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Carrying his 6-year-old daughter on his shoulders, Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party leader running to lead Canada, was wading through a crowd of well-wishers in his electoral district in Ottawa.
“Hey, there he is, Mr. Alexander!” he said, gripping the hand of Mark Alexander, whose dairy farm the politician had visited 21 years ago on his first run for office.
Mr. Poilievre recalled sitting at the farmer’s kitchen table. He recalled, too, that Mr. Alexander did not get his Conservative membership card because “the party messed up.”
“Then I came and milked cows with you,” Mr. Poilievre went on, as the farmer’s wife, Lynn, chimed in, “Yes, you did!”
After asking about four family members — by name — Mr. Poilievre moved on. “He really cares about the people,” said Ms. Alexander, who was planning to vote for Mr. Poilievre. “And he has an amazing memory. Like he’ll remember those very little details of the first time we met.”
Mr. Poilievre, 45 — who is aiming to defeat Prime Minister Mark Carney, 60, and end a decade of Liberal rule in Canada’s general election on April 28 — is considered one of Canada’s most dexterous campaigners, communicators and politicians.
