Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre by Mark Bourrie

Reviewed by Timothy Niedermann

The title of this book is taken from New York Times columnist David Brooks, who, early in the Covid pandemic, assessed the US political scene as divided between “rippers” and “weavers,” that is, those who see politics as a war to be won at all costs and those who want to build consensus among people.

Pierre Poilievre, in author Mark Bourrie’s view, is a ripper.

The timing of Ripper is apt. With an election imminent, any work that provides insight into the personalities of the leaders of Canada’s political parties is welcome. But even should Poilievre not ascend to the office of Prime Minister any time soon, this book is an important read, for Bourrie puts Poilievre in the context of the current political climate of rising authoritarianism, not just in Canada, but across the world and spends much time analyzing the similarities between Poilievre’s rise in the Canada’s Conservative Party and Trump’s rise in the US’s Republican Party.

Bourrie follows Poilievre from his high school days, when his interest in politics was kindled. He worked on the 1993 campaign for Calgary Reform Party candidate Bob Anders, who quickly was impressed by Poilievre’s energy and articulateness. At the same time, Poilievre read and was strongly influenced by US economist Milton Friedman’s book, Capitalism and Freedom. His views on the superiority of free-market capitalism have barely changed since. Poilievre continued working on right-wing political campaigns at the University of Calgary, after which he moved to Ottawa, where he did more of the same. In 2004, at the tender age of 25, he was elected to Parliament as a Conservative for the Nepean-Carleton riding (now Carleton) near Ottawa, where he has been safely ensconced ever since. As an MP, Poilievre has persistently gained influence within his party, rising to Cabinet minister under Stephen Harper. He has been the leader of the Conservatives since 2022. But at the same time, he has not matured in the sense of tempering his youthful, now largely discredited, libertarian-capitalist ideology. As such, he remains far from the centre of the political spectrum.

Poilievre has consistently striven to be in the public eye. Bourrie devotes a chapter each to Poilievre’s role in the WE Charity fiasco and his support for the trucker convoy that occupied the streets of Ottawa in 2022.

Bourrie attributes Poilievre’s success to a number of factors. Poilievre is very smart, articulate, and hard-working. And manipulative. His communications are rife with factual omissions, misleading information, and outright lies. This is not new in politics, of course. What has set Poilievre apart has been his ability to take advantage of the increasing polarization of the electorate, particularly in his adept use of social media, something his contemporaries on both sides have lagged far behind at.

In fact, very few of Canada’s politicians active during Poilievre’s rise come off very well under Bourrie’s scrutiny, whether Conservative, Liberal, or otherwise. But in Bourrie’s view, politicians have not been the only ones with their heads in the sand, and he spends another chapter discussing the failure of the traditional media both to do their job adequately and to compete well with social media for voters’ eyes and ears.

Bourrie has written a wide-ranging book that attempts to understand the dynamics of the current deeply divided political climate, not just in Canada, but in the US and the world. This is an impressive feat. As a result, Ripper is a must-read for all who are concerned about the path Canada is on.

Ripper is published by Biblioasis.