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Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh found himself sparring over policy and politics with an unexpected interlocutor: Anaida Poilievre, wife of Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre.
The social media donnybrook was triggered by an incident that happened Tuesday, when Singh was accosted by several members of the public outside Parliament. In the exchange, which was captured on video, someone asks the NDP leader: “Are you voting non-confidence today?” Singh doesn’t respond and merely keeps walking. Another then says: “Corrupted bastard.” Singh then turns to confront two men, both of whom denied making the second remark.
Singh later took to social media to write about the fracas. “By now you’ve probably seen the video,” he wrote. “For days now, bullies in Ottawa have been spewing hate and harassing Canadians who don’t agree with them. An Indigenous woman being called a Nazi. Staff being harassed. Journalists being yelled at. That’s the country Pierre Poilievre wants.”
He added: “Me? I believe everyone should feel safe walking our streets. I believe we need to stand up to bullies and shut down hate. Canadians believe in lifting each other up. Not tearing each other down. Stand with us.”
Poilievre, who has worked as a political staffer in Ottawa, then responded with her own post: “I am sorry you were harassed today. Of course, it shouldn’t be that way. There’s better language, and a time and place to debate policies and what’s best for our country.”
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But she didn’t stop there. “Mr. Singh, what country are you exactly suggesting my husband wants? People out there are hurting. And yes, they are angry. But my husband has not been the man in charge for the last eight years. That’s your friend, Justin Trudeau. People didn’t wake up angry one day without reason. The policies implemented by the government that YOU support have caused much harm.”
She added: “Why are criminals released so easily? Why are so many court cases tossed? You want safe streets? Then why are you continuously supporting the harmful Liberal policies that caused this mess? You want to talk about the country Pierre Poilievre, my husband, wants? Then listen carefully to his policies and actually watch the man he is. I’m tired of you and your friends portraying my husband as someone he is NOT.”
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Poilievre then referenced her immigrant background (she was born in Venezuela) and her husband’s support of “strong women” and their two children.
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The Poilievres married on New Year’s Eve 2017 in a small ceremony in Portugal that she referred to as “an elopement” in an article she wrote for Pretty and Smart Co., the online women’s magazine she co-founded.
She had previously attended the University of Ottawa, after she and her family immigrated to Canada in 1995 when she was eight years old. She was a year into her communications degree at university in 2008 when she began working for members of the senate, according to her Linkedin profile.
In her response to Singh, she also referenced her husband’s desire for affordable housing, support for the military, and “a country where hard work pays off.”
“Mr. Singh, the only person you have to blame for the current state of our country and people’s mood and desperation is the man currently in charge, and those who keep him in charge.”
Both posts have been viewed several hundred thousand times, with more than a thousand comments on each.
Singh has made comments about Pierre Poilievre and his plans for Canada should be become prime minister. In a recent post on X he asked: “Do we want a country where we fight for one another and have each other’s backs? Or a country where Pierre Poilievre’s callous cuts take from you and give to the ultra-rich?”
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