New Canadian Conservative Leader

This past weekend, the Canadian Conservative Party chose a new leader, Mr. Pierre Poilievre, who will likely challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the leadership of Canada in 2025.

The 43-year-old Mr. Poilievre has been a member of the Canadian parliament since he was 25 and had served as a minister in the last Conservative government of Stephen Harper.

He has always been at the far-right faction of the party. He advocated a number of offbeat suggestions at the beginning of the leadership campaign advising Canadians to beat inflation by investing in digital currencies (soon followed by the collapse of the digital currency market), congratulating the anti-vaxxer truckers who occupied downtown Ottawa last January and other parts of Canada, and telling Canadians that he was an admirer of former U.S. president Donald Trump – loved by some Canadians on the extreme right but anathema to most.

As the liberal democrat that I am, Poilievre’s advocated positions and divisive rhetoric turned me off and led me and many centrist Canadians to believe that we would have to hold our noses and vote for another Trudeau government at the next election.

Poilievre’s acceptance speech this past weekend did not change my position but led me to believe that many Canadians might see the newly minted Conservative leader in a new light.

His speech avoided any mention of obscure policy proposals or divisive language. He concentrated on the main issues that concern Canadians namely, the economy, inflation, profligate government spending, and never-ending government regulations that appear to stifle individual initiatives and interfere unnecessarily in people’s lives and raise the prices of basic goods and services.

He is an excellent communicator, speaks in simple language and easy to understand concepts, and he connects with his audience. To address his unpopularity with women, he was accompanied on stage and introduced by his wife Anaida, a feisty Venezuelan immigrant who is perfectly trilingual, articulate and moving, and who spoke eloquently in English, French, and Spanish. 

This was an excellent marketing maneuver to introduce him to moderate female voters, some of whom called him “creepy” in media interviews.

He also reached out to his leadership opponents in an elegant and inclusive manner, thus demonstrating a generosity of spirit that was previously rarely seen.

Finally, he showed that he is ready to talk about a results-oriented campaign with policies designed to underscore his intention to address key voter concerns and seek immediate common-sense solutions.

There is no doubt in my mind that he will pose a formidable opponent for Mr. Trudeau.

The Trudeau government has alienated many centrist Canadians through its massive spending, lack of direction, inability to meet the needs of the average Canadian, and inability to connect with growing numbers of voters.

Many continue to see Mr. Trudeau, who has been Prime Minister for over seven years, as a dilettante who specializes on apologizing to special interest groups and visible minorities, speaks in sound bites, and tries to resolve problems by throwing billions of tax-payer dollars at them.

Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals will likely concentrate on portraying Mr. Poilievre as a “Trump in the making”, as the devil incarnate, and other negative images to rile up voter angst.

Meanwhile, if Mr. Poilievre concentrates on everyday bread and butter issues, he may well seduce a good number of Canadians who don’t care so much about the past as they do about the present and the future.

Mr. Trudeau has a formidable task ahead of him. His image and track record amongst many Canadians has left many wanting for better leadership. If he doesn’t improve the performance and image of his government in the next 12 – 18 months, he risks either losing the next election or leaving the Liberals with no choice but to move on to a new leader better suited to face Mr. Poilievre.

The far right now forms the opposition in Germany, Italy, has been voted into parliament in Spain for the first time since the end of the Franco dictatorship, and is poised to win in social-democratic Sweden.

Canada now joins that group.

[email protected]

Keep reading: Freedom of Speech

Edición: Laura Espejo