Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre with Joe Rogan on the set of The Joe Rogan Experience.Supplied/The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience on Thursday afternoon, speaking to the podcaster about topics such as the oil sands and Canada’s sovereignty in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 51st state claims.
Here are six key takeaways from Mr. Poilievre’s 2½-hour podcast appearance.
Clearing the air
Mr. Poilievre set the record straight about declining an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience before the 2025 Canadian federal election.
“When I got the invitation, we were in the middle of the election, and we just don’t leave the country during election campaigns,” he said.
Mr. Poilievre also joked about how Mr. Rogan would “do big things” for Canada’s tourism numbers if he visited, before presenting the podcaster with a custom 70-pound kettlebell adorned with a Canadian flag.
Mr. Rogan has criticized Canada on his podcast several times, saying the country was “communist” in 2022, and stating in March, 2025, that he would “rather go to Russia” than come to Canada for a UFC fight.
Poilievre pushes back on Joe Rogan’s comments about oil sands during podcast appearance
‘Canada’s not for sale’
Mr. Rogan asked Mr. Poilievre about Mr. Trump’s announcement before the 2024 election that he was going to turn Canada into the 51st U.S. state.
“Canada is not for sale,” Mr. Poilievre responded. “We’re never going to be the 51st state.
The Conservative Leader noted that the U.S.-imposed tariffs were also not a good idea, “because there’s so much we could be doing together as neighbours and partners if we got rid of those tariffs.”
Alberta separatism and defending the oil sands
Mr. Rogan asked Mr. Poilievre about natural resources development, specifically focusing on the oil sands in Alberta.
“I’ve seen some of the oil extraction that they’ve done up in Alberta, where you look at the area, it looks like scorched earth,” Mr. Rogan said.
Mr. Poilievre answered with a string of “nos.”
There is some environmental impact no matter what gets done, the Conservative Leader said.
“But at the end of the day, the people who live there are very healthy and very happy, and they’re the strongest supporters of the expansion of the oil sands,” Mr. Poilievre said.
He said any suggestion to the contrary is the product of a “really disgusting PR campaign by extremist environmentalists and, frankly, some of our competitors, to try and make our industry look bad.”
He also said Alberta won’t separate from Canada, when asked about that issue by Mr. Rogan.
“There’s some legitimate frustrations,” Mr. Poilievre said. “But at the end of the day, Canada’s going to be united.”
Conservatives will ‘overwhelmingly’ win the next election
Halfway through the conversation, Mr. Rogan said he was “baffled” that Mr. Poilievre was not voted prime minister, and asked how a “rational person could not vote for that.”
“Canadians do things through evolution, not revolution. So I’m just going to keep pushing my ideas. And I think that, I think overwhelmingly, we’ll win the next election,” Mr. Poilievre said.
Mr. Poilievre was asked numerous times why he did not win the federal election, but never answered the question directly.
“They said that I had no policies. Then they said they’re scary policies. And then they stole my policies right before the election,” Mr. Poilievre said. “If the government does the things I want to do, then I’ve won. That’s why I came here. I didn’t just do it so that I could have my name on the door.”
The Conservative Leader noted that he would not attack Prime Minister Mark Carney on foreign soil, and also corrected Mr. Rogan after the American said Fidel Castro, the former president of Cuba, was Justin Trudeau’s father.
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MAID and mental illness
Mr. Poilievre emphasized that Canadians should have the freedom of choice with regards to medical aid in dying if they’re suffering from terminal diseases, but that the government should not promote MAID to those who are poor or have a mental illness.
“Our system needs to be geared towards giving people all the best options to live on, rather than just suggesting MAID as the easy, as the automatic path ... to impose on people,” Mr. Poilievre said.
He added that Canada should focus on promoting fitness to combat mental-health issues.
“We do have to promote fitness more, because it turns them into a subject that controls their surroundings, rather than an object being controlled,” Mr. Poilievre said. “It teaches people that hardship is temporary and that the aftermath is positive. We have to reinstill people with a sense of meaning when they’re going through hardship, rather than to say that it’s all over.”
Mr. Rogan often talks about fitness as the most important aspect of maintaining mental health.
‘We’re a nation of immigrants, but we’re also a nation of laws’
Mr. Poilievre criticized Canada’s large intake of refugees, including international students and temporary foreign workers, and said the country was “giving a lot of money to fake refugees.”
“They’re not actually endangered in their home country,” the Conservative Leader said. “This is common. It happens, and they just want to have a better life. I don’t begrudge them as people, but we can’t spend money on social service to enhance social services, advanced programs ... for people who are not paying.
“We’re a nation of immigrants, but we’re also a nation of laws,” Mr. Poilievre said.
Mr. Rogan asked if that meant “ICE-style,” to which Mr. Poilievre said no.
With reports from Stephanie Levitz