March 28,2025
Canada opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, with a chance of becoming prime minister in elections to be held April 28, has ruled out ever negotiating with Tehran, telling Iran International that the Islamic Republic cannot be trusted.
“I’m not interested in negotiating with the Islamic Republic,” said Poilievre. “I don’t trust them. I think they are liars.”
“I believe they [Iran] will promise anything you want to get their oil and gas back on the world market,” Poilievre said. “Then they will use all the revenues from those sales to fund terrorism and attempt to obliterate our values.”
Canada has topped the Islamic Republic’s enemies list for two decades. Canada is subject to more hate language than any other country in the world, even the United States. Canada won that position after 2003 when it responded with a fury to the death of Iranian-Canadian Zahra Kazemi in regime captivity.
Canada severed relations with Iran in 2012 and continues to draw the Islamic Republic’s ire chiefly for sponsoring the annual UN General Assembly resolution that slams Iran for a lengthy list of human rights violations.
While Poilievre did not name President Trump in his remarks, it was evident he would not follow his US counterpart’s Iran policy of pushing hard for bilateral negotiations.
“I think it’s a terrible regime,” said Poilievre. “It’s the most dangerous sponsor of terror anywhere in the world.”
The Conservative leader went on to accuse Iran’s government of exploiting Canada as a haven for their agents, threatening the lives of anyone they perceive as a critic. He vowed to deport any non-citizen or non-permanent resident with ties to the Islamic Republic.
In October 2024, Poilievre, in response to a reporter’s question, said potential preemptive Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be a “gift to humanity.”
A dozen polls taken in late March generally shows the ruling Liberal Party leading Poilievre’s Conservative Party by anywhere from two to eight points.
