Former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has endorsed Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre.
In a rare public return to party politics, Mr Harper, who sat out the Conservative Party leadership races in 2017 and 2020, posted a short video on Twitter explaining his support.
Mr. Harper says the race to lead the party is filled with candidates, but one in particular stands out.
The former prime minister says Mr Poilievre was a strong minister under his leadership when the Conservatives were last in power, before being beaten by Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2015.
Stephen Harper says Mr. Poilievre has spent the last few years in opposition being the party’s “most outspoken and effective critic” of Justin Trudeau’s government.
He says Pierre Poilievre spoke about pressing economic issues like debt and inflation, and presented solutions that are “rooted in strong conservative ideas, but adapted to today’s reality.”
On his Twitter account, Pierre Poilievre said he was proud to have served in Mr. Harper’s cabinet. “It is an honor to have his support in this leadership race,” writes the candidate.
He praised Stephen Harper saying he “led Canada through turbulent economic times, balanced the budget and made life more affordable for Canadian families.” »
Mr. Harper’s endorsement comes with less than two months left in the race and party members casting their mail-in ballots.
The leadership race of Mr. Harper’s former party has been described as a battle for the very soul of the party and has occasionally resulted in personal attacks between candidates.
Former Quebec premier and CPC leadership candidate Jean Charest and others have criticized Poilievre for having ideas and a tone that would prevent the Conservatives from winning the next election general after three consecutive defeats.
In his video, Mr. Harper says otherwise. He said Poilievre not only has the most support within the party caucus of all the candidates running, but he’s also popular with current members and attracting several new ones.
“This is how we will win the next federal election,” said Mr. Harper. In my opinion, Pierre has demonstrated from afar that he is the most capable person to do this”.
In response to Stephen Harper, Jean Charest said that Mr. Harper made “a personal choice”.
“Mr. Harper and his supporters will always be welcome in the CPC,” said Mr. Charest in his statement. Stephen Harper has already succeeded in uniting the Conservative Party of Canada. As the leader of the CPC, I pledge to do the same.”
He goes on to say that “the choice activists will have to make is clear: either lose more constituencies or build momentum across the country that will win a majority government. »