My Thoughts on Poilievre’s February 2, 2025 Speech on the US Tariffs. Spoiler Alert: They Are Not Complimentary.

Today, Pierre Poilievre finally spoke about the tariffs the US is imposing on Canada.  I listened to his full speech and as a Canadian who is standing with my country, my provincial Premier and my Prime Minister, I was appalled by what he had to say and the manner in which he said it.  During this very difficult time, I look to my leaders for plans and solutions, as well as solidarity with all Canadians and I saw none of that today. 

To recap what was a dismal speech, he did speak out against the tariffs and about our history of support for the US.   

He went on to call Canada’s decision making “dumb”, an immature and factually incorrect thing to say about his country in the middle of one of the worst financial situations it has faced.  He is the Leader of the Opposition and at the very least, Canadians should expect that he stands with and supports Canada, not calls it dumb.  Juvenile name calling only reinforces Poilievre’s lack of seriousness and competence for the job of Prime Minister. 

He said his message to the Liberal government that it should recall Parliament and to put aside partisan interests, something he has repeatedly demonstrated that he is not capable of and further reinforced during this speech.  The government does not need to recall Parliament to retaliate against the tariffs or negotiate with the US government and its representatives.  

If anything, it has been a relief to not have Poilievre and his insult hurling, heckling, name calling MP’s wasting Parliamentarians’ time and taxpayer money with their nonsense, leaving our leaders to address the crisis at hand.  There is no legal reason for Parliament to be recalled at this time.  The government has the tools to deal with the tariffs and as per the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday, is implementing them. 

Poilievre accused the Liberal party of being in a crisis and in a power struggle.  This is objectively untrue.  The Liberal party is currently holding a Leadership race with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet firmly in charge until that occurs.  This is a normal process in Canadian democracy. 

He referenced a “common sense” Canada first plan which includes tariffs on the US, something the Prime Minister already announced yesterday.  He repeatedly used this term as it is a Conservative Party/Poilievre slogan which is irrelevant to and demeans the seriousness of what he was trying to address.  He called for massive “bring it home” tax cut to save jobs, crush inflation, boost the economy and create jobs and said we need to make “stuff” at home.  Again, using a campaign slogan to reference the economic threat facing Canada shows an immaturity and lack of understanding of the seriousness of this situation and is insulting to Canadians who will be impacted by these tariffs.  His use of the term “stuff” is childish and demonstrates his lack of understanding of Canada’s economy. 

Poilievre’s proposed tax cuts will benefit corporations and will not benefit ordinary workers and Canadians who are going to lose their jobs.  He has been notoriously silent about his policy proposals for Canada, should he become PM and with that recommendation, he showed his hand and confirmed that he will, if he gets elected, be a PM who benefits wealthy corporations, a typical Conservative economic ideology which has been debunked as having any benefit to ordinary people.   

He again proposed cutting carbon tax and the capital gains inclusion rate hike.  This has been his ongoing mantra and now that the Liberal Leadership race has its candidates, the top candidates have already said they will remove these, making Poilievre’s statements irrelevant and quite frankly, ridiculous. He talked about knocking down interprovincial trade barriers which has been proposed by the Premiers and PM in their Council and he wasn’t able to muster a word of support for what they are doing. 

He wants to increase pipelines, port expansions, LNG plants, mines, factories.  The PM and Premiers yesterday put forward their economic diversification and expansion plans and Poilievre’s sound hollow, given the lack of reality associated with building further pipelines in a greening world and the lack of details about how he intends to achieve his other proposals. 

Poilievre spoke about not tolerating lobbyists which is another one of his campaigns, yet it is documented he meets regularly with lobbyists including at his $1725 per person campaign meetings in private homes throughout Canada.  He then spoke about lobbying friendly US Governors and legislators to pressure he administration to back down on the tariffs.  This is contradictory to his negative statements about lobbyists.  I seriously wonder if he takes his job seriously when he makes these statements. 

Poilievre also spoke about rebuilding our military.  Interestingly, it was his government that decimated spending to the Canadian military and veterans and he offers no specifics about what this means or how to achieve it.  He references people who are in Canada illegally and again, provides no details on how he would deal with this. 

He ended his speech with another slogan “lets bring it home” which is another completely non-specific term he uses which has no practical meaning in terms of outcome; it was more campaigning in a time when Canada needs leadership with proposed solutions and plans to a very complex and serious problem. 

Poilievre’s language was insulting and simple and unbecoming of a national leader but consistent with his abysmal behaviour during his term as Leader of the Opposition.   

Poilievre presented himself as he always does, as a man devoid of compassion for his fellow Canadians.  He did not demonstrate one iota of empathy for what so many Canadians are going to experience:  job loss, higher prices, fear, and insecurity.  

Poilievre did not give one word of support or solidarity for the actions of the federal or provincial governments in response to the tariffs.  He is the Leader of the Opposition and I understand his job is to “oppose” but Canada is under serious threat and I expect solidarity among Canadian political leaders during this time. 

There was nothing he said that inspired confidence in his ability to deal with the US.   He provided several of his usual slogans and campaign phrases as he has for two years.  He gave a negative, robotic, factually incorrect rambling speech that inspired no confidence in his ability to lead.  He looked like he sucked a sour lemon when answering reporters’ questions, predictably insulted a female CBC reporter without answering her question, then just walked away when he was done.   

Poilievre’s relevance has been slipping as his poll numbers worsen and this presser further confirms his complete irrelevance to the decision making and political landscape of Canada.  There was little media coverage of what he had to say because he provided nothing of substance.  

In my opinion, Poilievre belongs nowhere near the Prime Minister’s office.