The Conservatives are probably feeling pretty good this morning. A thorn has been removed from their side. Maxime Bernier was a sore loser. Gary Mason writes:
The reality is, Mr. Bernier never ever accepted Mr. Scheer’s razor-thin victory over him in last year’s leadership vote, one in which the ballots were immediately destroyed, denying anyone the chance of reviewing them for irregularities. There is also the fact that for all Mr. Scheer’s good points – including an amiable, open disposition that is the exact opposite of his predecessor, Stephen Harper – he does not enjoy unfettered loyalty. He certainly never received it from Mr. Bernier.
And it would appear that, for the time being, no other members of the caucus are following Bernier to the exits. But that doesn't mean that the party's troubles are over:
This is the first true crisis of Mr. Scheer’s leadership and how he handles it will be revealing. The hope inside Tory circles is that it will toughen him up, help gird him for what’s expected to be a nasty campaign against a formidable, battle-tested foe in Justin Trudeau. What Mr. Bernier has done is give Mr. Scheer a very public shove. Now, people are waiting to see the manner in which Mr. Scheer shoves back.
The Conservatives seemed to be making hay on immigration:
A new poll by Angus Reid shows that for the first time in decades, a majority would like to see immigration levels decreased, not raised. Whether this marks a trend, or moment-in-time phenomenon driven by recent debate is hard to say. But it’s clearly an issue there to be exploited by a political party.
Bernier gave that message a racist undertone. And there are plenty of racist undertones left over from the Harper years:
Given the Conservatives’ unhappy relationship with identity politics (see: public backlash over barbaric cultural practices initiative, call to ban hijabs, former Tory MP Kellie Leitch’s Canadian values test) fronting a policy that could call for less immigration might seem like an enormous gamble.
Bernier's message is that -- despite the change in faces -- the Conservatives are still the nasty malcontents they were under Harper.
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The Star's Tim Harper sees Bernier's promise to start a new party as a possible splintering of the right-wing vote, Owen. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2018/08/23/dont-underestimate-maxime-bernier.html
It will be interesting to see how all of this plays ut.
I agree, Lorne. All Bernier has to do is shave off 4 or 5% of the Conservative vote in several ridings, and the Harperites -- they're still the Harperites -- will be cooked.
It remains to be seen if Bernier's campaign can get off the ground and develop enough of a national following to materially damage Scheer's Tories. There probably exists a sufficient vein of disaffected radical conservatives he would tap into if he had the political operation suitable to the task. How is he going to create this rival party? I'm not saying he can't do it. I just don't see how.
If he has to build the infrastructure from the ground up, he'll have a hard time, Mound. But if he can tap into Kellie Leitch's supporters -- and if he has traction in Quebec -- he may go somewhere.
I see Scheer as still being Harper's boy and because of that, the ReformaCons are still run by Harper and will be for some time. Why? because Harper is a control freak and people like him do not relinquish control easily. Bernier's problem, at least one of them, is that he's not "of the faith" as my grandmother used to refer to her daughter-in-law and therefore us, her grandchildren.
However, Bernier also wants to be in charge and Make Quebec Great Again. He has grasped a concept that the former government tried to keep below the radar but still embraced in great numbers, and that is precisely the problems they saw regarding current immigration trends.
My father came from Ireland and had a life-long belief that separate schools, based on religious dogma just bred intolerance (given 'the troubles' in Ireland one might understand) and he therefore was vehemently against public monies being allocated to non-
public education schools. We now have a similar situation with respect to schools created for those with cultural differences. I have met with many people in my age group who feel very strongly that people immigrating to Canada should perhaps focus more on becoming Canadians with a strong ethnic background rather than being visible minorities who possess a Canadian passport. This whole subject is not easily discussed in an open manner nor resolved in a manner acceptable to all who reside in our country. It's beginning to look like it needs an honest discussion, though how can that ever happen without the "race" flag being waved from all corners? My Sociology instructor, many years ago, taught us that it was not the colour of anyone's skin that we feared, but that what we feared most was being overtaken by other cultures. Could it be that simple?
Dance in the old-fashioned way. Hardly consistent with neoliberal doctrine, but nonetheless a confessional tribute to the genesis of market-libertarian political activism in Canada and a worthy salute to the patriots who recognize a barbaric cultural practice when they see one. "Let's free enterprise" with an appreciation of the cultural struggle.
I think a lot of them from among those who stay as well those who slide out the side door may prove to be quite content with these developments on a personal level, once they've made some measurements and done the calculations. Not that Mr. Here-for-Canada would be pleased, but it's a question of workplace freedom and choice.
Meanwhile Michelle's recent rambling about TFWs and LMIAs must be causing many to wonder whether she's forgotten what party she belongs to and which way she'll tack once she's satisfied that her calculations are reliable. Hey Michelle, what CRAP Party did you join?
Has Jason spoken up yet? It would be better for whatever the party or parties that eventually emerge from this pillow-fight that he doesn't. How many young CRAP Party staffers will be spending their evenings and weekends on special assignment searching through nine years of Hansard, and whatever minutes derived from obstructed committee meetings, for everything that the former Minister-of-Everything-he-Wants-to-be-Minister-of and a few other Placeholders in Cabinet had to say on related subjects? The keyword should be "hypocrisy"; but like everything else tagged in Harperland, the files were mislabelled. Poor souls.
This is great. It's about time we got back in the game. Our version is going to challenge the Trumpocracy in the next round of comedy awards. Where's my popcorn?
Feels like the same bull that started the Reform Party. Smells and looks like bullshit, might as well claim it as such.
Back to the politics of western alienation and Quebecois once again whining over status.
Given the potential change happening, one might wonder if we are back in the Chretien era again. Without said former PM of course. Maybe a few remnants from Chretien's caucus, but no Shawinigan Strangler.
Only one thing missing now. CPC going back to having red Tories in charge over the "Reform" Party that took over and wrecked the place.
The roots of Trumpocracy are there in the Harper Party, John. They've been there since the beginning. Michelle is trying to put a kinder face on things. But the change is only skin deep.
They dropped the term Progressive from the party label, Bahamut. I doubt they'll resurrect the word. In fact, Doug Ford's Party has kept the label. But the Fordians are no longer progressive.
I grew up in Quebec, Lulymay, where there was always the fear of the outsider. Cultures aren't malevolent.They can further your education. But like those old sci-fi pictures of the 1950's, we once again live in fear of "aliens."
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