At 20 years old, Pierre Poilievre already had a road map for Canada.

The 45-year-old leader of Canada’s Conservative Party laid out his vision for a low-tax, small-government Canada in an essay contest about the actions he would take as prime minister.

“A dollar that stays in the hands of consumers and investors is more productive than a dollar that politicians spend,” he said.

Pliyev is one step closer to making his vision a reality, even endorsing the article in a recent interview with conservative psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson.

Pliyev’s conservatives have held a significant lead over the struggling Liberals in national opinion polls for months, suggesting they would win a majority government if an election were held today.

Now, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, and with elections likely to be held soon, Poliyev is promising a return to “common sense politics.”

To Canadians frustrated by the economic downturn and housing and affordability crises, he is offering an alternative to what he calls Trudeau’s “authoritarian socialism.”

If he wins, he will become part of a wave of right-wing populist leaders trying to overthrow sitting governments in the West.

While comparisons have been drawn to Donald Trump — and he has fans among the U.S. president-elect’s circles, including Elon Musk — Poliyev’s story is very much a Canadian one. story.

Poilievre was born in the western Canadian province of Alberta and given up for adoption by his 16-year-old mother. He was taken in by two school teachers and raised in a Calgary suburb.

“I have always believed that the voluntary generosity of family and community is the greatest social safety net we can have,” he told Maclean’s in 2022, looking back on his early life.

“That’s where I started.”

As a teenager, Poliyev showed an early interest in politics and lobbied for local conservatives.

While studying international relations at the University of Calgary, Poliev met Stockwell Day, who served as a cabinet minister under former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

At the time, Day was seeking leadership of the Canadian Alliance — a right-wing party that originated in Alberta and became part of the modern Conservative Party after a merger in 2003 — and hired Plijevre to help with off-campus Exhibition work.

“He impressed me from the start,” Day told the BBC. “He seems like a level-headed guy but full of energy and the ability to grab people’s attention.”

Day’s leadership bid was successful and he set out for Ottawa with Poliyev’s aide. Sometime later, Poliyev walked into his office on a cold winter night and asked what he thought about running for office.

In 2004, at the age of 25, Pliyev won a seat in Ottawa, becoming one of the youngest elected Conservative MPs at the time. He has held the seat ever since.

In Ottawa, Poliev was nicknamed “Skippy” by peers and enemies alike for his youthful enthusiasm and acerbic rhetoric.

He has a reputation for being “extremely combative and partisan,” said Randy Besco, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

Day said Poliyev showed his diplomatic side after a closed-door meeting of the Conservative caucus.

“Pierre was always good at saying, ‘Well, you know what? I didn’t think of that,’ or he would listen and say, ‘Have you thought of that?'” Day said.

Still, confrontational politics became the cornerstone of Poliyev’s public image. When he becomes leader of the Conservative Party in 2022, he will make vitriolic remarks about Trudeau to connect with disaffected voters.

This sometimes caused him trouble. In April, he was expelled from the House of Commons for calling the prime minister a “madman”.

Pliyev told the Montreal Gazette in June that he was an “outspoken” fan.

“I think when politeness and truth conflict, I choose the truth,” he said. “I think we’ve been too polite to the political class for too long.”

His combative style has also been divisive, and he has been criticized for oversimplifying complex issues for political gain.

While Canadians are open to the opposition leader’s message and see him as a change from Trudeau’s progressive style of politics, just over half have an unfavorable view of him, According to the latest polls.

Since Trudeau announced his resignation, Poliyev has also had to change his outlook in order to prepare for the inevitable showdown between him and the next Liberal leader.

The Conservative leader has been described as a “soft” populist because of his direct appeal to Canadians and criticism of establishment elites, including corporate Canada.

He came out in support of those protesting vaccine mandates during the 2021 “Freedom Caravan” demonstrations that gridlocked Ottawa for weeks.

He promised “the largest crackdown on crime in Canadian history” and pledged to put repeat offenders behind bars.

On social issues, Pliyev rarely expressed his opinion – something Professor Besco said was typical of senior Conservatives who considered the topic “a losing issue”.

Although Poilievre voted against legalizing same-sex marriage in the early 2000s, he recently said it would remain legal if he were elected.

The Conservatives also do not support legislation to regulate abortion, although they allow MPs to vote freely on the issue.

“I will lead a small government that will mind its own business,” Poliyev said in June.

among Public debate in Canada in recent months On immigration, the party said it would link the level of new immigrants to the number of new homes built and focus on bringing in skilled workers.

Poliyev’s wife, Anaida, arrived in Canada as a child refugee from Caracas, Venezuela.

The Conservative leader has been pushing for the integration of new immigrants, saying Canada does not need to become a “hyphenated society.”

One of his key promises – to slash Trudeau’s national carbon pricing plan, which he sees as a financial burden on households – has raised questions about how his government will tackle pressing issues like climate change.

Canada is also facing the threat of high tariffs after Trump takes office later this month, and U.S.-Canada relations are expected to be a major challenge.

Plijevr hit back Trump hints at Canada becoming 51st country US state vows to “put Canada first.”

Otherwise, he has not been too involved in foreign policy, with his message focused on restoring the “Canadian Dream.”

Above all, Poliyev said he wants to eliminate the “grandiosity” and “utopian awakening” that he believes defined the Trudeau era, in favor of “grandiose and great things for ordinary people.”

“I keep saying the same thing,” he told Mr Peterson.