Pierre Poilievre Brings Down the House

Canada's premier conference for political conservatives, Canada Strong and Free, took place in Ottawa last week. And, having been in attendance, this writer couldn't help notice a markedly different tone than in years past. There was an excitement in the air with every speech and panel, no doubt attributable to the polls over the past several months showing that, if an election were held today, the Conservatives would run away with it, and send the odious Justin Trudeau to what will no doubt be a highly remunerated retirement (he's likely to be a frequent guest at Davos, the U.N., and anywhere else where Libs congregate), far from the levers of power.

The man most likely to take Trudeau's place is Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who came into that position on the back of his support for the Freedom Convoy, a position which we should remember, was considered risky at the time. Erin O'Toole, who was leader of the Conservatives during the convoy, was extremely tepid and dissembling in his support for the truckers. Poilievre on the other hand, stuck his neck out for them, and eventually (after having lost the last election to Trudeau), the conservatives kicked O'Toole to the curb and voted overwhelmingly to put Poilievre in his place.

Thus far, Poilievre has done quite a good job of holding Trudeau's feet to the fire in opposition, winning himself increasing admiration from the country's long-suffering conservative base. Consequently, he Poilievre was treated like a rockstar at Strong and Free, and his keynote address rightly brought down the house.

You'll note that the Conservative leader has been boiling down his own approach to governance to four points:

🍎 Axe the tax
🍎 Build the homes
🍎 Fix the budget
🍎 Stop the crime

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) February 20, 2024

That is (for non-Canadians who might be missing some of the context), killing Trudeau's increasingly ridiculous carbon tax; building homes to address the country's incredible housing shortage (exacerbated by the Trudeau-enabled mass immigration, which the P.M. himself admits has gone too far); getting the country's fiscal house in order; and beating back sky-high crime rates.

All of these problems are directly attributable to Trudeau's near-decade of misrule, and Poilievre's goals are highly worthwhile. You could argue that these proposals fall short of the ideal. The carbon tax, for instance, is just the tip of the spear of environmentalist policies enacted by Trudeau, with the help of his activist compatriots Gerald Butts and Steven Guilbeault. How about scrapping EV mandates and Trudeau's Clean Fuel Standard, while ending (or reducing) wind-and-solar subsidies? Those three together seem like a good place to start.

So it's on us to keep pushing. Meanwhile, watch Pierre Poilievre's speech in full to get a sense of the man. And lets hope he gets a chance to take the helm of that great country sooner rather than later. Because Canada, like America, is desperate for a major course correction.