Canadian Politics Today

TorStar - Pierre Poilievre cruised to victory as federal Conservative leader. His campaign was powered by a core of party members who are mad as hell, about pretty much everything, from COVID rules to climate policies to the mass media.

While that negative energy handily won him the leadership, Poilievre now faces the same quandary as his unsuccessful predecessors: the narratives that make you popular with party members don’t usually resonate with the broader electorate.

His economic platform will decisively shape his future fortunes. Poilievre portrays himself as a fighter for “freedom,” promising to liberate Canadians from regulations and taxes. But his economic program is not consistent with that overarching narrative. In fact, it’s hard to pin down his economics anywhere on the conventional political spectrum. Some of his proposals are libertarian: smaller government, lower taxes. But others are highly interventionist — imposing new leaders at the Bank of Canada, banning imports from certain countries, intruding into the governance of cities and universities.
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This hodgepodge of policies is neither right-wing nor left-wing. Poilievre promises to ban so many things — imports of Middle East oil, attendance at world economic conferences, university policies, and more — he sounds authoritarian as often as libertarian. The only consistent thread in his economic platform is a desire to foment anger over any convenient issue … and direct it at federal institutions.

That’s an effective way to get yourself elected Conservative leader. But it’s a very dangerous way to run an economy.