Pierre Poilievre, MP 07.16.2013

Pierre Poilievre, MP (/ˈpɑː.lə.vər/ paw-lə-vər by preference, though in general usage, the name is usually rendered pwah-lee-evr, closer to its French pronunciation; born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician and Minister of State (Democratic Reform)[1]. He is currently a member of the Canadian House of Commons representing the suburban Ottawa riding of Nepean-Carleton. First elected in 2004, Poilievre was re-elected in 2006 and 2008. Poilievre received the second highest vote total of any candidate in the 2008 election.


Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Politics
2.1 Federal Accountability Act
2.2 Children's Fitness Tax Credit
2.3 Queensway Carleton Hospital
2.4 Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge
2.5 Charitable work
2.6 On anti-Semitism
2.7 Union Dues and Union Transparency
2.8 Foul language in the Commons
2.9 Accusations of terrorism against Liberals
2.10 "Tar Baby"
2.11 Deliberate security breach
3 Electoral history
4 References
5 External links

Background[edit]

Poilievre was born in Calgary, Alberta. He studied international relations at the University of Calgary,[2] following a period of study in commerce at the same institution, but does not hold a degree.[3] While there he made close friends and alliances with his lifelong political mentors Tom Flanagan, Ted Morton and Barry Cooper of the "Calgary School", and met Stephen Harper also.

When Poilievre was running for election in 2004, he stated that he was co-owner of a political research company called 3D Contact Inc.. According to the company profile, these 'contacts' were Stephen Harper, Ted Morton and Stockwell Day. His partner was Jonathan Denis, who later became Minister of Housing in the Alberta government.

Poilievre also has done policy work for Canadian Alliance MPs Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney, and prior to running for office himself; worked as a full-time assistant to Day. He also worked for Magna International, focusing on communications, and has done public relations work.

In 1999, writing as Pierre Marcel Poilievre, he contributed an essay, "Building Canada Through Freedom" to the book @Stake—"As Prime Minister, I Would...", a collection of essays from Magna International's "As Prime Minister" awards program. He did not win the competition. At the time, he was editorially described as being in the second year of a Commerce program at the University of Calgary. His self-description was as "a political junkie with a passion for public debating and a special interest in international relations".[4]
Politics[edit]

In 2004, Poilievre stood as Conservative candidate in the riding of Nepean—Carleton. He defeated Liberal cabinet minister David Pratt by almost 3,736 votes. In 2006, Poilievre was re-elected with 55% of the vote, beating Liberal candidate Michael Gaffney by 19,401 votes. He has been re-elected in 2008 and 2011 with similar pluralities. Since 2006, he has been appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to various ministers including John Baird, the President of the Treasury Board and to Primer Minister Stephen Harper.

On July 15 2013, Pierre Poilievre was appointed to Cabinet by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as Minister of state for democratic reform after a recent Cabinet shuffle.[5]
Federal Accountability Act[edit]

As Parliamentary Secretary to Treasury Board, Polievre redrafted Canada’s whistleblower protection laws.[6] and worked with Minister John Baird to pass the Federal Accountability Act through the Canadian House of Commons. The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act was enacted to provide a process for public sector employees when disclosing abuses and wrongdoings within the federal government and protection of these employees from reprisals. The Federal Accountability Act received Royal Assent on December 12, 2006.[7] This act has been criticized for falling far short of the Conservative Party's pre-election promises [1] and effectively giving supervisors of whistleblowers continuing power over them, intimidating them from revealing all they know. [2]
Children's Fitness Tax Credit[edit]

Poilievre proposed a sports tax credit to then Opposition-leader Stephen Harper[citation needed]. The sports tax credit became a central plank in the Conservative Party's 2006 election platform.[8] The tax credit came into effect January 1, 2007. The tax credit allows parents to claim $500 per year for dependent children under the age of 16. Disabled children are eligible for the tax credit until the age of 18.[9]
Queensway Carleton Hospital[edit]

In the summer of 2006, Poilievre and Minister John Baird helped secure a $1 per year rent for the Queensway Carleton Hospital from the National Capital Commission. Before the brokered agreement, the QCH was paying the NCC $23,000 per year in rent. The lease of the hospital was to expire in 2013,[10] and the rent was set to increase substantially.[11]
Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge[edit]

Poilievre has actively advocated for the construction of the Strandherd-Armstrong bridge which is planned to span the Rideau river.[12] The eight-lane bridge will link Riverside South with Barrhaven[13] Poilievre secured one-third of the project's funding and acquired the neighbouring airport land needed to complete the Limebank Road expansion, tapping into funds already committed by former MP David Pratt for transportation projects in this riding.[14]

Construction began on July 27, 2010. The event was locally publicised, with politicians of all levels and parties involved attending the ground breaking...[15]
Charitable work[edit]

As a member of Parliament, Poilievre has been known for his involvement with a variety of charities. For his 30th birthday, Poilievre co-hosted an event with Ottawa Police Chief Vernon White to help raise funds for Harvest House Ministries and Project S.T.E.P.[16] Both charities do work within the greater Ottawa community to treat substance abuse and prevent addiction. Poilievre has also secured $1 million in funding for the city of Ottawa's drug treatment initiative.[17] In 2005, Poilievre helped raise $40,000 to help rebuild the Manotick legion after it was destroyed by fire in June of that year.[18]
On anti-Semitism[edit]

On February 13, 2009, Poilievre stood in the House of Commons to make a statement concerning incidents of alleged anti-Semitism at York University. Poilievre stated his belief that Canadians must address anti-Semitism on college and university campuses.


"Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government condemns the latest anti-Semitic outburst at York University. This week, chants of 'Zionism is racism' were heard, and one person was called a 'dirty Jew'. Sadly, incidents like these have become far too prevalent on college and university campuses across Canada. I am reminded of the violent left-wing mob that shouted anti-Semitic curses at a former Israeli prime minister and prevented him from speaking at Concordia University in 2002. I fear there is a rise among the extreme left of a new anti-Semitism. We see it in the instances that I mentioned. It lies below the surface of the public discourse waiting, waiting for us to let our guard down, waiting for the outrage to subside, waiting for the right time to flourish. We must confront it, fight it, and defeat it."[19]

Poilievre was sent by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Geneva, Switzerland in April 2009 to attend the Conference Against Racism, Discrimination, and Persecution. This conference was held at the same time as the Durban Review Conference, which had been criticized by the Prime Minister as full of "anti-Semitic rhetoric". During the same trip, Poilievre traveled to Poland to participate in the International March of the Living Mission, a tour of Nazi concentration camps to commemorate the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.[20]
Union Dues and Union Transparency[edit]

Poilievre has been a vocal critic of the political activities of the Public Sector Alliance of Canada and has advocated on behalf of union members for their ability to opt-out of union dues. This came after the regional sectors of that union endorsed the separatist Parti Québécois in the 2011 Quebec provincial election. Poilievre remarked,


“I accept the results of the election,” said Poilievre. “But I can’t accept a union representing public servants working for the government of Canada which forcefully takes money out of the pockets of Canada’s public servants to support parties that want to break up the country. How can it be in the interests of public servants to support the breakup of Canada?”[21]

Poilievre has also supported Conservative MP Russ Hiebert's private members bill C-377, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act (labour organizations). The legislation advocates for an increased schedule and scope of disclosure for every Canadian labour union.
Foul language in the Commons[edit]

In June 2006, Poilievre used foul language in a committee meeting,[22] and made unparliamentary gestures.[23][24] Poilievre later apologized for making gestures within the Commons;.[25]
Accusations of terrorism against Liberals[edit]

In February 2007, Poilievre suggested that there were members of Liberal caucus who wanted to legalize Hezbollah.[26]
"Tar Baby"[edit]

In May 2009 Poilievre was accused of having insensitively used the term "tar baby" in the House of Commons in reference to a policy of carbon taxation from which Poilievre suggested that Liberal leaderMichael Ignatieff would try to distance himself. Poilievre repeated the term in a prepared reply to a question from a member of his own party on taxation. A number of Opposition MPs demanded Poilievre make amends for the use of the term.[citation needed] Media coverage of the dispute noted that Poilievre was "the latest in a long line of politicians to take flak for uttering the words.”[27] Poilieve argued that the term was commonly used for "issues that stick to one."[28] Over the previous years, the term itself had been used by a number of prominent Canadian public figures to indicate a sticky situation.[27]
Deliberate security breach[edit]

In October 2010, Poilievre allegedly got impatient waiting at a Parliament Hill checkpoint and pressed a button to open the security gate and drove his car through without being identified and without having his vehicle inspected. He later apologized.[29] [30]
Electoral history[edit]
[hide]Canadian federal election, 2011
PartyCandidateVotes%±pp
Conservative Pierre Poilievre 43,428 54.42
Liberal Ryan Keon 20,146 25.25
New Democratic Ric Dagenais 12,955 16.24
Green Jean-Luc Cooke 3,266 4.09
Total valid votes 79,795
Turnout – %

[hide]Canadian federal election, 2008
PartyCandidateVotes%±pp
Conservative Pierre Poilievre 39,921 55.8
Liberal Ed Mahfouz 16,743 23.4
Green Lori Gadzala 7,880 11.0
New Democratic Phil Brown 6,946 9.7
Total valid votes 71,490
Turnout 69.4 %

[hide]Canadian federal election, 2006
PartyCandidateVotes%±pp
Conservative Pierre Poilievre 39,512 55.0
Liberal Michael Gaffney 20,111 28.0
New Democratic Laurel Gibbons 8,274 11.5
Green Lori Gadzala 3,976 5.5
Total valid votes 72,089
Turnout 75.8 %

[hide]Canadian federal election, 2004
PartyCandidateVotes%±pp
Conservative Pierre Poilievre 30,420 45.7
Liberal David Pratt 26,684 40.1
New Democratic Phil Brown 6,072 9.1
Green Chris Walker 2,886 4.3
Marijuana Brad Powers 561 0.8
Total valid votes 66,848
Turnout 75.1 %

References[edit]

^ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/a-full-list-of-the-new-and-old-faces-in-stephen-harpers-cabinet/article13219614/
^ Parliamentary biography of Pierre Poilievre; www.pm.gc.ca.
^ Alumni, staff elected to Parliament; University of Calgary.
^ @Stake—"As Prime Minister, I Would...". Magna International Inc., 1999, p. 57.
^ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/a-full-list-of-the-new-and-old-faces-in-stephen-harpers-cabinet/article13219614/
^ "Tories consider U.S.-style bounty for waste-busting whistleblowers".
^ "Bill C-2".
^ "Stand Up For Canada".
^ "Children's Fitness Tax Credit".
^ Ottawa Citizen (July 29, 2006). "Queensway hospital gets break on rent". Ottawa Citizen.
^ CBC Ottawa (July 31, 2006). "Queensway hospital gets break on rent". CBC.
^ "Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge – Project Overview".
^ "Canada-Ontario Partnership to Help Build the Strandherd Armstrong Bridge in Nepean Carleton". June 8, 2009.
^ "Poilievre victorious in Nepean-Carleton". Ottawa Citizen. October 15, 2008.
^ "Work begins on long-awaited Strandherd-Armstrong bridge project". Ottawa Citizen. July 27, 2010.
^ "Project S.T.E.P.".>
^ "Feds pump $1 million into Ottawa drug prevention, treatment".
^ "Manotick Directory: Royal Canadian Legion of Manotick, South Carleton Branch 314".
^ "Hansard".
^ "PM sends MP Pierre Poilievre to represent Canada at the Conference against Racism, Discrimination and Persecution in Geneva".
^ "After PSAC endorsement of PQ, Poilievre to push for right to opt out of union dues".
^ "Political Notebook, June 9, 2006".
^ CTV (June 14, 2006). "Harper urged to apologize for MPs' rude gestures". CTV.
^ "Political Notebook, June 14, 2006".
^ "Hansard June 14, 2006".
^ "The Toronto Star - Partial transcript of Poilievre interview: February 27, 2007". The Star. February 27, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
^ a b Crawford, A (2009-05-29). "No apology". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
^ "Tory MP under fire for 'tar baby' comment". CTV News. 2009-05-29. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
^ "Conservative MP blows by Hill security check". The Star. October 8, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
^ "At least Pierre Poilievre didn’t throw a shoe at Mounties". Globe and Mail. October 8, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
External links[edit]
Pierre Poilievre
Pierre Poilievre – Parliament of Canada biography