OTTAWA -- Former prime minister Brian Mulroney told CTV鈥檚 Question Period he鈥檚 impressed with new Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre 鈥� who鈥檚 been on the job for nearly a month 鈥� but that he cautioned him to tack closer to the political centre if he hopes to win a general election.
鈥淚 thought he was very good,鈥� Mulroney said of the first time he watched Poilievre in the House of Commons as the official leader of the Opposition. 鈥淗e developed a sense of humour, and he thinks on his feet, which is indispensable for a successful opposition leader or prime minister.鈥�
鈥淚 think that he's going to take the Conservative Party in a good and proper way,鈥� he added.
Mulroney said he had a private dinner with Poilievre 鈥� at Poilievre鈥檚 request 鈥� and found him to be 鈥渁 very good listener,鈥� and 鈥渁 reasonable guy.鈥�
But Mulroney also warned the new Conservative Party leader will likely have to 鈥渟et aside鈥� some of the 鈥渆xtraneous things鈥� he campaigned on: threatening to fire the governor of the Bank of Canada, supporting the trucker protests, and encouraging Canadians to 鈥渙pt out鈥� of inflation using cryptocurrency.
鈥淟ook, you can't get elected with that kind of stuff,鈥� Mulroney said. 鈥淐anadians are not there. Canadians are in the broad, general centre.鈥�
鈥淚 did say to him 鈥� which is pretty obvious 鈥� you cannot, in this country, get elected from the extreme left or the extreme right. It can't happen. We have 155 years of history to prove it,鈥� he added.
Meanwhile one of Poilievre鈥檚 top advisers, Jenni Byrne, said last month ahead of Poilievre鈥檚 victory and election as leader that he鈥檚 unlikely to take a more moderate approach post-campaign.
鈥淲hat you see is what you get,鈥� Byrne said. "What you should expect to hear from Pierre is exactly what he's talking about."
Mulroney said he also cautioned Poilievre against underestimating or trivializing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, especially given his record beating out former Conservative Party leaders Stephen Harper, Andrew Scheer, and Erin O鈥橳oole in the last three respective consecutive general elections.
鈥淵ou can question his policies as prime minister, that's fair ball, but what is pretty clear is that he, Justin Trudeau, is a champion campaigner, and he's a retail politician of the highest order, so you have to take that into account if you want to win an election against a successful politician like that,鈥� he explained.
The next general election is not expected until 2025, and in the meantime the NDP have bolstered the Liberal government with a supply-and-confidence agreement the two parties struck last March.
With files from Rachel Aiello
