The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada who won the election fair and square in February is known for his libertarian views and a hint of populism. One of his main talking points during the election campaign and in many public speeches is the importance of cryptocurrencies as the main drivers of a decentralized economy with a strong focus on building a bottom-up financial system where bankers and politicians have less impact on the monetary decisions of Canadian citizens.
Promoting Bitcoin while holding Bitcoin
To be fair, the conflict of interest is a massive part of the controversy surrounding the new Conservative Party leader. Poilievre is an owner of a solid BTC portfolio and may be interested in pumping the price by convincing more people to purchase cryptocurrencies. However, it does seem unlikely. Cryptocurrencies are propped by libertarians and proponents of small government in many nations including the US and Canada.
On the other hand, having an alternative is always a good thing. Pierre Poilievre strongly supports hedging against inflation by purchasing cryptocurrencies. However, such politics do not sit well with those in power right now.
During his speech at the Liberal Caucus retreat on September 12, the prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau said that suggesting citizens “opt-out of inflation” and move their savings to cryptocurrencies known for their volatility is “not responsible leadership”.
Does Justin Trudeau have the moral authority to accuse anyone of bad leadership?
Canada has been torn apart by internal struggles for a while with many people in the country feeling “unheard and powerless”. With thousands of truckers striking across the country and many people with honest blue-collar jobs seeing no end to their struggles with rising real estate prices and inflation, the current prime minister has to try and keep the country united, but his efforts have been questionable at best.
Dismissing a reasonable suggestion from his political opponent instead of trying to find a compromise is a sign of “good leadership”. The government is moving ahead with its controversial decision to limit crypto purchases to just $30K annually except for several tokens like ETH and BTC. It does not feel like an attempt at implementing regulations and seeking compromise. It feels like an attempt at prohibiting access to crypto assets.