When the new leader of Canada’s conservatives made his debut confrontation across the aisle from the prime minister, it was more of a touchy-feely session than a gun fight in some corral. It was a soft approach, testing old punch lines and old arguments. It was if they were each looking for the sweet spot before drawing the knives for real.
If that opening was “playing nice” as columnist Chantal Hébert described the occasion, the two will need better script writers over the coming three years. Pierre Poilievre’s problem is that he is going to have to hone closer to the truth. He wisely stuck to the tired but ever-present conservative shibboleths such as the federal carbon tax. His plaint over possible tax increases was just standard conservative cant and was hardly even worthy of an answer.
Hébert’s opinion that the liberals will stand firm on the carbon tax to emphasize the parties’ different stands on the environment, makes sense. Poilievre might be representing an Ottawa area constituency but his home is Alberta. He is pro-pipelines, pro-tar sands and a climate change denier.
Poilievre’s problem is that he has to grow the sweep of the conservative party with his 300,000 malcontent supporters among 37 million Canadians. And he is hardly going to do that with arguments for government meanness and frugality. If he thinks that, he just does not understand the anger that surges across this troubled and fragile world. He can use that anger only if he can identify the causes. Just 300,000 malcontents might be too small a sample.
We could all feel more confident if the standard bearer on the other side of the aisle was not Justin Trudeau. No doubt there were many groans across Canada recently when Trudeau told us that he wants to lead his liberals into the next election. He should check to find how many of these so-called liberals are enthusiastic about that prospect. He should also check to see why Donald Trump and his “deplorables” won the American presidency in the 2016 election in that country.
The facts are that real liberals need a real liberal leader.
-30-
Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to: