What's "woke"?

Poilievre's vague promise leaves us guessing about his agenda.

As the 2025 Canadian federal election draws to a close, an element of the American culture war is drifting north of the border.

In certain quarters and in their freshly-revised platform, Pierre Poilievre has been borrowing language straight from the Trump playbook, positioning himself as guardian against “woke” culture in Canada.

Here is the short excerpt from the Conservative platform: "A Conservative government will put an end to the imposition of the Woke ideology in the federal public service and in the allocation of federal funds for university research."

Despite the capitalization, Poilievre has not defined “woke”. He doesn’t appear eager to talk about it outside Quebec. The platform has no glossary and the leader dodges questions about specifics. This ambiguity may be precisely the point, as he engages in a form of dog whistle politicking.

But it leaves Canadians to guess as to his true plans to de-woke (sedate?) our government institutions, universities, and broader society.

In the absence of explicit details from his campaign, it's logical to assume Poilievre will take policy cues from the same sources as he draws his rhetoric.

A Poilievre government could adapt Donald Trump’s anti-woke strategy to the Canadian context. Danielle Smith is leading a similar charge in Alberta, providing a homemade blueprint for the federal Conservatives to draw on. In that spirit, below I outline some potential policies Poilievre could pursue.

If they disagree with the following measures, I’m sure journalists and voters would welcome a response from the Conservative Party as to what their presently-hidden agenda actually contains.

Targeting Federal Institutions

We might expect a Poilievre-led cabinet to issue directives to federal departments, halting DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) training and hiring measures, and removing “divisive” language — terms like white privilege, systemic racism, and intersectionality — from HR policies. The goal? Erase the vocabulary of social justice from government altogether. In more radical measures, the Trump administration has taken to firing non-white, non-male people from the senior ranks of the federal bureaucracy. This is done in the name of meritocracy, but has the opposite effect. If Poilievre’s agenda has similar aims, he will confront a federal workforce ready for a fight.

Defunding Equity in Academia

Canada’s research councils (SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR) could come under pressure to eliminate equity-based evaluation criteria. Research funding might be redirected away from projects that foreground race, gender, or Indigenous knowledge systems. New “conservative” funding streams could be opened up (despite any evidence that existing funds are directed at “progressive” initiatives). In an extreme move, Poilivre could step into the peer review process to vet research proposals against the national interest, as Smith has threatened in Alberta. He might also defund (certain types of) research. Doing so would put important inquiries on hold and result in massive unemployment in and around universities and colleges across the country. Most federal research grant money is spent on graduate students and staff, and it has spinoff effects on local economies (as Trump is discovering).

Revamping Canadian Identity

Following the model of Trump’s 1776 Commission, we may see a similar initiative in Canada, funding curriculum and cultural projects that emphasize pride and patriotism over reflection and historical accuracy. Poilievre could take a page out of the Alberta Conservatives’ playbook and push for broader conversations around Canadian “values” as they relate to immigration and other policy areas. Mirroring Trump’s moves against the Smithsonian and Kennedy Centre, institutions like the Canadian Museum for Human Rights could be pressured to revise exhibits on colonialism and systemic injustice. Like the Trump administration’s quiet deletion of racial and LGBTQ+ resources, Poilievre’s government could scrub federal websites of references to gender equality, reconciliation, or anti-racism.

Civil Rights Reform

Just as Trump’s team uses civil rights law to undermine affirmative action, Poilievre could portray “woke” DEI initiatives as reverse discrimination. He could take measures to redefine equality as uniform treatment rather than equity. While formal amendments to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are off the table, legislative shifts targeting employment equity or human rights protections, as seen in Alberta, could well be on the horizon. Some feel Poilivre’s willingness to use the notwithstanding clause to push through his “tough on crime” agenda could be expanded to include other types of civil liberties.

To be clear: none of us outside Poilievre’s inner circle knows what the Conservative leader has in mind when it comes to "de-woking" Canadian government, higher education, and society at large. We should, but we don’t.

His platform offers no concrete details, and he consistently avoids answering questions on the topic.

We’re left with informed speculation, guided only by the sources of inspiration fueling his crusade.