OTTAWA, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Canada’s Conservatives on Saturday chose Pierre Poilievre, a veteran MP who has promoted bitcoin as a way to fight inflation, to lead the party’s bid to oust the Liberals and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Poilievre, 43, won the leadership in the first round of a ranked vote in which more than 400,000 members voted. Poilievre becomes the sixth Conservative leader since 2015, a period in which they have lost three elections to Trudeau. Poilievre defeated his main rival Jean Charest, a former Quebec premier, and three others in a campaign that slammed Trudeau and the central bank governor for failing to rein in runaway inflation. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up “Tonight begins the journey to replace an old government that cost you more and gave you less with a new government that puts you first – your paycheck, your retirement, your home, your country,” Poilievre said at the victory speech. his speech. The party scaled back the event, which had been planned for months, after the Queen’s death on Thursday, starting with a minute’s silence in her honour. Earlier on Saturday, Canada proclaimed Charles king in an official ceremony. read more As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations of the former British Empire, the monarch is Canada’s official head of state. Poilievre first took a seat in parliament in 2004, days after his 25th birthday, representing a suburban district that includes parts of Ottawa. He served as minister of democratic reforms and then minister of employment and social development until Trudeau, 50, took office in 2015. While the new Conservative leader is well known in Ottawa, where he has been regularly elected to parliament to be a vocal critic of Trudeau and his government, he will now need to raise his profile with the rest of Canada. He should have plenty of time. Trudeau’s support from the left-leaning New Democrats means an election could come as soon as 2025. Pollsters say Poulievre will be a formidable opponent, especially if Trudeau runs for a fourth term. “Here are two people who know exactly how to push each other’s buttons, who know exactly how to get under each other’s skin,” said Shachi Kurl, president of Poilievre and Trudeau’s Angus Reid Institute polling firm. In February, Poilievre supported protesters who blocked border crossings and paralyzed downtown Ottawa for three weeks to protest Trudeau and his COVID-19 vaccine policies. read more Poilievre also made the firing of Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem one of his main campaign promises, blaming the central bank’s pandemic bond buying for the rise in prices. read more The former leader of the Conservative party, who was ousted in February, had tried to bring the party towards the political center and refused to fully embrace the protesters. read more Poilievre “represents … the deep soul of what the Conservative Party is today,” Kurl said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Steve Scherer Editing by Daniel Wallis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
