Draft:Pierre Poilievre as Leader of the Opposition
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| Official Opposition Leadership of Pierre Poilievre September 10, 2022 – present | |
| Monarch | Charles III |
|---|---|
| Cabinet | 44th Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet |
| Party | Conservative |
| Election | 2022 (leadership election) |
| Seat | Parliament Hill |
| Constituency | Carleton |
|
| |
Pierre Poilievre's tenure as Leader of the Official Opposition began on September 10, 2024, following his landslide victory in the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election. Poilievre's opposition frontbench provides parliamentary opposition to the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Under Poilievre's leadership, support for the Conservative Party of Canada has surged according to opinion polls, although his tenure has also been marred by several parliamentary controversies related to partisanship, parliamentary procedure, and foreign interference in Canadian politics.
Background and leadership bid
[edit]Tenure as Oppositon Leader
[edit]Shadow cabinet appointments
[edit]Poilievre unveiled his Shadow Cabinet on October 12, 2024, naming fifty-one Conservative MPs as critics of the Trudeau government. Melissa Lantsman and Tim Uppal serve as Deputy Leaders of the Oppsition, former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was appointed to the Opposition House Leader role, and Kerry-Lynne Findlay serves as the caucus whip.[1] The preceding Conservative leader Erin O'Toole requested to not be included in the Shadow Cabinet, and became a backbench MP until his resignation from the House of Commons in August 2023.
Policies and other events
[edit]Parliamentary activities
[edit]Motions of non-confidence
[edit]Feud with Bell Canada
[edit]Foreign interference investigations
[edit]Party discipline
[edit]On November 20, 2024, the CBC reported that several Conservative Members of Parliament anonymously reported that Poilievre was imposing many restrictions on what his caucus members could speak about, which events they were to attend, and barred them from 'fraternization' with non-Conservative parliamentarians.[2] This included Conservative MPs being forbidden from promoting a federal housing fund in their own constituencies. Seventeen Conservative members of parliament wrote to the Liberal Housing minister requesting a portion of the fund be used in their communities, which Poilievre responded to by outing them in a press release, stating that members of his caucus were not to promote the Housing Accelerator Fund, and banned them from applying for the funds on behalf of the municipalities in their ridings.[3] There were also several occasions where Conservative MPs seemed to rapidly changed their stances on issues when they did not align with the interests of Poilievre. In an interview with the CBC, Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh initially opposed a snap election in September 2024 due to it conflicting with the 2024 Saskatchewan general election, but changed his mind after only a few days when he called for "an election on the carbon tax now" during a Conservative Party press release.[4]
Election results
[edit]Since becoming the Leader of the Conservative Party, there have been ten federal by-elections in Canada. Under his leadership, the Conservative Party has won five by-elections, most notably the June 24, 2024 by-election for Toronto—St. Paul's, which saw the Conservatives win the riding after a thirty-one year period of Liberal MPs representing the riding.
Since March 21, 2024, Poilievre has continously attempted to bring down Trudeau's government in order to have a snap election prior to the fixed election date (October 20, 2025) through several motions of no-confidence. The minority Liberal government has survived each vote so far due to support from the New Democratic Party, and the Bloc Quebecois on some occasions.
List of by-elections
[edit]| Date | Riding | Candidate | Votes | % | Position | Result | Total seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 12, 2022 |  Mississauga—Lakeshore
|
Ron Chhinzer | 9,215 | 37.14% |  2nd
|
█ Liberal hold | 118 / 338
|
| June 19, 2023 |  Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount
|
Mathew Kaminski | 2,936 | 13.51% | 3rd
|
█ Liberal hold | 117 / 338
|
| Oxford
|
Arpan Khanna | 16,688 | 42.92% | 1st
|
█ Conservative hold | ||
 Portage—Lisgar
|
Branden Leslie | 20,250 | 64.95% | 1st
|
█ Conservative hold | ||
| Winnipeg South Centre
|
Damir Stipanovic | 6,100 | 23.70% | 2nd
|
█ Liberal hold | ||
| July 24, 2023 |  Calgary Heritage
|
Shuvaloy Majumdar | 15,803 | 65.54% | 1st
|
█ Conservative hold | 118 / 338
|
| March 4, 2024 | Durham
|
Jamil Jivani | 18,610 | 57.44% | 1st
|
█ Conservative hold | 118 / 338
|
| June 24, 2024 | Toronto—St. Paul's
|
Don Stewart | 15,565 | 42.11% |  1st
|
█ Conservative gain[a] | 119 / 338
|
| September 16, 2024 | LaSalle—Émard—Verdun
|
Louis Ialenti | 3,676 | 11.59% | 4th
|
█ Bloc Québécois gain[a] | 119 / 338
|
| Elmwood—Transcona
|
Colin Reynolds | 12,448 | 44.05% | 2nd
|
█ New Democratic hold |
See also
[edit]- Official Opposition in Canada
- Premiership of Justin Trudeau
- Keir Starmer as Leader of the Opposition, official opposition leadership in the United Kingdom from 2020 to 2024
References
[edit]- ^ "Your Conservative Shadow Cabinet". Conservative Party of Canada. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
- ^ Noel, Christian (November 20, 2024). "Poilievre's office maintains tight control over what Conservative MPs say and do". CBC News. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
- ^ Noel, Christian (November 14, 2024). "Conservative MPs frustrated after Poilievre bars them from promoting housing fund: sources". CBC News. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
- ^ La Presse canadienne (September 20, 2024). "Un député du PCC fait marche arrière sur le manque d'appétit pour des élections fédérales". Radio-Canada. Retrieved November 22, 2024.