MP Pierre Poilievre will run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Posted at 7:42 p.m.
Updated at 10:50 p.m.
He made the announcement on Saturday evening on Twitter. “The government is getting too big and too controlling,” asserts the MP for Carleton in a video. He says he wants to become Prime Minister in order to “make Canada the freest country in the world”.
“Here’s the problem: Trudeau thinks he’s the boss. He is wrong, it is the opposite. You are the boss,” insists Pierre Poilievre, elected since 2004.
Earlier Wednesday, Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole was ousted from his post by his caucus in Ottawa. A Nanos probe published the day before in the Globe and Mail placed Pierre Poilievre, 42, in the lead position to succeed him. He thus launches into the arena before any other potential candidate, even before the race has officially started and while the rules remain to be determined. So he can’t start fundraising.
In the last leadership race, Pierre Poilievre passed, citing family reasons. He had just had a child.
Trudeau’s fault
Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre began his statement by blaming Justin Trudeau for inflation. “More than half of the families surveyed say they have difficulty feeding themselves and more and more people in their thirties are living in their parents’ basements because they cannot afford a normal house which now costs 800 $000,” he protested.
Elected particularly incisive in the debates in the Commons, Pierre Poilievre reiterated his support for the freedom convoy and the opponents of the sanitary measures who parade on Parliament Hill.
“The government is trying to muzzle anyone who dares to criticize, including with laws that control what you watch or say on the internet, using COVID as a political opportunity. The Trudeau government is attacking our small businesses, truckers and workers. »
Lots of support
Many Conservative MPs and former party figures lined up behind him on Saturday evening. “After seven consecutive electoral victories right here in Ontario. Without a doubt, Pierre is the answer to a strong and united Conservative Party,” Thornhill MP Melissa Lantsman posted on Twitter.
[Je suis] excited that Pierre Poilievre is running as head of the [Parti conservateur du Canada]. He is a true conservative who held Justin Trudeau and the Liberals to account.
Jenni Byrne, Stephen Harper’s ex-right-hand man
“Since 2004, I have witnessed Pierre’s strong Conservative values, work ethic and communication skills that make him the PM Canada needs,” said Manitoba MP James Bezan. British Columbian elected official Dan Albas also endorsed the candidacy of Poilievre, a “hard-working, intelligent and excellent communicator”.
“Pierre Poilievre is the leader our party needs now,” said Michael Barrett, MP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. Former Harper minister John Baird also encouraged his “friend,” who has “the brains and spine to make an excellent prime minister.” “I am very happy to support him. »
In recent days, other names have been circulating as potential candidates, including those of Patrick Brown, mayor of Brampton, Ont., and Peter Mackay, former justice minister under Harper, who suffered defeat at the hands of Erin O’Toole in the last leadership contest.
With The Canadian Press