If you can visualize a smarmy pit bull, you can probably visualize Pierre Poilievre MP. And if you didn’t like him the first time you saw him in Canada’s parliament, you are going to like him less this time. This time, the member of parliament for the Ottawa area Carleton riding is a pit bull with a mission. There are no paper targets for Poilievre, he has Chrystia Freeland in his sights and he has been told by conservative leader Erin O’Toole to go, get her.
It is not just choosing the most effective agent to attack Freeland but it was also the realization that even when Poilievre is not the finance critic, he is still the most effective critic.
Watching the conservative MP on Zoom committee meetings over the past two years has been a series of lessons in how to use Zoom. While his electoral district is just down Highway 417, from downtown Ottawa, he is always in a suit and tie, with a fresh shave. He has the best lighting and backgrounds for his Zoom sets. And he is always alert and tenacious.
O’Toole must have been adhering to the tenet of Sun Tzu that you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Poilievre is not O’Toole’s friend. He is ready and poised to replace him as soon as the time is right.
An Alberta conservative, with a French name, Poilievre moved from Calgary to Ottawa with a single purpose: to further a career in politics. He has been in parliament since 2004 and is ready to go for the brass ring. He appears to want the conservative leader’s job.
Poilievre is the conservative’s conservative. His words are carefully chosen from the Chicago School’s Milton Friedman ‘song book’ of the right. He will tell you he is an advocate for the hard workers of the middle class even though his sights are higher.
In the long run, Erin O’Toole will be the loser. He had 118 conservative MPs to chose from for finance critic. At this time of pandemic and inflation, he has positioned a pit bull perfectly.
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Copyright 2021 © Peter Lowry
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