It is difficult these days to have friends or relations who like voting conservative. When I was younger there was a different type of conservative. Some were actually commendable. For example, I liked former prime minister John Diefenbaker. I don’t think I ever said a nasty word about him, until he cancelled the AVRO Arrow. I never voted for his party but I always enjoyed a friendly word with Ontario’s conservative premier Bill Davis when I saw him at Queen’s Park or at functions.
But all that is changing. The current leader of the federal conservatives is changing Canadian politics into a blame-game. He is a mean little man and he has little use for the truth. He would never waste a good lie, if it was against the prime minister. He is vindictive. He carelessly accuses. He delights the separatist leader of the Bloc Québécois, with his spurious attacks on any and all actions by the prime minister. Poilievre cares little that he is damaging our democracy with his vicious untruths.
It is like that stuffed shirt premier Ontario has at Queen’s Park. Like Poilievre, he puts the conservative objectives ahead of the needs of the citizens. They want a government for and by conservatives. One of Ford’s first actions when he came into office was to cut the dole being paid to people unable to work for a living. He didn’t want to waste money on them! Ford knows who his friends are; they are the developers and their lawyers whom he met at Toronto City Hall with his crack-cocaine smoking brother Rob.
But the difference between the federal leader and the Ontario premier is that at least Ford had the experience of working for his father’s company. While he might not have been very successful at that, he at least tried. Mr. Poilievre has dedicated his life to politics and has no experience in the working world.
Watching this Calgary native representing an Ottawa electoral district was an interesting bit of research into Canadian politics. I’ll bet you thought that his welcoming the ‘Freedom Convoy’ to Ottawa was his biggest mistake.
But no. He listened to the anger and ignorance from that mob and he just added to his own arsenal. He welcomed them as newfound friends and newfound conservatives. It was their help that made him leader of the conservative party. They are certainly a new version of Sir. John A. Macdonald’s old party.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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