We Know How This Story Ends

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