OTTAWA, Canada— Following Justin Trudeau’s Monday morning announcement of his resignation as Liberal Party leader, his successor will face Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre. Current polling shows the Conservatives enjoying significantly higher support (47% versus 18% for the Liberals) among committed voters in this year’s general election.

First elected in 2004, 45-year-old Calgary native Poilievre assumed the Conservative leadership in 2022. His party’s rising popularity reflects growing public dissatisfaction with 53-year-old Trudeau’s Liberal government, in power since 2015.

A core Conservative message is “bringing home the Canadian dream.” Poilievre has criticized the Liberals’ policies as “extremely radical,” describing them as “basically authoritarian socialism” in a recent interview with prominent podcaster Jordan Peterson.

Poilievre asserts that Canadians are “sick and tired of grandiosity,” arguing that “horrendous, utopian wokeism” benefits “egotistical personalities on top” rather than ordinary citizens.

Trudeau has drawn comparisons between Poilievre and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, likening the Conservative leader’s approach to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign.

However, Poilievre has rejected Trump’s suggestion of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state, stating in a pre-Christmas interview with a Canadian broadcaster, “I have the strength and the smarts to stand up for this country and my message to incoming President Trump is that first and foremost, Canada will never be the 51st state of the U.S.”

The incoming Trump administration will likely engage with a Poilievre-led government, given the Conservatives’ strong position to win the next Canadian election, potentially as early as this spring. A no-confidence vote, possible when the House of Commons resumes on March 24th, could trigger a national election.

In his Peterson interview, Poilievre acknowledged Trump’s “very aggressive” negotiating style, noting his preference for winning. However, Poilievre stated that as prime minister, he would pursue “a great deal that will make both countries safer, richer and stronger.”

Poilievre’s plans include expediting approvals for oil refineries, liquefied natural gas plants, and nuclear facilities, and increasing Canada’s electricity surplus with the U.S.

He also criticized Canada’s current oil and gas sales to the U.S. as a “ripoff,” claiming Canada is “ripping itself off” due to “enormous discounts.”

A Poilievre government would also implement “the biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history,” with a policy to keep “habitual offenders” incarcerated.

Regarding foreign policy, the Conservatives’ 2023 platform outlines plans to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S. to address illegal entries into Canada and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (currently, Canada’s embassy is in Tel Aviv).

Responding to Trudeau’s resignation, Poilievre declared that this “changes nothing,” and that a Conservative government would “take back control of our border, take back control of immigration, take back control of spending, deficits and inflation. Take back control of our streets by locking up criminals, banning drugs, treating addiction and stopping gun smugglers.”

Poilievre concluded that the Conservatives “would secure borders, rearm our forces, restore our freedom and […]. “