Pierre Poilievre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pierre Poilievre | |
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Member of Parliament
for Nepean—Carleton |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2004 election |
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| Preceded by | David Pratt |
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| Born | June 3 1979 Calgary, Alberta |
| Political party | CPC |
| Spouse | Jenni Byrne |
| Residence | Ottawa |
| 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, the other founder being Calgary MLA Jonathan Denis. 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 legislature. 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 7, 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 chicken fingers.[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]
[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 ..."[8]
The Liberal Party demanded an apology, and announced that it would be consulting with its lawyers on whether to take civil action against Poilievre.[9] Ultimately, no legal action was taken.
[edit] Comments about Canadian Aboriginals
Poilievre suggested that native people need to learn the value of hard work more than they need financial compensation. Poilievre made the comments during a radio interview June 11, 2008, just hours before Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for abuse Aboriginal children endured in once-mandatory residential schools.[10]
Poilievre said "Now along with this apology comes another $4 billion in compensation for those who partook in the residential schools over those years,." Poilievre went on to question the merits of related compensation payments. "Now, you know, some of us are starting to ask: 'Are we really getting value for all of this money, and is more money really going to solve the problem?'. My view is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self reliance. That's the solution in the long run -- more money will not solve it."[10]
Poilievre also told CFRA News Talk Radio that aboriginal chiefs have too much control. "That gets to the heart of the problem on these reserves where there is too much power concentrated in the hands of the leadership, and it makes you wonder where all of this money is going. We spend 10 billion dollars -- 10 billion dollars -- in annual spending this year alone now, that is an exceptional amount of money, and that is on top of all the resource revenue that goes to reserves that sit on petroleum products or sit on uranium mines, other things where companies have to pay them royalties. And that's on top of all that money that they earn on their own reserves. That is an incredible amount of money.[10]
Anita Neville, Liberal aboriginal affairs critic, called Poilievre's comments "disgraceful" and "ignorant." "I invite him to take a tour of many of the First Nations communities in this country and see how people are living," she told The Canadian Press. "The irony of something like this on the day of the apology... . And I fear it reflects an attitude or a view that is prevalent among many members of that caucus."[10] Opposition MPs called for Poilievre's resignation. [11] According to news reports, many Conservative MPs were also angry at Poilievre.[12]
The day after his appearance on CFRA, Poilievre rose in the House of Commons to apologize for his statement saying, "Yesterday on a day when the House and all Canadians were celebrating a new beginning, I made remarks that were hurtful and wrong. I accept responsibility for them and I apologize."[12]
Liberal Tina Keeper, an aboriginal MP from Churchill, branded Mr. Poilievre "a national embarrassment," and said she had received more calls from constituents about Mr. Poilievre's remarks than she had about the prime minister's request for forgiveness for the assimilation policies of the residential-school program.[13]
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 |
| 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.).
- ^ The Toronto Star - Partial transcript of Poilievre interview: February 27, 2007.
- ^ The Toronto Star - Liberals 'review legal options' February 27, 2007.
- ^ a b c d CTV.ca News Staff. Tory MP under fire over comments about natives. CTV.ca. Retrieved on 2008-06-12.
- ^ Liberal.ca. Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre Must be Fired for Insult to Residential School Survivors. www.liberal.ca. Retrieved on 2008-06-12.
- ^ a b "Conservative MP says sorry for 'hurtful' remarks", CTV News, June 12, 2008
- ^ Juliet O'Neill, with files from Tim Shufelt. Area Tory's 'racist' remarks cloud apology. www.canada.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
[edit] External links
| Parliament of Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by David Pratt (Liberal) |
Member of Parliament for Nepean—Carleton 2004–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
