Pierre Poilievre

Pierre Marcel Poilievre (ˌpɔːliˈɛv ; born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the leader of the Official Opposition since 2022. Poilievre has served as a member of Parliament (MP) since 2004. Poilievre was born in Calgary, Alberta. He studied at the University of Calgary, earning a Bachelor of Arts in international relations. He then worked for Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day. Poilievre was first elected to the House of Commons following the 2004 federal election; he at first represented the Ottawa-area riding of Nepean—Carleton and then represented the re-established riding of Carleton. After holding various parliamentary secretary posts from 2006 to 2013 under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Poilievre served as Harper's minister for democratic reform from 2013 to 2015 and as his minister of employment and social development in 2015. From 2017 to 2022, Poilievre served as the shadow minister for finance and briefly as the shadow minister for jobs and industry. He ran for leader of the Conservative Party in its 2022 leadership election, winning on the first ballot. Poilievre has described himself as a libertarian-minded member of his party. Poilievre was born on June 3, 1979, in Calgary, Alberta to a 16-year-old mother, who was of Irish Canadian descent on her father's side. Poilievre was adopted by schoolteachers Marlene and Donald Poilievre, who is French Canadian, shortly after being born. Poilievre was raised in a modest household in suburban Calgary. He played ice hockey and went on camping trips with his younger brother, Patrick, who had also been adopted from their biological mother by Marlene and Donald. Growing up, Poilievre worked as a paperboy for the Calgary Sun. He attended Henry Wise Wood High School, and was on a wrestling team until he was forced to stop due to a temporary shoulder tendinitis injury, at the age of 14. Following the injury, Poilievre attended an Alberta Tory riding-association meeting as a new hobby.