Pierre Poilievre
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| Pierre Poilievre | |
Member of Parliament
for Nepean—Carleton | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2004 election | |
| Preceded by | David Pratt |
|---|---|
| Born | June 3 1979 Calgary, Alberta |
| Political party | CPC |
| Spouse | Jenni Byrne |
| Residence | Nepean |
| Profession | Businessman, communication consultant, policy analyst |
| Cabinet | Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board |
Pierre Poilievre, MP (born June 3, 1979 in Calgary, Alberta) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is currently a member of the Canadian House of Commons, having been re-elected for the riding of Nepean—Carleton in the federal election of 2006. Poilievre is a member of the Conservative Party, and is currently Canada's youngest Member of Parliament.
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[edit] Background
Poilievre studied International Relations at the University of Calgary, and was a participant in campus debating forums while attending university.[citation needed] He did not graduate.
Before entering politics, Poilievre was a co-owner and operator of 3D Contact Inc., a polling and consulting firm. He has also worked for Magna International, focussing on communications, and has done public relations work in Toronto. Prior to his election, Poilievre did policy work for Canadian Alliance MPs Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney, and worked as a full-time assistant to Day.
In 1999, Poilievre contributed an essay on public policy to the book At Stake, a collection of essays from Magna International's As Prime Minister Awards Program.
[edit] Political career
Poilievre won the Conservative Nepean—Carleton nomination in 2004, at the age of 25, after provincial MPP John Baird turned down suggestions that he should seek the federal nomination in the riding that he then represented in the provincial legilsature. In a closely watched race, Poilievre defeated Liberal cabinet minister David Pratt by almost 4000 votes, or about 5.5% of the total. The Liberals were reduced to a minority government in the election.
On January 23, 2006, Poilievre was re-elected with 55% of the vote, beating his Liberal challenger by over 19,000 votes. The Conservatives formed a minority government at the national level.
Poilievre was voted the hardest-working constituency MP in the 2005 Hill Times Annual Political Survey. He was voted the hardest-working MP in the 2006 Hill Times Annual Political Survey.
On February 07, 2006, Poilievre was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Hon. John Baird, the President of the Treasury Board.
In the summer of 2006, Poilievre campaigned along with Treasury Board President John Baird for a measure that would reduce the Ottawa-area Queensway-Carleton Hospital's rent payments. Under the terms of the new measure, the hospital would pay only $1 per year, down from $25,000. [1]
[edit] Parliamentary Activities
In May 2006, Poilievre's interest in the British rock group Coldplay caused him some unwanted attention when Liberal MP, Marcel Proulx accused him of violating Canada's Office Holder code of conduct by accepting a concert ticket with a $350 value, to see the band perform in Ottawa. Because the value of the ticket was over the $200 maximum permitted for gifts under the code, this would have represented a violation. However, it was later confirmed that Poilievre had paid for his own ticket along with other entertainment expenses including transportation and refreshments.[2]
Poilievre was caught on tape using foul language directed at colleagues in a committee meeting,[3] and making unparliamentary arm gestures and was accused of mocking the Speaker of the House of Commons [4] [5] in June 2006. Poilievre later apologized for making gestures within the Commons;[6] no apology has been made for unparliamentary language within Committee.
Also in June, 2006, Poilievre's behaviour within the Legislative Committee on Bill C-2 was sharply criticized by opposition members as "insulting" following exchanges between himself and a witness giving testimony—a point of concern that was recognized and cautioned by the Committee chair.[7]
On November 26, 2007, Poilievre announced that the federal government will pledge $35 million (out of the $105 million projected cost) for the construction of the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge a proposed road link between Barrhaven to Riverside South, two growing communities in the south end of the city of Ottawa. While many local municipal politicians have cited the bridge as a priority in order to relieve traffic congestion from the nearby Hunt Club Road bridge, Ottawa City Council refused the funding has it was later reported that the funding for the bridge was used from a $200-million investment announced in 2004 from the previous Liberal government that was intended for an extension of the city's O-Train rail line towards Barrhaven which was canceled in 2006 shortly after the municipal elections but the money was still available for future transit projects. The City asked for new funding on top of other investments. The Ontario government refused to pledge money for the bridge unless the new bridge would include rapid-transit.[8]
[edit] February 2007 Radio Controversy
Poilievre's behaviour came under intense national scrutiny in February 2007. During a radio interview with CFRA on February 22, 2007, he asserted that the Liberal party was pandering to extremist members within its own ranks:
"Now we know that a lot of extremist groups and people with some very hard left-wing views have advocated for a long time that these provisions should be scrapped. Now a lot of those people supported Stéphane Dion in the leadership. A lot of them are in Stéphane Dion's caucus. And, for example, there are members of Stéphane Dion's Liberal caucus who want to legalize Hezbollah ..."[9]
The Liberal Party demanded an apology, and announced that it would be consulting with its lawyers on whether to take civil action against Poilievre.[10] Ultimately, no legal action was taken.
General Election (January 23, 2006)
Nepean--Carleton (Ontario)| Candidate | Party | Number of Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lori Gadzala | Green Party of Canada | 3,976 | 5.5 |
| Michael Gaffney | Liberal Party of Canada | 20,111 | 28.0 |
| Laurel Gibbons | New Democratic Party | 8,274 | 11.5 |
| Pierre Poilievre | Conservative Party of Canada | 39,512 | 55.0 |
General Election (June 28, 2004)
Nepean--Carleton (Ontario)| Candidate | Party | Number of Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Brown | New Democratic Party | 6,072 | 9.1 |
| Pierre Poilievre | Conservative Party of Canada | 30,420 | 45.7 |
| Brad Powers | Marijuana Party | 561 | 0.8 |
| David Pratt | Liberal Party of Canada | 26,684 | 40.1 |
| Chris Walker | Green Party of Canada | 2,886 | 4.3 |
[edit] References
- ^ CBC Ottawa. "Queensway hospital gets break on rent", CBC, July 31, 2006.
- ^ According to 192.197.82.155 (whois: Canadian House of Commons PARL-C1)
- ^ Political Notebook, June 9, 2006.
- ^ CTV. "Harper urged to apologize for MPs' rude gestures", CTV, June 14, 2006.
- ^ Political Notebook, June 14, 2006.
- ^ Hansard June 14, 2006.
- ^ Hansard, Legislative Committee on Bill C-2, June 5, 2006 (time: 1745 ff.).
- ^ Adam, Mohammed. "Councillors feel 'used' by bridge funding offer", November 27, 2007.
- ^ The Toronto Star - Partial transcript of Poilievre interview: Feb. 27, 2007.
- ^ The Toronto Star - Liberals 'review legal options' Feb. 27, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Pierre Poilievre's official website
- Read Pierre's 'At Stake' Essay
- Poilievre's Parliamentary Voting Record
- Parliament Webpage
| Parliament of Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by David Pratt (Liberal) | Member of Parliament for Nepean—Carleton 2004–present | Succeeded by incumbent |
