Why Pierre Poilievre is firing racism charges back at Justin Trudeau — and sticking up for controversial Tory MPs

OTTAWA—Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stood by three of his MPs Monday after they took part in a meeting with a German lawmaker whose views Poilievre himself called “racist and hateful.”

His refusal to publicly discipline or disparage Colin Carrie, Dean Allison or Leslyn Lewis marks a test point for Poilievre as he hits the six-month mark as leader with thus far considerably less of the internal strife which characterized his predecessor’s tenure.

Some of that strife traces back to the three MPs in question — all were outspoken critics in one way or another of COVID-19 vaccines and mandatory vaccine policies — issues that bedevilled former leader Erin O’Toole.

How O’Toole managed dissent in caucus was one of the main challenges that eventually led to his dismissal as leader of the party.

It’s been left to Poilievre to find another path to deal with the many factions within the so-called Big Blue Tent.

The backlash to the decision by his MPs to meet with Christine Anderson came swiftly, first from prominent Jewish organizations who called out her party’s history of Islamophobic and anti-immigrant views.

Anderson, who is a member of the European Parliament, has said she doesn’t consider Islam a religion.

Meanwhile, her party — the fifth largest in the German legislature — is opposed to immigration, and some members actively downplay the Holocaust.

After the issue of the meeting became public, Poilievre sought to distance himself and his MPs from Anderson, with his office issuing statements claiming they were unaware of her views.

Through a spokesman, Poilievre also said it would be better if Anderson had never visited Canada in the first place, saying she wasn’t welcome.

Poilievre — despite repeated questions on the weekend and on Monday from reporters — hasn’t repeated his statement in his own words.

Instead, he and the MPs have pushed back on accusations they were condoning racism — including criticisms from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to that effect — by pointing to Trudeau’s own past transgressions, including his wearing of black and brown face as a younger man.

When asked Monday whether he’d remove the three MPs from his caucus, Poilievre was blunt.

“No,” he said.

When pressed as to why not, he continued: “I’ll tell you this, speaking of caucus. If ever I find out that any of my members of Parliament or candidates have dressed up so many times in ugly racist costumes that they can’t remember them all, they will be thrown out.”

Pivoting to accusing Trudeau of past racist behaviour has become a stock approach for Poilievre whenever accusations related to his own party’s positions surface.

But in this instance, it was actually Lewis who got to that claim first, and in so doing raised a few eyebrows among Conservative party insiders.

The same day Poilievre was issuing statements condemning the meeting with Anderson, Trudeau ripped into him and the party, saying they needed to “really disassociate themselves from hateful, vile, intolerant rhetoric,” or explain why they allow it.

After the Conservatives’ statements went out, Lewis gave a scathing interview to the Toronto Sun, lambasting Trudeau for daring to call her a racist and calling out his own record.

But she also let slip in the interview she hadn’t spoken to the leader about the issue — despite the fact Poilievre’s office had issued a statement in her name.

To some in the party, that was taken as a “shots fired” against Poilievre’s office and a threat she and others won’t be quiet in the face of efforts to speak on their behalf.

On Monday, Poilievre also made a choice to stand by another MP who has bristled in the past about the leader’s supporters trying to keep him quiet: long-time Conservative MP Ed Fast.

During the leadership race, Fast was helping rival Jean Charest, and had openly condemned some of Poilievre’s messaging on the economy, arguing he was hurting the party’s credibility.

He later resigned his position as finance critic, and then told the CBC that while in that role, he was under pressure by Poilievre supporters to stop raising certain financial issues.

After Poilievre won, Fast did not get a new critic’s post.

But the two men stood together Monday — along with Sen. Denise Batters, who O’Toole once threw out of caucus — to discuss Fast’s private members’ bill on medical assistance in dying or MAID.

The bill would exclude people from accessing medical assistance to end their lives if their only condition was mental illness; the ability for them to do so is expected to go into effect in about a year.

That Poilievre lent his support to the bill — leaders don’t always publicly champion backbench legislation — is both about the substance of the bill and a signal.

Conservatives are very opposed to the expansion of the MAID system in Canada, and Poilievre said Monday a government led by him would outright repeal that element.

That he’s put Fast up to lead that debate, insiders said, is a sign Poilievre is actively repairing the fault lines created by the leadership race.

Whether a fault line has opened up in caucus over the Anderson meeting may take time to play out.

Under O’Toole’s watch, MPs did boot out one of their own, Derek Sloan, who had been causing them political grief for months, despite the fact O’Toole himself once stood by him.

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