Just like their Silicon Valley counterparts, some Canadian tech billionaires are trying to push Canada to the right
This past weekend, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre took a short break from bashing the Liberal Party and endlessly parroting his highly-disciplined platform to heap praise on ecommerce platform Shopify.
In a post on X, Poilievre wrote that Shopify is “the most spectacular entrepreneurial Canadian success story in this century,” and singled out CEO Tobias Lütke and COO Kaz Nejatian, who have both attacked the Liberal government, for having “the backbone to stand up and fight for all entrepreneurs.”
Back in May, Poilievre had lambasted corporate executives in front of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, saying their lobbyists were “utterly useless” and they needed to make their case to Canadians, as he tried to position the Conservative Party as the true champion of “the working-class people of this country.”
Six months later, his adoration for Shopify is only reinforcing that message. “Corporate Canada needs to learn from them in every way,” he posted, suggesting executives should be following their example with harsh criticisms of their own on the governing Liberals.
Many Canadians have spent the past few months glued to the U.S. election cycle, watching Donald Trump succeed in his bid to return to the White House and remake American politics. One of the central stories of that cycle has been the solidifying alliance between Trump’s MAGA movement and the billionaires of Silicon Valley.
We’ve gone from seeing Elon Musk jump around like a fool on stage at a Trump rally to now having him head a fake government department that could have very real impacts on policy and spending decisions—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
As we watch the reconfiguration of the oligarchy ruling the United States in real time, far too few Canadians have realized a similar story is already playing out at home.
Poilievre seems poised to seize power within the next year, and his embrace of an increasingly radicalized tech leadership should be ringing alarm bells. (more...)
Pierre Poilievre is cozying up to Canada’s far-right broligarchs
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