Recent polls suggest that Pierre Poilievre will be our next prime minister. Bob Hepburn writes that's because neither the Liberals nor the NDP have figured out how to deal with Poilievre. But it's also because the media is giving him a free pass:
The biggest reason is that the media has failed in its role of providing Canadians with a clear picture of what a Poilievre government would look like.
With rare exceptions, and I include the Toronto Star among the exceptions, the national media has given Poilievre a free pass when it comes to his policies — or more accurately his lack of policies.
Instead, they focus on Poilievre’s recent moves to improve his image by ditching his glasses and updating his wardrobe. They focus on the size of his crowds and on polls, the horse-race aspect of politics. They also seem fixated on reporting about what they see as the pending demise of Trudeau.
Canadians deserve better from their media. They deserve to know where Poilievre stands on major issues of the day, rather than having their media merely parrot, unquestionably, his criticisms of Trudeau.
That doesn’t mean being seen as shills for the Liberals or giving up any sense of journalistic fairness, which in itself might be a fresh concept for the National Post and Toronto Sun, both of which are openly hostile to Trudeau, filling their pages and websites with pro-Poilievre pieces. The Globe and Mail, CTV and even the CBC aren’t much better on some days.
But it’s the media’s job to lay it all on the line with readers and viewers about Poilievre. That’s because Poilievre has played many different roles during his career — from political attack dog for Stephen Harper to champion of “freedom loving” trucker convoys — and because many of his past views and actions have been disturbing, if not outright dangerous.
Here are a few questions that require answers:
As prime minister would Poilievre still embrace the controversial use of bitcoin, which he has in the past? Would he still march with anarchistic truckers blocking streets and highways? Would he ignore medical experts on the need for vaccine mandates if COVID rears up again? How would he deal with Quebec’s demands to give it more special powers?
How would he balance the budget while reducing taxes? What programs would he cut? How would he fix grocery prices? What would he do about housing, the economy, climate change?
Poilievre has watched Donald Trump rise to power and he's taking pages out of Trump's playbook. We know how this story ends.
Image: The Toronto Star
18 comments:
Well hurrah for the T Star (thanks to your synopsis, they've locked me out with their pay for use) for giving the Libs a bit of a lift, the Cons with that particular figurehead scare the H out of me Owen
"We know how this story ends."
Not with a bang, but a whimper?
Let's hope it's with a whimper, PoV. Poilievre prefers bangs.
They're far from the party of Bob Stanfield. Rural.
Hmmmm....Bob Hepburn and the Toronto Star accusing other media of political favouritism. Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black? AN
Well, the Liberals and NDP do still have the opportunity to read the room and react to it. A gas tax only works to actually reduce gas consumption if there are other alternatives. Go figure out how to get from Winnipeg to Regina without a car or an airplane. How would one get from any smaller town in MB, SK, AB to a larger center without a car? There is no plan for a national transportation system. A gas tax is not a substitution for nation building. Would you invite 200 people to your home and not prepare for them? Not a chance, but in theory, Canada depends on increasing its population by immigration, but again, no thought to nation building. There are no homes for these new arrivals. Good luck finding a doctor for them, or even the people who are already here. And is there a national daycare system yet? Jean Chretien had that in his "Red Book", and I was excited. Both my kids are over 30 now, and still no sign of it. Instead Chretien sold the railways and dismantled the social safety net. You can't blame PP for this. This was the job for the Liberals and NDP and they have been found wanting. They need to get their act together PDQ, but until JT gets the boot, nothing will happen. LM
Hepburn accuses the Star of the same kind of mistakes that other media are making, AN.
The Liberals and the NDP's hands are not clean on this file, LM. But Poilievre clearly is in denial. He has a problem with facts.
I completely agree with your assessment about the media Owen. They do not adequately challenge Poilievre and jump into a "group think mode" on many issues and that includes the CBC. They sided with Modi on the assassination of a Canadian citizen and now that seems to be tempered with Biden's discussion of Indian intervention. They claimed that Bibi was the only valid perspective and Trudeau's comment was not well expressed. The media also bends to any criticism of Israeli policies as anti-Semitic, which is factually wrong. RG
We live in a time when we have all kinds of sources for information, RG. But we have to choose our sources carefully.
The problem isn't finding Pierre's weakness, because alot of folks aren't voting for Pierre, they are voting against the Liberals and the mistakes they made and their failures on Housing, Immigration, Groceries, etc...
Like recent measures on housing should have been done 2 years ago at least, Trudeau waited till Canadians were pissed off enough to vote for almost any Tory when it was possibly too late.
Deal with those issues and follow through on its deal with NDP instead of trying to wiggle out of it and then folks might be willing to take a closer look at Pierre.
Personally if it was me, I'd turn the corporation behind No Frills/Lawblows into a worker/consumer join cooperative to make it an example of what happens when you rip off and scam Canadians. I'd also do the same with PetroCanada whihlch should never have been privatized.
Back in the 80s, there was a rush to privatize public corporations, Anon. The wrong turn was taken long ago. Please initial your next comment.
You keep disappointing me about Canadians who I have always assumed were the most intelligent people in the western hemisphere. If it is clear to most people about how the story will end, why will people ensure he becomes PM?
Perhaps you give us too much credit, hels.
"Back in the 80s, there was a rush to privatize public corporations", And do we all remember who was at the helm in those days? The Gucci shoe wearing brown bag recipient from Baie Comeau.Talk about a Conservative nightmare!
Our memories are short, zoombats. Same party, different face.
Actually Owen, you're wrong. Mr Hepburn said the Star was an exception to his accusation that the "media" was giving Mr Poilievre a free pass. But maybe this story explains why we are seeing criticism of Mr Poilievre and the Conservatives. After all, he who pay the piper gets to call the tune! AN
https://www.blacklocks.ca/paid-press-crosses-the-line/
You're right. AN. I misread Hepburn. He calls the Star an exception. There are other exceptions -- like the Tyee. There's always a fascination with the polls. But the policies don't garner the attention they should.
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