How many times over the years have we heard speculation about this or that political party being able to raise itself from the ashes? Would the federal conservatives ever survive the summer of 1993 with Kim Campbell? How could the weakened provincial liberals of Dalton McGinty defeat Mike Harris’ tax cutting conservatives? Change happens. All political parties believe they are at least a slogan short of winning or losing the next election.
Maybe the incumbent party has worn out its welcome? Is it time for a change? We save these theories for after the election. There are always the spoken and the unspoken reasons. There are also unspoken prejudices.
But is this party, that rises from the ashes, the same party that you knew? Do you even recognize the changes? And who is this new leader? Did you help choose this person? Is this person using words that you want to believe in?
Every party has to face these questions at some time. The recently chosen leader of the federal conservatives, Pierre Poilievre, has tuned in on the anger the sociologists see in today’s Canadian population. It arose during the stress of the pandemic, it isolated individuals who spoke out about vaccines, and it cost me a good financial advisor. When he started to speak to me of his views on vaccines, he might not have been aware of my years of fund-raising and helping direct funds to medical research in Canada. I was appalled at his brushing aside the science involved. I could no longer trust his judgement.
I also worry about younger members of the family who could be caught up in this anger that Poilievre seeks to channel to his party. They see the fun in getting even with the politicians and the elites who might have feathered their own nests through the pandemic lockdowns and then inflation.
It is difficult when Justin Trudeau is the obvious liberal target of Poilievre’s claims of elitism in parliament but then one can only wonder at who is the more elitist between the two. The Carleton Cowboy, as some describe Poilievre has much to apologize for, to his party. Maybe there will be more after the next election.
-30-
Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to: