Canada’s Conservative Party Elects Pro-Crypto Leader

Canada’s Conservative Party has elected pro-crypto politician Pierre Poilievre as its new leader.

Poilievre, who supported the anti-vaccination protests by a group of truck drivers in Ottawa this year, has repeatedly criticized the Liberal government’s overreaching in individuals’ cases. He has vowed to return control of Canadians’ money into his own hands, blaming the central bank for the country’s high inflation.

A supporter of cryptocurrencies, Poilievre has said that if elected prime minister, he would help unravel the regulatory web that currently governs cryptocurrencies through consultation with provincial governments, and sees crypto as a way to escape the country’s inflation. He demonstrated his support for cryptocurrencies by buying a shwarma at a restaurant in Ontario using crypto.

During the protest, police froze transactions involving 253 cryptocurrency addresses as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers to disperse the protesters.

Poilievre targets the central bank

Poilievre won the election on Saturday with 68% of party members’ votes after criticizing the country’s establishment class for stifling individual rights. He promised to help those who are barely making ends meet if elected as prime minister.

But his approach to blaming the central bank for inflation is misplaced, believes a professor from McGill University in Montreal. Inflation in Canada is primarily due to remnants of supply chain problems experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, latent consumer demand for easing of restrictions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The central bank raised interest rates by 3% on 7 September 2022 to curb inflation.

Still, it seems Poilievre is unlikely to get off the crypto train anytime soon. Much of his political influence has come through the support of those who distrust government institutions, a philosophy that fueled the rise of bitcoin after the 2008 financial crisis.

In February 2022, at the height of the trucker protest, the Toronto Star reported that Greg Foss, who raised $830,000 worth of bitcoin for the protest, was in frequent conversation with Poilievre regarding “sound money”.

Poilievre also appeared on a podcast by Robert Breedlove, a crypto enthusiast who compares central bank policy to slavery.

Is Poilievre’s political ideology necessary for crypto to flourish?

Needless to say, Trudeau’s Liberal Party believes that Poilievre’s adopted American political ideology would harm the country’s economy, health and security. And, one might argue, is not absolutely necessary for the uptake of cryptocurrency, as a report published by the central bank in June 2022 testified.

The report revealed that the number of bitcoin holders in Canada tripled from 2020 to 2021. It also emphasized the importance of global regulatory coordination to prevent criminals from exploiting loopholes. The Bank of Canada has also appointed an official to oversee regulatory efforts around stablecoins, while the Canadian Securities Administrators have mandated that all crypto companies wishing to do business in Canada agree to comply with anti-money laundering, cyber security and Know-Your-Customer rules.

For now, it seems unlikely that the Liberal Party would be toppled, despite Trudeau’s oversight of a minority government. Another party, the left-leaning New Democrats, said it would help establish a Liberal government, provided Trudeau continued to roll out policies to benefit the most vulnerable Canadians.

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