Canadian Politics Today

Andrew Coyne G&M Aug 12: Where would Poilievre take the Conservatives? Not to the far right, but the far out

David Moscrop WAPO Aug 8: It’s Poilievre’s Conservative Party. That’s bad news for Canada.

Since Harper’s forced retreat from public life to ride the gravy train of right-wing political consulting, the party has gotten it emphatically wrong.

Despite three straight electoral losses, one under Harper, and two under the leadership of Harper mini-clones from his cabinet, the Conservatives are poised to select Pierre Poilievre on Sept. 10 as their next leader. Stay tuned for the fourth bellyflop in a row at the national polls.

The Conservatives are still the party of “Make Harperism Great Again.” Instead of taking the rejections of 2015, 2019 and 2021 as signs of the urgent need to reconstruct a party that had grown authoritarian, undemocratic and out of touch, they have doubled down on the policies that have turned them into the perpetual opposition, including fossil fuel worship, environmental myopia, anti-democratic practices and dismissiveness towards Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

Poilievre is more of a Harper protégé than Andrew Scheer or Erin O’Toole ever were.

But once Poilievre has to speak to a national audience, his messages — Trudeau-bashing, threatening to fire the governor of the Bank of Canada, and hailing cryptocurrency as the answer to inflation — will draw more laughs than votes.

Some people have said that once the Conservative leadership race wobbles to its anti-climactic end, Poilievre will merely “pivot” to a more centrist position to appeal to a wider audience. O’Toole tried that, after running on the right to win the top job, and no one believed him when he changed his spots.

And Poilievre is a Harper Conservative through and through. So rather than pivot, it is much more likely he will double down on the stuff that brings smiles to the faces of people who think vaccine mandates are a bad idea.

skippy states "it's time to stand up for fundamental Canadian values"! Yet somehow Poilievre has yet to actually stand up and describe his personal understanding of just what 'Canadian values'... are fundamental and how they're presently being undercut/compromised/threatened! Anyone, anyone, anyone...

Keep away from the memes. They're feeding you incorrect information and you haven't the literacy to know better.

You still haven't realized it says nothing about you not being allowed to leave the country? How could your reading comprehension be that bad?

You still haven't realized it says nothing about you not being allowed to leave the country? How could your reading comprehension be that bad?

And?

Arrivecan app for one.  Who the f**k is the PM to tell me whether or not I can leave the country. 

So needing it to enter the country as a Canadian citizen is somehow better.  You’re the biggest f**king tool I’ve ever seen in my life.  Anything to infringe in people’s rights huh.

Hey now, your mom loves my mattress!  That's a low blow.