Pro-Crypto Politician Now Leads Canada's Conservative Party, Has Great Chance To Become Prime Minister
JAKARTA - Canadian politician and well-known crypto advocate, Pierre Poilievre, has reportedly taken over the Canadian Conservative Party, which looks set to see the current government lose in the next federal election.
The pro-crypto politician reportedly won the leadership of the Canadian Conservative Party by a landslide victory on Saturday, September 10 by securing 68.15% of election points up for grabs and far surpassing his closest opponent Jean Charest who received only 16.07% of the vote.
Poilievre has been a member of the Conservative Party since 2003, then won his first election in 2004. Since then he has served as Member of Parliament for seven terms and has held various roles including Shadow Minister of Finance and Minister of Labor and Social Development.
Poliievre has been known as a proponent of crypto and Bitcoin (BTC). It also advocates for more financial freedom through tokens, smart contracts, and decentralized finance.
His latest appointment means that Canadians may be able to vote for a pro-crypto leader in the next federal election, which will take place on or before October 20, 2025, to determine the position of Canada's 45th prime minister.
Earlier this year, Poilievre urged Canadians to elect him as their leader to “make Canada the blockchain capital of the world.”
In March, the YouTube channel BITCOIN posted a video of Poilievre at Tahinis Restaurant during his leadership election campaign talking about his support for crypto, saying, “We have to keep cryptocurrencies legal.”
“People should have the freedom to choose other money. If the government is going to misuse our money, we should have the freedom to use other, higher quality cash,” he said, quoted by Cointelegraph.
He also briefly talked about the idea of simplifying crypto taxes, rules and regulations so that there are consistent laws across Canada. In the same video, he buys chicken shawarma using the Lightning Network.
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However, Poilievre has offered very few specifications on how his party will implement crypto regulation and adoption if they topple Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's current Liberal Party.
Canada's Conservative Party currently holds 16 of the 105 seats in the Senate and 119 of 338 in the House of Commons, while Trudeau's Liberal government has a minority government with 160 seats in the House of Commons. To form a majority government requires at least 170 seats in the House of Commons.
Canada plunged into the global digital asset space when its parliament passed a national law on digital currencies in 2014.
The Canadian supervisory board also made a new pre-registration submission for the crypto platform in August this year.
According to the Bank of Canada Financial System Review released in June 2022, only a small number of Canadians currently hold BTC. About 13% of Canadians have some in 2021, up from 5% in 2020.