Maybe I come from the wrong era. I come from a time when you could be friends with conservatives. I always enjoyed sparring with the late Dalton Camp. He might have been the guy who brought John Diefenbaker down, but to me, he was always a man of intellect and honesty. He and former senator Hugh Segal were cut from the same cloth, as was the late Bill Davis, former highly regarded premier of Ontario.
Yet this guy Pierre Poilievre, current leader of the federal conservatives, has come out of hiding to try to influence the December 12 by-election in Mississauga-Lakeshore. This is the worm who did the meet and greet with those inconsiderate clods who partied on Ottawa streets last winter. He is probably not as dumb as Ontario’s Doug Ford. Ford only lies to you when his lips are moving. Ford relies on bombast and what he thinks people want to hear.
Poilievre might be smarter than his provincial peer group. He doesn’t like having his picture in the general media very often. He likes being where he can control the environment. He has a slyness about him. He uses others but never trusts them. He seems to be playing a role that reminds me of some of the events in the Weimar Republic of the 1930s.
He uses simplistic slogans. He talks about freedom in a country known around the world for its freedoms. He talks down to his followers. He argues with the Bank of Canada while spouting jargon that shows no grasp of knowing about economics.
Political pros are looking at this by-election in Ontario as a test of Poilievre’s strategy—such as it is. I do not know the conservative candidate. Maybe nobody does. It seems to me that he is not even a factor in this test for Poilievre.
But I do know the liberal candidate. He is a good guy. He was a trusted finance minister in the Wynne government in Ontario. He is well known in the riding. He lives there. He is a progressive liberal. He can make a strong contribution in Ottawa.
I will certainly be interested in what happens on December 12. It will be worthy of a close look. My advice to liberals in Mississauga-Lakeshore is to get out the progressive vote. It will matter.
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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