SuppliedThe truth of the world is decided by whoever has the power to — Pierre Poilievre believes he’s on his way to becoming that person. Recently, Poilievre regained his role as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) with an 87.4 per cent approval rating. And yet, even boasting a seemingly high number, he is still not the leader of Canada. Plainly put, this is because Conservatives believe so strongly in a past that hasn’t worked in years.
There were roughly 2,700 delegates voting on Poilievre’s leadership race, and it gave him a higher approval rating than former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But these approval ratings don’t really mean much at all. The CPC had every person associated and affiliated with their party voting on this matter. If anything, for how highly Poilievre thinks of himself, his approval rating should be much higher than it is. Besides all that, though, Poilievre retaining his role as leader of the CPC goes to show that nothing is going to change for him and his party.
Even Harper has begun to push back on the party he was once a part of. As of late, Harper has been giving speeches commemorating the time he was in office and how he looks at Canada now. Harper, over and over again, is trying to act as a mediator between parties in Canada and asking for them to come together in light of separatist threats. And all of this both overshadows Poilievre’s leadership renewal and how bad he is at being a politician.
Some have likened him to a Donald Trump-esque figure as he often resorts to pithy and snide remarks against his opponents. This was most notable during the 2025 election, when Poilievre constantly referred to now-Prime Minister Mark Carney as “Carbon Tax Carney” and “Sneaky Carney.” Obviously, this tactic did not work, and the reason why is very easy to understand: Poilievre simply doesn’t lie like Trump.
Lying is one of the most powerful things people can do. Even if a person is outed as a liar, they can continue lying. This can happen so many times that the truth becomes a figment of everyone’s imagination. And that is just how Trump operates every single day. There is even an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to things Trump has said that are either misleading or flat-out wrong. If Poilievre is not-so-subtly taking notes from Trump, he needs to do a better job at lying. Because, as unfortunate as it is, that will win elections.
To be crystal clear, I am not condoning lying. I would really prefer it if politicians didn’t lie about every little thing. But they do, and they get away with it. Poilievre has always run on telling the truth, sticking it to the Liberals, and having no real actions to follow. Most importantly to note is that Poilievre’s truth-telling brings nothing to the table. He’s only fighting against a non-existent woke-ism. But this doesn’t win elections. All it does is firmly plant the CPC in the past as a party that doesn’t take itself seriously.
As is clear from the speeches Harper has been giving, and how Carney is working as Prime Minister, it should make sense why Poilievre isn’t in office. It should also make sense why he is so unlikely to win in any future elections. He simply won’t move on to something new or something that would work. But that is fully his to deal with as he sees fit. If Poilievre feels like telling preemptive truths, that’s fine. But it definitely won’t get him into the Prime Minister’s seat he so desperately wants.
