Trudeau Pooh-poohs Rival's Crypto Enthusiasm

Opposition leader Poilievre’s leadership on crypto is irresponsible Trudeau said
Individuals who’ve followed the advice of Poilivere would have seen their life savings destroyed, the Prime Minister said

Canada’s Prime Minister has fired a shot across the bow of freshly elected opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, labeling his views on cryptocurrencies as irresponsible, and calling his leadership into question.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a gathered crowd at the Liberal caucus retreat on Monday, individuals could not hope to dodge macro headwinds by diverting their savings towards crypto.

“Telling people they can opt out of inflation by investing their savings in volatile cryptocurrencies is not responsible leadership,” the Prime Minister said. “By the way, anyone who followed that advice would have seen their life savings destroyed.”

Pierre Poilievre; Source: Shutterstock

Inflation, including other macroeconomic factors such as low wage growth and tailwind pandemic supply shortages, have all but forced individuals to seek alternative investments in a desperate attempt to stay ahead of multiple crises, including Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Trudeau’s comments come as little surprise, given the recent protests earlier in the year involving Canadian truckers who sought to circumvent capital controls placed on them by their government for refusing to adhere to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Bitcoin and other cryptos proved to be a useful tool to sidestep controversial financial sanctions, imposed by the Trudeau administration, which saw hundreds of thousands of dollars in BTC reach protestors’ pockets.

Canada’s Prime Minister later reiterated his stance toward crypto, while also taking a shot at Poilievre’s COVID-19 politics.

Loading Tweet..

Poilievre, who won a major landslide victory as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on Saturday, has continued to publicly advocate for crypto and bitcoin.

Viewed as a means to “decentralize” the economy, reduce government involvement and pare back central bankers, Poilievre said in March if elected to lead the country, he would normalize crypto.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters: