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By: Ron Ledohowski
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“Politics should not be a lifelong career,” wrote a 20-year-old Pierre Poilievre in 1999. “Elected officials should not be allowed to fix themselves in the halls of power of a nation.”
And yet, 25 years later, Poilievre has done precisely that.
Since first being elected in 2004 at the age of 25, Poilievre has been a full-time federal politician—and little else. With more than two decades in office, he’s the epitome of the career politician he once criticized. And the benefits have been substantial: Pierre Poilievre is now entitled to a taxpayer-funded pension valued at over $200,000 per year, beginning as early as age 55. Indexed to inflation, that lifetime payout could exceed $3.4 million.
For contrast, the average Canadian won’t qualify for full Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits until age 65, and even then, the maximum payout in 2025 is about $1,364 per month—just over $16,000 annually. Many receive far less.
So while ordinary Canadians work into their 60s (or longer) for modest retirement income, Poilievre is on track to receive a six-figure annual pension decades earlier—funded by those same taxpayers.
But the story doesn’t end with irony—it deepens into farce.
After leading the Conservative Party into a historic and unexpected defeat in the 2025 federal election—losing both nationally and in his own riding to Prime Minister Mark Carney—Poilievre has been handed a lifeline: parachuted into a guaranteed-safe Alberta seat, despite not having lived in the province for over 25 years.
The cost to Canadians? Millions of dollars. That includes the by-election expenses, Poilievre’s salary and benefits, and the public-funded Ottawa residence he’ll continue to occupy—even while ostensibly representing Alberta. All this, for a man who built his political identity around decrying government waste, entitlements, and political elites.
It’s a move so egregious it would have had the younger Pierre Poilievre foaming at the mouth.
In the end, the hypocrisy isn’t just personal—it’s systemic. Poilievre has become the very embodiment of the entrenched political class he once condemned. He railed against government privilege and careerism, only to entrench himself deeper into it than most ever do.
And now, Canadians are left paying the price—literally—for a man who, by his own words, should have known better.
