Poilievre doesn’t care what ‘we’ think

If you’re waiting for Pierre Poilievre to start acting like a “prime minister-in-waiting,” you’ve not been paying attention. While Poilievre is more John Diefenbaker than Stephen Harper, this is not your Father’s Progressive Conservative party.

Politics traditionally draws the type of person who cares deeply about what others think of them. That’s only natural. To get elected, you need to be more popular than everyone else on the ballot.

With almost 18 months under his belt as Conservative leader, it’s becoming clear that Poilievre has a certain superpower that sets him aside from most of his predecessors, whether they be Liberal or Conservative: he doesn’t care what “we” think of him.

That’s not to suggest Poilievre isn’t hustling for votes. His daily tour schedule presents gruelling evidence of a tireless campaigner who thrives when speaking to a room of working-class families, farmers or new Canadians.

That the guy is wired differently presents a unique challenge for the Liberals as they prepare for the 2025 campaign. How do you attack someone who doesn’t care how the alleged “elites” view him?

Poilievre’s lack of interest in what “we” think of him is on full display in his daily media scrums. Having — correctly — determined that the press gallery will never be his allies, Canadians are getting accustomed to Poilievre’s anti-charm offensive when responding to media questions.

There’s nothing new about Conservative leaders believing that most journalists have an agenda, but Poilievre’s playfully combative tone demonstrates that he sees no utility in trying to earn the media’s respect. This self-awareness is a far cry from most of his predecessors, who held out at least some vain hope that they could eventually win over the Fourth Estate.

Former prime minister Harper might have been stiff with the media, but he couldn’t be bothered to be pugilistic, no matter how biased a journalist might seem.

Canadians under the age of 30 never saw Ronald Reagan or Paul Martin in action. Having been raised on a diet of Joe Rogan or Donald Trump, young voters have a different benchmark about what a “normal” politician-journalist interaction looks like.

Poilievre has clearly determined that it’s more effective to punch than take a hit. An approach that’s not hurting his growing lead over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with younger voters.

Bay Street is also getting a dose of Poilievre’s superpower.

For generations, Tory leaders have wanted to be on excellent terms with the Toronto-based folks who “run” the Canadian economy. Whether it was Brian Mulroney or Stockwell Day, the leader made sure he got to know Tony Fell, then CEO of RBC Dominion Securities. A high-profile Tory fundraiser with unmatched connections throughout corporate Canada, it would have been unnatural for an aspiring Conservative PM to not seek his favour.

If they were lucky, Fell might even invite the putative PM to share a Montecristo No. 4 cigar in his unique, purpose-built, Bay Street office.

Whether you were Robert Stanfield from Nova Scotia or Joe Clark from Alberta, gaining the support of Toronto’s power-brokers served two purposes: you built a brain trust of business leaders to bounce policy ideas off of, while ensuring that the party’s coffers would never be bare.

For Poilievre, his party’s grassroots fundraising has never been more successful. Bay Street is definitely rallying behind him and business leaders seeking Trudeau’s ouster are throwing money at the Tories. Should he win the next election, Poilievre will owe nothing to Corporate Toronto.

After some failed early outreach, bank CEOs got the message: Poilievre’s just too busy to meet them, regardless of their omnipresent role in our economy. Despite his “little guy from Shawinigan” persona, even Jean Chrétien took the occasional call from the titans of Canadian finance.

For Poilievre, electoral success runs through the families of those who turn wrenches for a living, not the guys who wear French cuff dress shirts. That he doesn’t care what “we” might think is his superpower.

The Conservative leader has clearly determined that it’s more effective to punch than take a hit. An approach that’s not hurting his growing lead with younger voters

MARK MCQUEEN IS A TORONTOBASED ENTREPRENEUR WHO HAS WORKED ON BAY STREET FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. HE IS THE FORMER BOARD CHAIR OF TWO FEDERAL AGENCIES AND WAS AN ADVISER IN THE BRIAN MULRONEY PMO. HE IS A FREELANCE CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST FOR THE STAR.