It used to be that the leaders of political parties had significant life experience before they entered politics. But, increasingly, it appears that politics is the only experience the leaders of our parties have. Rick Salutin writes that is particularly the case with those who are vying for the leadership of the Conservatives:
Start with Pierre Poilievre. At 16 in Calgary, he was selling Reform party memberships. He was always a prairie, U.S.-style right-winger, never part of the historically continuous party that reached back to Sir John A. and became known as Progressive Conservatives. From Reform, they became the “Canadian Alliance,” then swallowed the old PCs whole.
He worked to make Stockwell Day leader. At 20 in second-year university, he entered an essay contest on what he’d offer as prime minister. Freedom, he proposed, still his political ID. There’s something to be said for consistency, but not that much if it never goes anywhere else. He moved to Ottawa and became an MP in 2004 at 25. He still is—an MP, that is.
From the start he was a fully formed mudslinger. There’s a pressing anger in him, like a physical need to expel bile and insults lest he explode. You can amass aggravating policy quotes but they’re not his essence; it’s his prosecutorial style in Question Period or committee hearings, visible in any of many YouTube clips: sneering at Justin Trudeau or Mark Carney, interrupting, seeking to dominate. It can be riveting.
I’d say there’s a link between this exceedingly stylized nastiness and going almost directly from student politics to Parliament. Student politics are highly idealistic; all they usually lack is a sense of life’s complexity, which you can only acquire from… living awhile. That needn’t mean abandoning the ideals, but it implies expanding how you get to them.
What remains true of Poilievre is also true -- to different degrees -- of Jean Charest and Patrick Brown:
Jean Charest is 20 years older but similar in trajectory. He became an MP at 26 in 1984. He led the PCs starting in 1993 after they’d been decimated, then became Quebec’s Liberal leader and premier. He was booted from office in 2012 as an enemy of youth, despite his lifelong youthiness, during the Quebec tuition strike. He became one of those lawyers with a corner office in a big firm who get pointed out to clients taking the tour. He’s always seemed old before his time but he may be catching up.
Patrick Brown, born in 1978, was elected to Barrie City Council at 22, became an MP in 2006, then provincial PC leader in 2015. In 2018 he was obliterated politically by a sneak attack full of murky details, launched by his own members and staff as well as CTV. Yet within months he was back as mayor of Brampton, which was his second attempted resurrection.
Of the three, I’d say Brown comes closest to having real life experience in the sense that he was backstabbed by allies, deserted by staff and got panicked into quitting—as opposed to being a parliamentary secretary, shadow finance critic or two-time head of the PC youth federation.
Compared to this trio, Justin Trudeau seems a grizzled veteran of life’s misadventures. Born in 1971, he did a BA; floundered through some grad programs; substitute taught high school; did a eulogy for his dad which convinced me, among others, he should stay out of public life; and didn’t run for office till 2008 when he was 37. If flailing around looking for something to do and who you are counts as life experience, which it does, he stacks up well.
One could argue that, if you specialize in politics, you ought to be good at it -- and perhaps that's true. However, if politics is all you know, you probably don't know much about the life experiences of the people you represent -- the vast majority of whom are not politicians.
Image: rabble.ca
8 comments:
All of these guys are good at politics in the sense that they've been able to make a comfortable living at it. Viewed this way, good at politics means good at getting re-elected. And it's hard to get re-elected without delivering at least some of what your voters want.
I'm not entirely convinced that private sector experience gives you a better insight into the people you represent. A corporate lawyer at a Bay St law firm doesn't gain much insight into the common man, nor does a teacher at an exclusive private school.
What galls me are career politicians like Harper, Scheer, Poilievre et al who dump on other public sector workers and try to make life worse for them through cutbacks, wage freezes and axing their jobs by privatization. All the while rewarding themselves with healthy wage increases and lavish pensions and benefits. The bad faith there is sickening.
Cap
There are all kinds of anonymous public servants who keep the government -- and its benefits -- coming, Cap. They know how things work.
OK, perhaps while compared to the life-long CON-bots of today, Jr. may 'stack up'.
Or perhaps 'the last cut is the deepest'.
" If flailing around looking for something to do and who you are counts as life experience, which it does, he stacks up well."
Faint praise eh?
Faint praise, indeed, PoV.
For the Tories the "professional politician" mantle goes back decades to 1965 when Preston earned his BA in economics. Manning was immersed in politics from the moment he emerged from the birth canal. For Preston, son of Ernest, it was second nature.
Stockwell (remember him?) prepared himself for politics with a brief stint as an assistant pastor and evangelical school administrator. So much for his world view.
Harper - Imperial Oil mailroom, that time-honoured political springboard.
Scheer - a season, perhaps two, as a counter clerk at a mom & pop insurance agency before, like his predecessors, launching into politics.
O'Toole, a helicopter navigator turned non-partner grade lawyer, always something less than met the eye.
Pepe Poilievre, Stockwell Day without the preaching credentials. My usually reliable Ottawa Conservative pal claims he's somehow amassed a net worth of about 7 million during his time on parliament hill. Que pasa?
I'm also informed that lil' Pierre's margins of victory have declined, election after election. There's a large public service constituency in his riding. It was enough of a concern that, when his region was redistricted, PP popped to the new, more reliably rural riding.
And they say politics no longer attracts the A-list talent. Who knew?
Obviously, Mound, politics no longer appeals to people who understand how the game is played.
During the Harper regime I never paid Skippy much mind as I found him to be an irritant and a lap dog. After viewing the video links I can truly understand that he is a nasty little cuss.
Poilievre's contempt for lots of people has fueled his rise, zoombats.
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