On Saturday, the opposition Conservative Party of Canada chose its go-to attack dog to head the organisation.
Firebrand populist Pierre Poilievre rejects vaccination mandates and holds Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responsible for global inflation.
With 68% of the vote, he defeated a moderate, centrist candidate to win the party leadership on the first round.
The professional politician Poilievre, 43, served as a cabinet member under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
He welcomed Canadians who opposed vaccination requirements and backed the convoy of freedom trucks that blockaded the U.S. border and rendered Canada’s capital inoperable.
Poilievre gained support from the party’s core, drew sizable audiences, and recruited thousands of new members.
An appropriate American analogy for Poilievre, according to University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman, is Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, but without the anti-abortion attitude.
He is a right-wing populist, according to Wiseman. “Although his populism now makes the majority of Canadians shudder, he will alter some of his views and soften his language and persona.
The incumbent, who has increasing political baggage, will likely be the main issue in the next election, in my opinion.”
Poilievre, a member of Parliament since the age of 25, served as the president of the conservative organisation on his college campus.
He has called for the ouster of the governor of the Bank of Canada, referring to him as Trudeau’s personal ATM.
Additionally, he has advocated for cryptocurrencies and threatened to stop funding the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Poilievre sided with fellow Conservative legislators in losing the 2005 vote in Parliament to legalise same-sex unions.
When he questioned if Canada was “getting value for all of this money” by paying survivors of the much criticised Indigenous residential school system, he issued an apology.
Poilievre represents a district close to Ottawa and is a married father of two children.
He claims to have been born in Calgary, Alberta, to a young mother who was unable to care for a kid. He was adopted by two school instructors.
When he first became premier in 2015, Trudeau absorbed the star power of his father, the legendary Liberal Party leader and late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and he has since led his party to the top place in two elections. But his standing has plummeted.
However, a deal between the Liberals and the opposition New Democratic Party would put Trudeau’s party in power until 2025. According to Trudeau, he will lead his party in the next election.