Selling Well

Doug Ford's Conservatives are ripping away at each other. And Andrew Scheer's Conservatives are engaged in the same self-flagellation. Maxime Bernier is attempting to blow up the federal Conservative Party. Tom Walkom writes:

Bernier says his People’s Party has signed up more than 30,000 members. He promises to field candidates in every riding for next October’s federal election and may well do so.

He has likened his People’s Party to Reform in its early years. The analogy isn’t that far off.

Like Preston Manning’s Reform, Bernier appeals to conservatives who have become disillusioned with the traditional parties of the right. They are not always consistent in their views and neither is Bernier.

As a libertarian, he would remove government from the business of business. His pet peeve is supply management in the dairy and poultry industries.

But his libertarianism would not extend to immigration. Bernier would reduce the number of immigrants allowed into Canada and require newcomers to adhere to what he calls Canadian values.

He is a critic of multiculturalism and “the cult of diversity at any cost.”

That message will play well in Quebec. And, on the subject of climate change, Bernier is a Luddite:

On the issue of climate change, Bernier would take a strictly hands-off approach. Trudeau’s Liberals are proceeding with their plans for a carbon tax. Scheer’s Conservatives say they would do something but won’t say what.

Bernier’s People’s Party would do nothing at all. What’s the point, he asks. Canada contributes little to global warming anyway. Why waste our time trying to meet targets we know we can’t reach in the hope of achieving emission reductions we know won’t accomplish much.

Better to cut taxes and hope that someone will eventually come up with a brilliant solution.

All of this is conservative red meat and Max wants a piece of the action. It's also crazy. But political insanity seems to be selling well these days.

Image: The Toronto Star