OTTAWA — For the second year in a row, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been chosen as The Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year.
Editors across the country placed Poilievre at the top of the list in 2024. He captured just over a quarter of the vote among a group of 10 candidates.
“The worm has turned on the current government and Poilievre has tapped into the zeitgeist,” said Wendy Cox, the Globe and Mail’s deputy national editor for B.C. “Whether that means he’ll be an effective prime minister appears to be beside the point.”
Running miles ahead of his opponents in the polls throughout the year, Poilievre has cemented his position as Canada’s prime minister-in-waiting.
His fierce, carefully crafted sound bites aimed with precision at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the issues gripping Canadians has let him tap into the national mood at a time when Canadians are preoccupied with their finances and futures.
Hounding the government on the cost of living and housing crisis, he owned the narrative in Ottawa by way of message simplicity, and put Trudeau’s leadership of the Liberals on the ropes.
“Pierre Poilievre continues to frame the conversation in Ottawa, with Justin Trudeau switching policies trying to catch up,” said Rob Roberts, editor-in-chief of the National Post.
Poilievre also built up his party’s election war chest, crushing its previous fundraising records.
The party even poached a crown-jewel seat from Liberal fortress Toronto in the Toronto—St. Paul’s byelection in June. The vote was called to replace former cabinet minister Carolyn Bennett, whom Trudeau awarded a plum diplomatic posting.
The Liberals' Toronto byelection loss in June was followed by the loss of Montreal’s LaSalle—Emard—Verdun riding to the Bloc Québécois in September.
The Tories under Poilievre’s leadership have jammed up the House of Commons in a protracted procedural battle that effectively blocked the Liberal government from passing most of the remaining legislation on its agenda throughout the fall sitting.
Seemingly every week, Poilievre found new ways to get under the government’s skin in Parliament. In April, House Speaker Greg Fergus ejected Poilievre from the House for using unparliamentary language when he called Trudeau a “wacko prime minister,” then refused to take it back.
He constantly dared the other opposition parties to topple the minority parliament and go to the polls in an election over the Trudeau government’s capstone carbon-pricing policy.
Poilievre spent much of his summer criss-crossing Canada in a campaign-style tour, taking his “axe-the-tax” message and rallies on the road.
And while his multiple attempts to quickly bring down the government this year have failed, the man who honed his political skills as an attack dog in the government of prime minister Stephen Harper looks readier than ever for the next fight.
“With an election expected within months, the focus now is what we can expect from what the polls suggest is our prime-minister-in-waiting,” said Ken Kingston, news director at 989 XFM in Antigonish, N.S.
The embattled Trudeau notched second place in the annual survey, as he clings tightly to party leadership despite growing discontent in his caucus and the shocking departure from cabinet of his deputy, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Quebec singing superstar Celine Dion placed third after returning to the spotlight this year.
She was featured in a documentary on her fight against stiff person syndrome and wowed the world at the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympic Games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.
Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press