottawa for many weeks. He also charged "the liberal media" with prejudice for how it covered the convoy, which was headed by far-right militants.In spite of his anti-elite rhetoric, Poilievre is actually a career politician, according to Daniel Beland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada at McGill University in Montreal.
He "has actually advanced a very strong anti-Trudeau, anti-Liberal discourse… [and] a person who is unapologetic. He is well renowned for that and has been for a very long time.In June, Poilievre publicly rebuked a Canadian journalist for asking his staff to clarify why he supported a man with ties to extreme right-wing organizations. A few weeks later, he was questioned about shaking hands with the head of the far-right Canadian group Diagolon during a campaign event.
The Poilievre campaign said in a statement to Global News last month that it was "difficult to undertake a background check on every single person who attends my events." "I continue to condemn racism and those who promote it. I didn't know or recognize this specific person, and I still don't.Barbara Perry, the head of the Centre on Hate, Bias, and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, disagreed with that and said Poilievre must take other steps if he wants to disassociate himself from these backers. According to Perry, he has also "played into the vilification" of the media and the Liberal administration, which gives more radical groups the confidence to do the same.
Politicians have expressed concerns about the safety of Canadian women journalists as they have received several death threats, insults, and other forms of internet harassment in recent weeks, notably from Black women and other women of color."[Poilievre] was not soft-pedaling at all, even during the convoy. He wasn't attempting to distinguish himself from the extremist right-wingers who led that movement. When he attempts to say that these are not his politics, it falls on deaf ears because he was very much involved in it, Perry told Al Jazeera.He believes that this is pandering to the party's base. According to Perry, Poilievre "certainly is attempting to move people to the right of the center," and he is also working to win back Conservative voters who switched to the extreme right People's Party of Canada, which is led by former Conservative leadership candidate and minister Maxime Bernier.
Because he is a member of the Conservative Party and not a fringe group, his popularity is increased—again, to give the propaganda of far-right organizations some validity."Poilievre's getting drunk now"
Despite this criticism, ex-Prime Minister Harper last month supported Poilievre for party leader, hailing him as the "most vociferous and effective critic of the Trudeau Liberals" and commending his success in bringing "a new generation" to the Conservatives. According to Canadian media, Poilievre's campaign claimed in June that it had attracted more than 311,000 new party members.
In a video posted to social media, Harper stated, "He's been talking about the issues, notably the economic issues, that matter: poor growth, debt, inflation, a lack of job and housing prospects, and the need to restore the institutions that are failing Canadian families." He is putting out solutions based on sensible conservative principles that have been updated for the times.Al Jazeera asked Poilievre's campaign for a statement regarding his political priorities and recent criticism.
Bringing conservatives together does not seem to be one of Poilievre's top priorities, whereas Harper's ability to maintain unity between the progressive and more populist wings of the Conservative Party of Canada—formed in 2003 by the merger of the Progressive Conservative and the Canadian Alliance parties—helped him stay in power for nearly 10 years—does. Some claim it makes no difference.In other words, Harper's support "made Poilievre the unification candidate, calling for the party's ideological variety to be swallowed under Poilievre's libertarian conservatism given with a spoonful of populist pastiche. Now Poilievre is having a party. That's awful news for conservatives and the nation," argued Canadian political analyst David Moscrop in a recent article published in The Washington Post.
Poilievre ultimately "wants to win," according to Lori Turnbull, dean of Dalhousie University's School of Public Administration. He is not trying to answer the existential quandary of how to unite the party. Other than his own brand of conservatism, he has no interest in others'.In addition, Turnbull stated that Poilievre will proceed "full steam ahead" in contrast to previous Conservative leaders who, after obtaining the party's top position, swung back to the center in an effort to steal votes from the Liberals in general elections.
If he changes course, it will likely be in favor of being more precise about his positions. According to Turnbull, "He's going to have to say something in parliament, to ask the prime minister questions, and take up some legislative space that's not about broad ideals of freedom."
She predicted that Poilievre would try to win over Canadians of the working class and those who were dissatisfied with the political options already available to them in addition to capitalizing on the anti-Trudeau feeling that had built throughout the pandemic. Turnbull asserted, "I think he's looking at the triumphs of other leaders in the previous five, ten years who tried to appeal outside normal partisan lines.""Beating Justin Trudeau would provide Pierre Poilievre the greatest joy. Given how much he abhors him, that would be like the pinnacle of his career.
According to experts, Poilievre can still win an election for the Conservatives. Poilievre is an intelligent politician. He has experience, so don't undervalue him, Beland at McGill University remarked. "We believed [Donald] Trump would not prevail in 2016, but he did so."
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