Pierre Poilievre, the Canadian Conservative leader, tried to ride the populist, anti-establishment wave similar to Donald Trump. He adopted a hard-edged, anti-Trudeau tone, courted the trucker convoy types, and pushed slogans like “Axe the Tax” and “Bring it Home” — trying to ignite working-class frustration into a political movement. But here's the rub: Poilievre tried to cosplay Trump without the chaos, charisma, or original energy. It came off like a clean-shaven accountant doing a MAGA impression.
Meanwhile, Trump’s re-emergence on the world stage actually undercut Poilievre’s knock-off brand. Canadians aren’t as brashly tribal as Americans, and Trump’s re-entry reminded them what full-spectrum populism actually looks like: dangerous, polarizing, and global in impact. Canadians saw Poilievre not as a bold leader, but as someone importing American extremism, minus the spark. A milquetoaste demagogue. Ignore the Canucks here hating on jeets, you dont see it in reality/the outside.
Worse, Poilievre lacked Trump’s working-class mythology. Trump, for all his gold toilets, talked like a blue-collar guy. Poilievre? Career politician. Polished. Bookish. He tried to wear populism like a rented costume, and Canadians could smell the cosplay.
So when Trump reasserted dominance — legally embattled, but still magnetically present — it made Poilievre’s act seem hollow. Trump poured cold water on it just by being himself. The original always outshines the imitation, especially when the imitation is Canadian and cautious.