Pierre Poilievre blasts passport changes, says heroes erased 'show that Canada is amazing above and beyond its government'

Last week, the new design for Canada's passports was revealed. Many blasted the change that removed images commemorating heroes like Terry Fox, and historical achievements such as the Battle of Vimy Ridge and replaced them with simplistic images such as a person raking leaves.

Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre was among those quick to rebuke the change, grilling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over it during Question Period. Trudeau—who once said veterans were asking for more than the government could afford—deflected by accusing Conservatives of not caring about veterans.



On Saturday night, Poilievre took his criticism a step further with the release of a video explaining a possible motive for the changes.

"Your passport," Poilievre said while standing in front of the National War Memorial in Ottawa. "Why has Trudeau redone it? To delete Terry Fox, who ran halfway across the country on one leg to fight cancer? Why did he delete the Vimy Memorial which honors 3598 soldiers who died? Why did he delete this beautiful War Memorial, or even the Parliament buildings beyond it?"

"Well, to answer that question, you need to get the country that Trudeau wants us to become," Poilievre said as the video cuts to a clip in which Trudeau talks about "the level of admiration" he has for China because of their "basic dictatorship."

Poilievre continued: "Or when he said El Comandante Fidel Castro was a larger-than-life leader who served his people for almost half a century. A legendary revolutionary and orator.'"

Poilievre highlighted Trudeau's censorship efforts, saying, "The problem for leaders that want to control everything, the only way to justify it is by promising a utopia." He said that in Greek "utopia" actually means "no place."

"To put it more simply, the only way you can redraw an entire country is to wipe away the existing painting so that you can draw on a blank slate."

He went on to quote author George Orwell, continuing on to add, "They knocked down statues of our past leaders. They delete words. They delete achievements. They even delete our most wonderful and treasured heroes," as he highlighted famous women who were also removed from the passport. "Our soldiers, our Mounties, our explorers, our champions all had to disappear. Why? Because they show that Canada is amazing above and beyond its government."

He continued: "We can have no heroes. And our history must be portrayed as a wretched pile of injustices to justify remaking everything from scratch."

"Instead, our national story in this passport looks now more like Justin Trudeau's personal coloring book filled with trivial little things like Canadians raking leaves or a squirrel eating a nut. The country must be made little so that his state can be made big."

"There can be no heroes from the past that get in the way of the man who appoints himself the hero of the future. The regimes that Trudeau admires portray the Dear Leader as the only hero that could ever be."

"But you and I both know that the real heroes are not on state billboards or state television."

He went on to talk about how the real heroes are the common people, and how "our democratic tradition goes back 800 years to the Magna Carta."

He continued: "If this generation, the living generation, fails to pass on what we inherited from those who came before to those that come after, then it could be lost forever. That's why it's so important to keep our common stories, our common symbols, and most importantly, our common sense."

"A passport is known for taking us abroad, but sometimes the most important thing, especially when it comes to our traditions and freedom is to bring it home," Poilievre concluded.