Americans don’t really want Canada to become the 51st state, but seem to like the idea of Pierre Poilievre becoming the country’s next prime minister.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may be grabbing the headlines, but the compliments are going to Poilievre. While the country waits to see what in-check Trudeau’s next chess move will be, much of the world is already looking at who opinion polls indicate will be Canada’s next prime minister.
Some like what they see from the Conservative leader.
It’s not a “Joe who?” situation that Joe Clark experienced when he took office in 1979 after a dozen years of Pierre Trudeau at the helm. This time around, not only do people in the United States and others around the world know Poilievre’s name, but they are impressed with him.
“He seems great,” the world’s richest human, Elon Musk, wrote Wednesday on X.
He was responding to a post from Canadian author and professor Gad Saad, in which he said, “I had forgotten what it was like to have a Canadian leader with a brain. Keep going, Pierre Poilievre.”
Not only did Musk agree with this, but so too did American billionaire hedge-fund CEO Bill Ackman, who posted to X by saying, “Make Canada Great Again,” and, “Pierre Poilievre is extremely impressive. He should be Canada’s next leader. The sooner the better.”
If it were only that easy.
Justin Trudeau may be on the political ropes, but appears to be as defiant as ever to stay on to try to fight an election in 2025. No matter how many people on his side of the aisle and entities like the Toronto Police Association tell him to pack it in, he seems stubborn and is not reading the room the same way.
But even if Trudeau decides to pass the mantle to Melanie Joly during his planned Christmas break of “reflection” or let political Judas Chrystia Freeland fight for the leadership with others, the problem the new-look Liberals will have is they are going up against a man who is ready to be the next prime minister and who much of the public want to be prime minister, according to polls.
Those polls show Poilievre is hugely popular here and celebrities like Joe Rogan are talking about him south of the border, too.
At a time when the U.S. went back to Trump, many are appearing to embrace Canada swinging to the right, too.
“Meet Pierre Poilievre: Canada’s Conservative front-runner and potential next PM,” influencer Mario Nawfal posted to X. “Poilievre is a lifelong conservative focused on freedom, smaller government, and personal responsibility. As a senior cabinet minister under Stephen Harper, he built a reputation for tackling red tape, lowering taxes, and opposing runaway spending.
“With a clear majority in current polls, his leadership promises bold economic reforms and a return to government as a servant of the people.”
Then there is Jeanine Pirro on Fox News’ The Five, who said, “His speeches are incredible.”
While the CBC and leftist media are not on board, there is much enthusiasm about the prospect of Poilievre finally taking the reins — especially in the U.S., where a lot of Trudeau’s problems began and continue to fester. When president-elect Donald Trump started needling Trudeau by calling him governor of the 51st American state, Trudeau and his faux-feminist shot at Americans for not voting in a female president has fallen flat.
His trip to Mar-a-Lago didn’t quiet down Trump and his massive deficit-ladened fall economic statement is certainly in contrast to the direction the U.S. is planning to go with Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy focusing on government efficiency. Poilievre is on board with such a philosophy; he wants to cut waste, crime, drugs and woke madness and spur on a time of economic growth instead of nasty, small and smug political correctness, lockdowns and cancel culture that spew from Trudeau and NDP power-broker Jagmeet Singh.
Poilievre is a ray of light at the end of long period of darkness. As people get to know him more, they are learning he’s not fostering division but instead wanting to move the country away from the Trudeau-style post-national state. He wants a Canadian renaissance where there is no need to talk about becoming an American state but be a strong, respected neighbour of the U.S. and an economic and security partner.
It’s time for Poilievre to be the new champion. The only remaining stumbling block is the old, beaten-down champ Trudeau is not quite ready to give up the belt.
At some point, Canadians will be the ones deciding on who they want to lead them.