Who is Pierre Poilievre? Canada's Conservative leader seeking to become next prime minister after Trudeau exit

First elected to the House of Commons in 2004, 45-year-old, Calgary-born Poilievre, 45, became leader of the Canadian Conservatives in 2022 and has seen his party grow in popularity as Canadians have grown tired of 53-year-old Trudeau, whose Liberals formed government in 2015.

"People are sick and tired of grandiosity," said Poilievre. "Horrendous, utopian wokeism" serves, he said, "egotistical personalities on top," rather than "common people."

But while Poilievre's populist messaging has generated comparisons to Trump's political approach, the Canadian Conservative leader has pushed back the president-elect's recent comments about making Canada the 51st state.

The incoming Trump administration will almost assuredly deal with a Poilievre government as the Conservatives are poised to win the next Canadian election, which could come as early as this spring. When the House of Commons resumes sitting on March 24, the opposition parties are likely to defeat the minority Liberal government in a vote of no-confidence, which would trigger a national vote.

Poilievre said that he would accelerate approvals to build oil refineries, liquefied natural gas plants and nuclear facilities, and increase its electricity surplus with the U.S.

He also told Peterson that Canada sells its oil and gas to the U.S. at "enormous discounts," which he characterized as a "ripoff," in which "Canada is ripping itself off."

A Poilievre-led government would also embark on "the biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history" and that "habitual offenders will not get out of jail anymore," the Conservative leader said.

On foreign affairs, the Canadian Conservatives' 2023 policy document states that it would, as government, "take the required steps to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S. to close the gaps relating to illegal entries in Canada," and that the Conservative Party recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Canada's embassy in Israel is currently in Tel Aviv.

In a statement released in response to Trudeau's resignation on Monday, Poilievre said that "this changes nothing" and that a Conservative Canadian government would "take back control of our border, take back control of immigration, take back control of spending, deficits and inflation. Take back control of our streets by locking up criminals, banning drugs, treating addiction and stopping gun smugglers."