From the family of a former prime minister, to a group of tech bros acting a lot like Elon Musk, the Poilievres are lending an ear to Canada’s rich and powerful
When it comes to Liberal Leader Mark Carney, it’s fairly obvious who’s around him. Bankers, business leaders, economists and Liberal party insiders. It’s about the same Laurentian elite that supported Justin Trudeau.
Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre portrays himself as an outsider. But how true is that?
At Stornoway, their taxpayer-funded mansion, Pierre and his wife Anaida Poilievre hosted former prime minister Brian Mulroney and his wife for dinner in 2022. Since then, Anaida has been more publicly partisan than most wives of prominent Canadian politicians, sending campaign emails and giving speeches.
Either that same night or on another occasion, Mulroney’s son Mark, a Scotiabank exec, and his wife Vanessa Mulroney were at Stornoway. That meeting led to Anaida Poilievre and Vanessa Mulroney setting up a new organization together.
Vanessa Mulroney co-runs a PR company for luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, and is connected with extremely rich Torontonians. The Toronto Star reported in 2016 she had pillows in her Rosedale manor with text on them, “I like champagne and caviar and cash.”
(Pierre Poilievre is also in with two other Mulroney siblings: Ontario PC MPP Caroline Mulroney supports him openly, while Global News Radio host Brian Mulroney echoes the Conservative leader’s talking points and had him on the show for a softball interview during the current election campaign.)
Vanessa Mulroney and Anaida Poilievre’s organization is called Lead Her Forward, and it supports women entrepreneurs.
In fall 2024, Lead Her Forward launched with events in a number of cities hosted in Shopify’s offices, as reported by The Breach. Anaida Poilievre praised Shopify at the time, and invited the president of Shopify and his wife to speak at the organization’s Montreal launch.
Pierre Poilievre, for his part, has also been cozying up to the Shopify guys, praising them and their business repeatedly. (more...)
No comments:
Post a Comment