BURST
Former prime minister Stephen Harper endorsed Pierre Poilievre at a rally in Edmonton, Atla., on April 7. Here are the English portions of his speech:
Wow, what a fantastic crowd. Thank you, Edmonton. Thank you for being here. Thank you for making yourself a positive part of the most important decision that this country is going to make in decades. Canada right now needs change more desperately than it perhaps ever has, and it needs someone to lead that change, my friends. As someone who had the honor of serving as your Prime Minister, I know, I know that being Prime Minister is a trust. It is a trust to take this incredible country that our ancestors bequeathed us and to leave it stronger, more united, more compassionate and more confident than we found it. That’s what we did, my friends. But that is not the story of the past decade, and that has got to change for Canada.
You know, friends, I am in a unique position in this federal election. I am the only person who can say that both of the men running to be prime minister once worked for me, and in that regard, my choice, without hesitation, without equivocation, without a shadow of a doubt is Pierre Poilievre. I have known Pierre Poilievre for a quarter of a century, since he was a very young man. The first time I met him, I could see that he was smart, articulate, possessing tremendous passion for our country and strong convictions about sound public policy.
In 2004, during the time of my leadership, Pierre’s parliamentary career began. He went progressively from a backbench MP to a Parliamentary Secretary to a junior cabinet minister to a senior cabinet minister, and, of course, to party leader and — and in all of those roles, he worked, he fought and he learned. Because it is not just that Pierre excelled in all of those roles. In all of them, he grew. He got better and better. Friends, don’t let anyone tell you that he was born to be Prime Minister, or that he can just somehow parachute into the job fully prepared.
Political experience — elected, accountable political experience and the capacity for growth with that political experience — that is what Pierre has demonstrated for two decades, and that is the single most important characteristic a prime minister needs. And by the way, I say that as the guy who actually did lead Canada through the global financial crisis, I hear there’s someone else claiming it was him. It, it was, of course, our government, the late great Jim Flaherty, and our Conservative team, who were responsible for the day-t- day macro economic management during that challenging time. And friends, it’s no secret that our country faces today, another historically challenging time in the form of the Trump administration.
There is no sugar coating that, but the bulk of the problems that afflict our country — falling living standards, declining employment and housing opportunities, rising crime, the growing divisions between our regions and our people — these were not created by Donald Trump. They were — they were — created by the policies of three Liberal terms, policies that the present Prime Minister supported and wants a fourth liberal term to continue. Pierre has consistently opposed those policies, policies that have put costs up, accelerated crime, left our wealth in the ground and made our economy vulnerable and under America’s thumb.
And Pierre has just as importantly, long advocated the positive alternatives for change to axe those taxes, build homes, bring back jobs, get our resources to the whole world and stand up to Washington from a position of strength. Friends, friends, I believe that the challenge this country faces today from the United States, as real and serious as it is, should not be another excuse for Liberal failure. Instead, it should be a historic opportunity. That’s how we’ve got to see it, an opportunity to make Canada what it should be internally united, internationally connected, a truly independent economy with the highest living standards in the world, and with those benefits enjoyed not just by protected elites, but by all the people of this country, in every region of this country.
And do bring it home friends, because that goal, that goal, does not depend on Donald Trump. It depends on us. But we will only get there with leadership from a person who has an actual policy plan, from a person who has been right on all the big issues for a decade, and a person who has the energy and yes, the youth, to take us forward into a better, stronger and more united future. That person — that person — has been my colleague. He is my friend. He is our leader, and he is the next prime minister of Canada, Pierre Poilievre and Anna.