Pierre Poilievre was elected as the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on Saturday and fittingly, it was his far-Right racist ‘Freedom’ campaign that won him the lead on the first ballot. With that, the party would march behind him along the same path that Trump’s Republicans follow. Will the Conservative Party succeed under Poilievre’s command in the next general election? I doubt it very much.

By Promod Puri

Pierre Poilievre was elected as the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on Saturday and fittingly, it was his far-Right racist ‘Freedom’ campaign that won him the lead on the first ballot.

With that, the party would march behind him along the same path that Trump’s Republicans follow.

Will the Conservative Party succeed under Poilievre’s command in the next general election? I doubt it very much.

Unlike its neighbour, Canada leans more toward the political Left-Centre than the Right, especially on the far-Right platform on which Poilievre prefers to perform.

An ideologically motivated conservative, Poilievre’s goal is to make Canada the “freest” country in the world.

I don’t understand what that means. Poilievre embraces the “freedom convoy” protest and opposes vaccine and mask mandates.

If these are the freedoms, he talks?

Or he wants to free Canada from CBC by defunding its operation. He vowed to fire the governor of the Bank of Canada, responsible for the nation’s inflation. He wants freedom from the established Canadian institution guiding the country’s monetary affairs.

With that kind of freedom agenda, Poilievre would score the third consecutive loss after the 2017 and 2020 defeats.

Under his leadership, the Conservatives would again fail to imbibe the liberal culture from Canada’s multicultural treasure, especially in the vote-rich urban constituencies.

In its deal with the NDP to address the crucial social needs of Canada, the Liberal Party has moved towards the Left. It was an opportunity for the Conservative Party to occupy that space and present a progressive image of being central rather than traversing more and more towards the far-Right.

The next election is likely to take place in 2025.

It would decide the fate of the Conservative Party that has opted to let its leader walk the extreme-Right path in a multi-ethnic immigrant-rich nation.

Promod Puri is a veteran journalist and author based in Vancouver.