Poilievre unscripted: He reveals the ‘secret sauce’ of his appeal

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To his supporters, Pierre Poilievre promises to deliver a long-awaited “common sense” revolution to Canadian politics.

To his detractors, he’s a slick career politician who has cozied up to conspiracy theorists.

In an interview with The Gazette on Thursday, a reporter sought to pierce through the veneer of his prepared and polished statements. In other words, what is the 45-year-old Poilievre really like?

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With the Conservative leader rising in the polls, how does he explain his newfound popularity? What is his secret sauce?

“Just straight talk,” he said after a pause. “Saying what I mean, meaning what I say.

“And I also come from a background that most Canadians can relate to. Like, you know, I was born to a 16-year-old single mom who put me up for adoption to school teachers, who raised me to believe that anyone from anywhere can do anything in Canada.”

He then brought up his wife, Anaida Poilievre, (née Galindo) who was born in 1987, in Caracas, Venezuela.

“My wife is a Montrealer who came here as a refugee. (She was among) six people in a two-bedroom basement apartment in the East End (of the city). And they’ve all gone on to succeed through hard work. And so we’ve lived the Canadian dream that everyone else just wants to live.”

To his supporters, Pierre Poilievre promises to deliver a long-awaited “common sense” revolution to Canadian politics.

To his detractors, he’s a smarmy career politician who has cozied up to far-right conspiracy theorists.

In an interview with The Gazette on Thursday, a reporter sought to pierce through the veneer of his prepared and polished statements. In other words, what is the 45-year-old Poilievre really like?

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With the Conservative leader rising in the polls, how does he explain his newfound popularity? What is his secret sauce?

“Just straight talk,” he said after a pause. “Saying what I mean, meaning what I say.

“And I also come from a background that most Canadians can relate to. Like, you know, I was born to a 16-year-old single mom who put me up for adoption to school teachers, who raised me to believe that anyone from anywhere can do anything in Canada.”

He then brought up his wife, Anaida Poilievre, (née Galindo) who was born in 1987, in Caracas, Venezuela.

And what about compassion? What is the link, if any, between compassion and the Conservative Party?

Poilievre took another pause to reflect on the question.

“I think that compassion is measured in results, not in words or gestures. So it’s not about, you know, standing up, putting your hand on your heart and bursting into tears to plead with people, to make them believe that you care more than the other guy.

“It’s about what do you actually deliver,” he added, ensuring that one take actions to ensure “that a single mom is not worried about getting evicted if she misses a shift at work. It means affordable food so that … families can go to the grocery store and buy a basket full of nutritious food. It means giving everyone a chance to work hard and fulfil their own dream.

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“That’s real compassion,” he continued. “It’s not about making big promises and then trying to pay for them with other people’s money. You know, it’s easy to be charitable with other people’s money. But it’s not very compassionate to the suffering people who are paying bills.”

Whether Poilievre, if he wins power in the next federal election, pursues a brand of truly compassionate conservatism remains an open question. For now, though, part of his appeal can be explained by his ferocious opposition to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau.

Deep down, how much does he personally detest Trudeau?

“Let me just think about that for a second,” Poilievre responded.

“I feel like he’s putting himself ahead of the country,” he said of Trudeau.

“Everything he does is about his personal aggrandizement. He’s an egomaniac. And his ideas are absolutely wacko. You know, he wants to take everybody’s money. He wants to build ever bigger bureaucracies that report to him. And he doesn’t care that he’s doubled our debt and mortgaged and threatened the future of our kids. With Trudeau, it’s just all about him.

“And we need a prime minister with a little bit of humility that will give people back control of their lives.

But what about Poilievre himself and that image of him as a glib put-down artist? Why do some people think he’s so smarmy?

Another pause.

“I think when politesse is in conflict with the truth, I choose the truth,” he replied. “I think we’ve been too polite for too long with our political class.”

aderfel@postmedia.com

twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel

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