Why I wrote a book about Pierre Poilievre

Before getting into today’s newsletter, which is about my forthcoming biography of Pierre Poilievre, I wanted to let you know about events I’ll be speaking at in the next couple of weeks to discuss the book. I’m going on a mini-tour to Calgary (May 29), Toronto (May 30), and Ottawa (June 5), thanks to sponsorship from the Modern Miracle Network and Canada Strong and Free Network. Details and tickets (which are limited) are available here.

Ever since I announced I was writing a book about Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, people have asked me why.

The short answer is that my publisher asked me to, which is far less thoughtful a response than I suspect people are looking for when they pose the question.

But from that first call with Ken Whyte, the founder of Sutherland House, I was fond of the idea and itching to get started on it.

With Pierre Poilievre: A Political Life, set for release in less than a week, I wanted to explain just why I took on the project.

Most people are familiar with the rote, abbreviated version of Poilievre’s biography that the Conservative leader often cites in speeches: the son of an unwed teenage mother, adopted by schoolteachers in Calgary, husband of a Venezuelan immigrant, and so on.

But surely we should know more about our political leaders. Much of Justin Trudeau’s life before entering office was in the spotlight. Poilievre is, to many Canadians, still an unknown.

It was also apparent that Poilievre was a different type of political figure. He broke the mould for Conservative leaders and showed an energy in his campaign that Canadian politics hasn’t seen in quite some time.

Hence the infamous rallies during Poilievre’s 2022 leadership campaign. As I describe in the book, these shocked even the members of Poilievre’s own team. Hundreds – sometimes thousands – of people flocked to see Poilievre wherever he went. Photo lines stretched on for hours as people clamoured to get their moment with Poilievre.

The rallies were significant for their size, but also their composition.

These people weren’t part of existing email lists or party membership rolls. Many weren’t even Conservative traditionally. This was a reflection of an organic, grassroots movement more than it was the product of top-tier political organizing.

As Poilievre’s longtime adviser Jenni Byrne told me, several were “people who, if they have ever voted before, I believe probably voted Liberal once in 2015 for marijuana legalization.” Others were conventional NDP supporters. Many were former Conservatives who had broken ranks with their party in 2019 or 2021 to support the PPC. And crucially, many had never before taken an interest in politics before let alone had a Conservative membership.

This isn’t to discount the organizing efforts by Poilievre and his campaign, which were formidable. They had to channel and shepherd this groundswell into the resounding first ballot victory that came in September 2022. Moreover, Poilievre wouldn’t have been the beneficiary of this surge had he not been laying the groundwork for the moment for his entire adult life.

Why Poilievre has always been such an effective politician is largely due to his understanding of where the people he strives to represent are, whether it’s his constituents in Carleton or potential Conservative members nationally.

My book started out as a biography of a compelling political figure who, if current polling holds, is poised to be Canada’s next prime minister. As I started researching it, it also took shape as the story of Canada’s modern conservative movement.

Poilievre’s story is inextricable from that of the Conservative Party of Canada. Both have their roots in Alberta’s populist Reform politics of the 1990s and both have evolved as the Canadian political landscape has.

Poilievre’s early political roles included sitting on Preston Manning’s Reform riding board in Calgary and later joining Manning’s Reform internship program, where he worked for then-rookie member of Parliament Jason Kenney.

Many of his present relationships were forged in those politically formative years. His worldview was also honed then, which is why so much of what he talks about today bears remarkable similarity to things he said two decades ago.

As I remarked in an interview with Paul Wells, I deliberately focused on facts rather than analysis in my book as one of the frustrations I’ve had with coverage of Poilievre has been that it’s so opinion-heavy. It’s easier to call him “far-right” or “populist” than to pore through decades of essays, speeches, interviews, and letters to the editor to formulate a picture of his philosophy, as I endeavoured to do.

My book fills in the gaps on events in his life that have never been reported elsewhere and also brings previously unknown context into things that are known (such as his infamous comments about residential schools, which I note were picked up in a Toronto Star piece this week).

The resulting work has something for everyone. People who love Poilievre will surely like the book because it is about him. People who are uncertain of him or even hostile to him will also, I contend, draw insights about who Poilievre is and why he is the way he is.

Pierre Poilievre: A Political Life is available for preorder on Amazon, Indigo, and directly through Sutherland House.