Pierre Poilievre

Pierre Marcel Poilievre (born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the Conservative Party and leader of the Official Opposition since 2022. First elected in 2004, he has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Battle River—Crowfoot since August 2025, and previously represented Carleton until his defeat in April 2025.

Poilievre was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, and moved to Ottawa in 2000 to work for Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day. He was first elected in the 2004 federal election, initially representing the riding of Nepean—Carleton before it was reconfigured as Carleton. In 2008, Poilievre graduated with a bachelor's degree in international relations from the University of Calgary. Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he held various parliamentary secretary roles from 2006 to 2013 before serving as minister for democratic reform from 2013 to 2015 and concurrently as minister of employment and social development in 2015. From 2017 to 2022, he was the Conservative Party's shadow minister for finance and was briefly shadow minister for jobs and industry.

Poilievre ran in the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, winning a landslide on the first ballot. As leader of the Opposition, Poilievre has primarily focused on economic issues, especially the cost of living in Canada. His policy positions include reducing the budget deficit, cutting personal income taxes, defunding the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and repealing what he describes as "anti-energy" laws, including the federal carbon tax on both consumers and industries. He is considered to be part of the Blue Tory faction within the Conservative Party, and has been described as a populist.

Poilievre led the Conservative Party in the 2025 federal election. The Conservatives held a large polling lead in the run-up to the election until the resignation of Justin Trudeau and rhetoric from President Donald Trump calling for Canada to become the 51st state. The party increased their seat total from 120 to 144 seats and achieved the largest share of the popular vote since its founding in 2003; however, Poilievre lost his seat to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy, and the governing Liberal Party led by Mark Carney was re-elected with a minority government. After losing his seat in Carleton, Poilievre contested the riding of Battle River—Crowfoot in Alberta, where a by-election was triggered following the resignation of Conservative MP Damien Kurek. Poilievre won the by-election on August 18.