The Calgary Stampede, founded in 1912, is held annually in July in Calgary’s Stampede Park. During its 100 year-plus history, it has featured everything from agricultural fairs, cowboy competitions, chuckwagon races, and Indigenous bareback horse racing, to a parade, a midway, art exhibits, and stage shows.
This year, the Stampede was the stage for what some are calling one of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s greatest speeches ever.
The Hub has compiled a list of Poilievre’s best comments, one-liners, quips, and, of course, zingers from his remarks at “the greatest outdoor show on Earth” and his home city of Calgary.
1. On Justin Trudeau’s absence from the Stampede
“Don’t feel offended, Calgary, that Justin Trudeau is hiding from you. He’s actually hiding from his own caucus, terrified to meet with the people who are supposed to be his greatest supporters.”
2. On the promise of Canada
“The promise was very simple: [if] you work hard, you can do anything you want in this country. That anyone, from anywhere, can do anything…But, you know, that promise, like everything else in Canada today, seems broken.”
3. On the wealth disparity between the elite and the working class
“There’s a transfer of wealth from the have-nots to the have-yachts, and that is what has happened here. It’s ironic eh, with these socialists, in the end when they concentrate the wealth in the hands of government, who ends up benefitting? Those with the most political power, and those are always the most privileged and elite people. It is always the working class that ends up impoverished and lined up at food banks.”
4. On Canadian emigration
“Money, jobs, and people are leaving this country like never before. It’s like when [American presidential candidate] Ross Perot said there would be a large sucking sound [as a result of NAFTA]. Well, that sucking sound is from Canada to the U.S. and around the world.”
5. On Canadian investment in the United States
“Money has poured over the border into the United States to open mines, and pipelines, and factories, and business centres, and plazas with our money. Our money paying American workers. My friends, that is not only economic sadomasochism, it is actually unpatriotic to our people.”
6. On Liberal drug policies (and plastic straws)
“Isn’t it amazing? They’re so liberal on crime when they want to ban everything else. They want to ban your plastic straw but legalize crack in your neighbourhood, as long as you don’t smoke the crack through a plastic straw.”
7. On the tradition and future of Canadian freedom
“We’ll recognize that our freedom, while it was rooted in an 800-year-old tradition that started with the Magna Carta and was passed down from one generation to another, depends on a strong national defence.”