Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is sporting a new look after the party underperformed in a series of recent byelections — a makeover the Tory leader says is driven by fashion input from his wife.
Poilievre has followed a strict business dress code in the nearly 20 years he’s been on Parliament Hill.
Rarely seen without a tie while carrying out his official duties, Poilievre has always shown a fondness for navy blue suits, the favoured uniform of both Bay Street and federal politics.
Until recently, the Tory leader wore glasses. He’s left them behind as he travels around the country on a summer tour to highlight Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s perceived failings.
The new look took effect shortly after the party narrowly held the London-area riding of Oxford, Ont. — seen as a Conservative stronghold — while putting up a poor showing in a potentially winnable suburban seat, Winnipeg South Centre, in the June byelections.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Niagara Falls, Ont. on Wednesday, Poilievre acknowledged he’s undergone a modest makeover.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in Niagara Falls on July 19, 2023. (Martin Trainor/CBC)
Dressed in a pair of bootleg blue jeans and wearing aviator sunglasses like those worn by Tom Cruise in the Top Gun movies, Poilievre said his wife, Anaida, thinks he “looks better without glasses so I have to keep her happy first and foremost.”
What’s up with Pierre Poilievre’s new look?
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has ditched the glasses and started wearing more casual clothes in a bid to widen his appeal to voters.
It’s not just the clothes. Poilievre, known for sparring with reporters, also accepted a follow-up question from CBC News about his image revamp.
“Normally we don’t allow supplementary questions,” Poilievre said, pointing to the majestic waterfall behind him, “but it’s such a beautiful place — you’ve softened my heart.”
“Whether or not I wear glasses, I have the best vision for the country. A vision for lower cost, more affordable groceries, safer streets. That’s the vision Canadians want. Let’s bring it home,” a smiling Poilievre added, using his campaign slogan.
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre rises in the House of Commons to apologize for making an obscene gesture in Ottawa on June 14, 2006. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)
A spokesperson for Poilievre didn’t respond to a request for further comment.
Chad Rogers is a longtime Conservative strategist who has known Poilievre for years. He said Poilievre isn’t strictly a buttoned-up politico.
Poilievre follows CrossFit, a high-intensity fitness regimen, and kicks back in casual clothes with his friends and close confidants, Rogers said — a side of the leader that’s not well known to voters.
Trudeau has 100 per cent recognition in public opinion polls, while Poilievre is a lesser-known figure, Rogers said. Poilievre has to define himself before his opponents do it first, he added.
“Pierre has a work persona. He wears a suit and tie and glasses and looks all business when he’s on the floor of Parliament. He looks pretty different when he’s out, you know, rolling a 200-pound truck tire,” Rogers said in an interview, referring to a CrossFit exercise.
“I don’t think Pierre Poilievre has a new look. I think we’re just looking at Pierre Poilievre more frequently.”
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre rises in the House of Commons to apologize for a comment about Indigenous people on June 12, 2008. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)
But the Conservative insider and lobbyist said Poilievre and his team are clearly making a concerted effort to present a more casual, laid-back image to voters who may be leery of him.
Poilievre isn’t the first conservative politician to adjust his image before asking voters to put his party in power.
Former Reform Party leader Preston Manning dropped the coke-bottle glasses and the ill-fitting suits when making a run for the country’s top job.
Reform Leader Preston Manning explains his party’s policies during a press conference in Vancouver in 1996. (Kim Stallknecht/Canadian Press)
Former prime minister Stephen Harper famously adopted sweater vests as a favoured fashion accessory to present a dressed-down, more domestic image to voters.
Poilievre’s more recent predecessors, Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole, slimmed down ahead of their respective federal elections.
O’Toole took up running and pounded the pavement every day on the campaign trail. He showed off his new physique in campaign literature. The 2021 Conservative party platform featured a cover photo of O’Toole in a tight black T-shirt.
Former Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole holds up his platform book as he speaks to supporters at a campaign rally on August 25, 2021 in Hamilton, Ont. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
Rogers said Poilievre could succeed where others failed because he’s making a pivot so far out from the next election.
“You can’t fatten a pig on market day. You can’t do everything at the last minute. You can’t suddenly become the perfect version of yourself weeks before an election and say, ‘By the way, I’m now slightly better-looking, slightly more active,'” he said.
“Previous leaders have failed when they’ve done it because it was very inauthentic. They said, ‘I’m embracing a cool new image,’ but they clearly didn’t look comfortable.”
Laura Peck is the vice-president of Transformational Leadership Consultants in Ottawa. She has led seminars and coaching sessions with politicians and business leaders on image and communications for 30 years.
Peck said Poilievre’s attempt at softening his image is a bid to win over sceptical voters who haven’t warmed up to him and his attack-dog style.
She said the changes have “happened really quickly” and are “really noticeable” to keen political observers.
Peck said Poilievre’s public speaking voice has also changed. He’s speaking in a “a slower, more measured tone,” she said — likely an attempt to woo voters turned off by the aggressive style he usually displays in the House of Commons.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre wears a cowboy hat during the Calgary Stampede parade on July 7, 2023. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)
“They probably did some focus group testing to figure out who their voter universe is. Where are the swing voters? The byelections didn’t go so well for them, so they’re really trying to pick up their vote. They’re making a change to try and give the party an edge and accumulate more voters,” she said.
“This is a brand strategy that all leaders go through. They just have to make sure Poilievre’s brand is authentic. He has to be able to live with it when all of this is over.”
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
