Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre to seek leadership of Conservative Party of Canada

By Manotick Messenger Staff

Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre will be seeking the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.

The news of Poilievre’s run for the party leadership was broken by the Toronto Star last week. The story, written by Alex Boutilier of the Star’s Ottawa bureau, also stated that Poilievre’s campaign would be chaired by former Nepean-Carleton MPP and Harper Government Cabinet Minister John Baird.

The Star also reported that another top Conservative campaign manager, Jenni Byrne, will also play a major role in Poilievre’s campaign.

The Star quoted a statement Poilievre made in both official languages to the media after Former Tory leader Andrew Scheer stepped down.

“We need someone who will stand up, fight back and win — stand up for our principles, fight back against the corrupt Liberal cabal, and win the next election,” Poilievre said.

Poilievre has been a thorn in the side of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since he became the Opposition Finance Critic. Trudeau was visible in the Carleton area during the recent federal election campaign to support Carleton Liberal candidate Chris Rodgers to paint the entire City of Ottawa map red on the federal political landscape. Poilievre also has a reputation as being one of the Conservative Party’s sharpest debaters in the House of Commons.

Poilievre’s victory in Carleton in the recent federal election was his sixth. His first win came in 2004, when as a young candidate and graduate of the University of Calgary, he defeated then-Liberal Minister of Defence David Pratt when the riding was Nepean-Carleton. His other victories over Liberal contenders in Nepean-Carleton came against Michael Gaffney in 2006, Ed Mahfouz in 2008, Ryan Keon in 2011, and Chris Rodgers in 2015 and 2019.

Poilievre redrafted Canada’s whistle blower protection laws in 2006, and he and Baird worked together to pass the Federal Accountability Act. He was also responsible for the Children’s Tax Credit, which he took to Conservative leader Stephen Harper after the idea was presented to him by the Taylor family in Osgoode. That year, he and Baird were also responsible for reducing the amount of rent paid by the Queensway Carleton Hospital to the NCC for the land on which the hospital stands to $1 per year.

The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada will be announced in June. The party wants a leader in place in case the current Minority Liberal Government.

“Right now, we don’t know how long is in this mandate therefore we felt it was important to get this done before the summer, the barbecue circuit, for the new leader to make plans and get ready for the policy convention in Quebec City,” Conservative Deputy Leader Lisa Raitt told CTV News.