Federal conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has had one objective in his life since leaving the University of Calgary. He wants to be prime minister of Canada. He seemed to be on his way to his objective last fall when he won the leadership of the conservatives. Only now are conservatives and their opposites in the other parties questioning if defeating the liberals is possible.
He is going to need to do a heck of a lot more than trade his glasses for contacts. The problem with that is he let that his button-down look become a trademark. Dumping the glasses just makes him look myopic.
His basic problem is his own determination. Nobody really believes that this little man wants to improve the lives of Canadians. He is more of a libertarian than a conservative. He is doctrinaire in this extreme conservatism. He seems to promise to make you like it.
But he also has the problem of how he is trying to get to that brass ring. He has spent some 19 years in parliament both as a back bencher and as a member, briefly, in the Harper cabinet. If he ever did anything worthwhile in parliament, Canadians have yet to hear about it.
While some polls have his conservatives edging out the Trudeau liberals, these are a long way from the next election. I expect that the edge for the conservatives is among younger voters. They are the toughest to get to the polls in an election.
But those younger voters will also be finding out more about Mr. Poilievre and they will not like all they find. He made his name in politics as a trouble maker. He welcomed the infamous Trucker’s convoy to Ottawa. That got him some attention. He also promoted bitcoin as the great inflation protection before it did a nosedive. He does not seem to know anything about economics.
It is interesting that women do not like him as much as men might. And despite his French name, Quebecers are not enamoured with him.
In Ontario, he is known for his Alberta birthplace and his pledges to the westerners to build them more pipelines and his lack of concern for global warming.
I only wish he had Justin Trudeau worried. I think Trudeau has run his course. A new liberal leader in the next two years, could do wonders to allay concerns about the future of our country.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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