Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has again echoed U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s pledge to abolish “woke” policies in the military and replace them with a “warrior” culture.
Speaking at a Calgary Stampede event on July 4, Poilievre, wearing a cowboy hat, told Conservative partisans: “We will ensure that military spending goes to enhance capabilities to protect our country and support our troops.”
“It will enhance war fighting. It will not fund bureaucracy or defense lobbyists. And we will reinstill a warrior culture, not a woke culture.”
Poilievre has made similar remarks since at least July 2024, but has provided few specifics on what he means by that pledge.
Such ideas were popularized in conservative circles by Hegseth’s 2024 book, The War On Warriors, which argues in favour of “overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy.”
Last year, Hegseth told U.S. military leaders that he wanted to end what he called “woke” culture in the army.
He said: “For too long we’ve promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons. Based on their race. Based on gender quotas. Based on historic so-called firsts.”
“We became the woke department. But not anymore. Today, at my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS, for every designated combat arms position, returns to the highest male standard only. Because this job is life or death.”
He continued: “We have to be prepared for war, not for defence. We’re training warriors, not defenders.”
The U.S. secretary also denounced what he called “stupid rules of engagement.”
“We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.”
Under Hegseth’s command, the U.S. launched a joint war of aggression with Israel against Iran, killing at least 1,460 civilians, including 110 school girls on the first day of the attacks on February 28.
Poilievre, like Prime Minister Mark Carney, gave his support for the U.S.-Israeli attacks, despite a majority of Canadians being opposed to the war.
In an official statement, the Conservative leader said: “Conservatives support the United States, Israel, and our allies across the Gulf to defend their sovereignty and dismantle the clerical military dictatorship of Iran.”
The U.S. and Iran reached a tenuous preliminary deal to bring the war to an end last month, in what was widely seen as a humiliating defeat for the Trump regime.
Under Carney, Canadian military spending has drastically increased and surpassed 2 per cent of Canada’s national GDP.
At U.S. President Donald Trump’s direction, Canada and other NATO allies are currently working towards spending 5 per cent of their national GDPs on the military, which amounts to approximately $150 billion per year for Canada.
Carney is currently attending this year’s NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, and has promised to promote Canada’s massive military spending increases at the conference.
