Pierre Poilievre

Background

Poilievre was born in Calgary, Alberta, the son of schoolteachers. Poilievre is Franco-Albertan in origin. He studied international relations at the University of Calgary, following a period of study in commerce at the same institution. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calgary.

Poilievre has done policy work for Canadian Alliance MPs Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney, and prior to running for office himself; worked as a full-time assistant to Day. He also worked for Magna International, focusing on communications, and has done public relations work.

In 1999, writing as Pierre Marcel Poilievre, he contributed an essay, "Building Canada Through Freedom" to the book @Stake—"As prime minister, I Would...", a collection of essays from Magna International's "As Prime Minister" awards program. In his essay he argued, among other things, for a two-term limit for all Members of Parliament. He did not win the competition and is now in his fifth term as an MP. At the time, he was editorially described as being in the second year of a Commerce program at the University of Calgary. His self-description was as "a political junkie with a passion for public debating and a special interest in international relations".

38th-40th Parliaments

In 2004, Poilievre stood as Conservative candidate in the riding of Nepean—Carleton. He defeated Liberal cabinet minister David Pratt by 3,736 votes. In 2006, Poilievre was re-elected with 55% of the vote, beating Liberal candidate Michael Gaffney by 19,401 votes. He has been re-elected in 2008 and 2011 with similar majorities. Since 2006, he has been appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to various ministers including John Baird, the president of the Treasury Board and to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Federal Accountability Act

As Parliamentary Secretary to Treasury Board, Poilievre redrafted Canada’s whistleblower protection laws. and worked with Minister John Baird to pass the Federal Accountability Act through the Canadian House of Commons. The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act was enacted to provide a process for public sector employees when disclosing abuses and wrongdoings within the federal government and protection of these employees from reprisals. The Federal Accountability Act received Royal Assent on December 12, 2006. This act has been criticized for falling far short of the Conservative Party's pre-election promises [1] and effectively giving supervisors of whistleblowers continuing power over them, intimidating them from revealing all they know. [2]

Children's Fitness Tax Credit

Poilievre proposed a sports tax credit to then Opposition-leader Stephen Harper. The sports tax credit became a central plank in the Conservative Party's 2006 election platform. The tax credit came into effect January 1, 2007. The tax credit allows parents to claim $500 per year for dependent children under the age of 16. Disabled children are eligible for the tax credit until the age of 18.

Queensway Carleton Hospital

In the summer of 2006, Poilievre and Minister John Baird helped secure a $1 per year rent for the Queensway Carleton Hospital from the National Capital Commission. Before the brokered agreement, the QCH was paying the NCC $23,000 per year in rent. The lease of the hospital was to expire in 2013, and the rent was set to increase substantially.

Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge

Poilievre advocated for the construction of the Strandherd-Armstrong bridge which spans the Rideau river. The eight-lane bridge links Riverside South with Barrhaven Poilievre secured one-third of the project's funding and acquired the neighbouring airport land needed to complete the Limebank Road expansion, tapping into funds already committed by former MP David Pratt for transportation projects in this riding.

Construction began on July 27, 2010. The event was locally publicised, with politicians of all levels and parties involved attending the ground breaking.

The bridge was originally scheduled to be completed in 2012, but in 2012 the original contractor, ConCreate USL, went into receivership. The bridge opened in July 2014.

Charitable work

As a member of Parliament, Poilievre has been involved with a variety of charities. For his 30th birthday, Poilievre co-hosted an event with Ottawa Police Chief Vernon White to help raise funds for Harvest House Ministries and Project S.T.E.P. Both charities do work within the greater Ottawa community to treat substance abuse and prevent addiction. Poilievre has also secured $1 million in funding for the city of Ottawa's drug treatment initiative. In 2005, Poilievre helped raise $40,000 to help rebuild the Manotick legion after it was destroyed by fire in June of that year.

Foul language in the Commons

In June 2006, Poilievre used foul language in a committee meeting, and made unparliamentary gestures. Poilievre later apologized for making gestures within the Commons.

Accusations of terrorism against Liberals

In February 2007, Poilievre suggested that there were members of Liberal caucus who wanted to legalize Hezbollah.

Criticism of aboriginal work ethic

In June 2008, Poilievre suggested that aboriginals need to learn the value of hard work more than they need financial compensation. Poilievre went on to question the merits of funding within the INAC framework and the value for money received by Canadians. His comments were made the same day as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's public apology on behalf of the Canadian government for the residential schools. Poilievre's comments were objected to by colleagues from both the Conservative and Liberal caucuses, with members of the latter calling for his resignation. The day after his appearance on the radio program, Poilievre apologized for his statement in the House of Commons.

"Tar Baby"

In May 2009 Poilievre was accused of having insensitively used the term "tar baby" in the House of Commons in reference to a policy of carbon taxation from which Poilievre suggested that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff would try to distance himself. Poilievre repeated the term later in the same question period. A number of opposition MPs demanded Poilievre make amends for the use of the term. Poilievre argued that he did not know that the term had racist undertones and was using the term in the sense of its common definition as a sticky and hard to handle issue. Over the previous years, the term itself had been used by a number of prominent Canadian public figures to indicate a sticky situation.

Deliberate security breach

In October 2010, Poilievre allegedly got impatient waiting at a Parliament Hill checkpoint and pressed a button to open the security gate and drove his car through without being identified and without having his vehicle inspected. He later apologized.

41st Parliament

Following the 2011 election, Poilievre was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. On July 15, 2013, Pierre Poilievre was appointed to Cabinet by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as Minister of state for democratic reform after a recent Cabinet shuffle.

Union Dues and Union Disclosures

Poilievre has been a critic of unions and the Public Service Alliance of Canada in particular, advocating that union members be given the ability to opt out of union dues. This came after the regional sectors of that union endorsed the separatist Parti Québécois in the 2011 Quebec provincial election. Poilievre remarked,

“I accept the results of the election,” said Poilievre. “But I can’t accept a union representing public servants working for the government of Canada which forcefully takes money out of the pockets of Canada’s public servants to support parties that want to break up the country. How can it be in the interests of public servants to support the breakup of Canada?”

Poilievre has also supported Conservative MP Russ Hiebert's private members bill C-377, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act (labour organizations). The legislation advocates for an increased schedule and scope of disclosure for every Canadian labour union.

Fair Elections Act

Poilievre introduced Bill C-23, known as the Fair Elections Act, into the House of Commons on February 4, 2014. The bill immediately received widespread criticism, in part because of provisions that could make it more difficult for many citizens to vote. After a number of weeks in which many other experts expressed their concern and criticisms — including former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley, former Auditor General Sheila Fraser, and dozens of Canadian and international political experts — Poilievre stepped up his attacks on Marc Mayrand, the Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Canada, by accusing him of wanting "more power, a bigger budget and less accountability." In the same appearance before the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Poilievre went on to accuse Mayrand of "fighting to retain this power, making some incredible claims and inventing some novel legal principles to do it." The bill was passed and has received royal assent.

2014 Ottawa Shootings

On 22 October 2014, Poilievre was present at Parliament Hill during the attack on the House of Commons by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. He, along with the Prime Minister and many other MPs, barricaded themselves in the Conservative Caucus meeting room. He was one of a number of MPs who broke down flag poles and fashioned them into spears to ward off the assailant should he force his way inside. Later, when he and follow Conservative ministers and MPs met at the Foreign Office, Poilievre brought along his spear as a memento.

42nd Parliament

Poilievre was re-elected in the newly re-drawn riding of Carleton in 2015, although his margin ahead of the Liberal candidate was much closer than in previous elections, at less than 2000 votes. He was the only Conservative MP elected in Ottawa.

In early 2016, Colin Jayantha Perera, a constituent of Poilievre's who had end-stage kidney failure, had arranged for his nephew, a matching donor, to visit Canada from Sri Lanka to donate him a kidney. However, the visitor visa of Perera's nephew was denied. Perera then approached Poilievre, who then asked then-Immigration Minister, John McCallum, for a rarely-granted minister’s permit to let the nephew visit for the operation, which was granted.

On July 4, 2017, Poilievre entered into a Compliance Agreement with the Commissioner of Canada Elections, for failing to comply with the Canada Elections Act by "knowingly circumvent the prohibition on contributions to a registered party by ineligible contributors."