section_path: Early life/Background and childhood
section_name: Background and childhood
paragraph_text: Background and childhood
  
  Poilievre was born on June 3, 1979, in Calgary, Alberta, to 16-year-old high school student Jacqueline Farrell, whose mother had recently died. Farrell, who is of Irish-Canadian descent, had planned to name him Jeff – a name he is still occasionally called during adulthood – had she not placed him for adoption. He was adopted by two schoolteachers, Marlene and Donald Poilievre, shortly after being born. Donald is Fransaskois, a Francophone Canadian from Saskatchewan. The couple later also adopted his younger biological half-brother, Patrick. The boys were raised in suburban Calgary, playing ice hockey and going on camping trips. Pierre was raised as a Catholic.
  
  Growing up, Poilievre worked as a paperboy for the Calgary Sun. He attended Henry Wise Wood High School and was on a wrestling team until he was forced to stop due to a temporary shoulder tendinitis injury at age 14. Following the injury, Poilievre attended an Alberta Tory riding-association meeting as a new hobby. As a result, he became interested in politics and started reading political books, including Milton Friedman 's Capitalism and Freedom, a book that greatly influenced his politics.
  
  Poilievre became active in the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta by participating in meetings of both parties. At age 16, he sold Reform Party memberships for Jason Kenney and did telephone canvassing for him. He also knocked on doors for political campaigns and served on a riding association. Shortly after turning 17, he was a delegate to the Reform Party 1996 national convention in Vancouver, British Columbia. Poilievre graduated from Henry Wise Wood High School in 1997.
  
  Poilievre's adoptive parents, who had married in 1971, separated when he was in his mid-teens. His father, Donald, later came out as gay. In his early twenties, Poilievre met both his biological mother, a nurse in North Carolina, and his maternal grandfather for the first time.
  
  Poilievre was born on June 3, 1979, in Calgary, Alberta, to 16-year-old high school student Jacqueline Farrell, whose mother had recently died. Farrell, who is of Irish-Canadian descent, had planned to name him Jeff – a name he is still occasionally called during adulthood – had she not placed him for adoption. He was adopted by two schoolteachers, Marlene and Donald Poilievre, shortly after being born. Donald is Fransaskois, a Francophone Canadian from Saskatchewan. The couple later also adopted his younger biological half-brother, Patrick. The boys were raised in suburban Calgary, playing ice hockey and going on camping trips. Pierre was raised as a Catholic.
  
  Growing up, Poilievre worked as a paperboy for the Calgary Sun. He attended Henry Wise Wood High School and was on a wrestling team until he was forced to stop due to a temporary shoulder tendinitis injury at age 14. Following the injury, Poilievre attended an Alberta Tory riding-association meeting as a new hobby. As a result, he became interested in politics and started reading political books, including Milton Friedman 's Capitalism and Freedom, a book that greatly influenced his politics.
  
  Poilievre became active in the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta by participating in meetings of both parties. At age 16, he sold Reform Party memberships for Jason Kenney and did telephone canvassing for him. He also knocked on doors for political campaigns and served on a riding association. Shortly after turning 17, he was a delegate to the Reform Party 1996 national convention in Vancouver, British Columbia. Poilievre graduated from Henry Wise Wood High School in 1997.
  
  Poilievre's adoptive parents, who had married in 1971, separated when he was in his mid-teens. His father, Donald, later came out as gay. In his early twenties, Poilievre met both his biological mother, a nurse in North Carolina, and his maternal grandfather for the first time.