Poilievre Accuses Feds of ‘Deleting’ History in Passport Redesign

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rises during Question Period in Ottawa on Feb. 7, 2023. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre is accusing the Liberal government of “deleting” history, especially relating to Canada’s veterans, in its new passport design that replaces a historical depiction of the Vimy Ridge Memorial with a generic image of a Canadian nature scene.

“He [the prime minister] erased Quebec City, Terry Fox, and the Battle of Vimy Ridge,” Poilievre said, during question period in the House of Commons, on May 10, in reference to the new passport design.

“Why does the Prime Minister want to get rid of that part [Vimy Ridge] of our essential history?” he said, later adding, “Why is he deleting our veterans from our history?”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded by saying that Canadians “will get their passports on time and be able to travel.”

“They will be able to be proud of their country and its history,” he said, while also accusing the previous Conservative government under Stephen Harper of cutting services for veterans.

“We will continue to be there to defend our veterans,” Trudeau said.

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser and Social Development Minister Karina Gould unveiled Canada’s new passport design during a press conference in Ottawa on May 10.

The new passports—which will not start to be issued until later this year—feature a number of new practical aspects such as an option to have one’s personal information laser-engraved rather than in ink, in order to make it harder for counterfeiters to mimic.

However, the new passports also replace images of historical events and sites that were located inside the previous passports, in favour of generic nature scenes and Canadian symbols, such as polar bears and individuals jumping into a lake.

Fraser and Gould told reporters, after unveiling the new designs, that the changes were not politically motivated, but done as a routine measure to prevent counterfeiting, by updating the passport’s cover-to-cover design.

They also said the government decided on the new images inside the passport after consulting with “a number of different government departments and stakeholders,” such as Heritage Canada.

Poilievre said the removal of the Vimy Ridge depiction is “insulting” to all Canadian veterans.

“Why is he deleting the 3,598 Canadians who gave their lives, so that Canada could have freedom and victory, at Vimy? He’s erasing them and, with that, he is insulting all of our veterans,” he said.

“They erased Vimy Ridge to put in an image of a squirrel eating a nut,” he added. “They erased Terry Fox—a guy who ran halfway across the country to fight cancer—to put in a man raking leaves.”

Trudeau responded by accusing the Conservatives of “picking fights” in the House and “playing games.”