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Who is Pierre Poilievre, the ‘New Hope’ of Canadian Conservatism?

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CANADA’S CONSERVATIVE PARTY has a new leader in the form of 43-year-old  Pierre Poilievre, a conservative stalwart who will challenge the increasingly unpopular Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the country’s next general election.

Poilievre, who was elected by an overwhelming mandate of nearly 70% among party members last week, campaigned on moving the party away from the center in a bid to wrench power away from the Trudeau government.

He boasts nearly two decades of political experience, having served as a cabinet minister in former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government. Some of his stated positions have included opposition to vaccine mandates, embracing free-market economics, and pulling away from Trudeau’s embrace of communist China.

“Pierre Poilievre has certainly been talking about things that matter to conservatives in Canada –defunding the state broadcaster, ending all vaccine mandates and Covid restrictions, ridding the country of bureaucratic “gatekeepers” to the free market,” conservative radio host Andrew Lawton told El American.

“He’s been unflinching on his message so far, but the question is whether he’ll keep that up how that he is the Conservative leader,” he continued.

Having grown up in Montreal, Poliviere is bilingual in English and French. He also has links to the Hispanic world through his wife Anaida Galindo, a Venezuelan immigrant he met while she was working for him as a parliamentary aide. She has spoken extensively about the devastating impact of Hugo Chávez’s socialist regime on her home country and how it shaped her own political philosophy.

Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, told CBS News that Poliviere is comparable to Republican Senator Ted Cruz, but predicted he would soften his positions in the run-up to Canada’s next general election.

“He is a right-wing populist,” Wiseman said. “Most Canadians recoil at his populism now, but he’ll moderate some of his positions and soften his language and image. I expect the next election to be about the incumbent, an incumbent with growing political baggage.”

Under a power-sharing agreement brokered between the Liberal Party and the left-wing New Democrats, the latest possible date for the country’s next general election will be 2025. However, the fragile nature of confidence and supply agreements means that it may well be sooner if a vote of no-confidence in Trudeau is passed.

Ben Kew is English Editor of El American. He studied politics and modern languages at the University of Bristol where he developed a passion for the Americas and anti-communist movements. He previously worked as a national security correspondent for Breitbart News. He has also written for The Spectator, Spiked, PanAm Post, and The Independent

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Ben Kew es editor en inglés de El American. Estudió política y lenguas modernas en la Universidad de Bristol, donde desarrolló una pasión por las Américas y los movimientos anticomunistas. Anteriormente trabajó como corresponsal de seguridad nacional para Breitbart News. También ha escrito para The Spectator, Spiked, PanAm Post y The Independent.

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