Freedom is everywhere in Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre’s public messaging. In a video on his YouTube channel, Poilievre squints into the camera and, quoting Wilfrid Laurier, intones: “Canada is free and freedom is its nationality.” Promising to defend the common people and reclaim the nation for its rightful inheritors, right wing populists have positioned themselves as the true defenders of freedom. They frequently describe their struggle as a common sense crusade against a shadowy cabal of special interest groups seeking to impose their agenda and enrich themselves at the cost of the health and soul of the nation. Who are the nation’s true heirs and what is the legacy they are redeeming? Who are the usurpers and invaders, and how have they debased this legacy? For contemporary right wing populists, the usurpers are remote, technocratic, liberal elites. The invaders include leftists and progressives, Indigenous and racialized people, refugees, and gender nonconforming, queer, and trans folks. https://breachmedia.ca/how-to-take-back-freedom-from-pierre-poilievre/