Craig Wallace writes that you can't run a country on outrage and insults. But that, apparently, is what Pierre Poilievre intends to do. Wallace writes:
If recent polls remain the same, sometime between now and October 2025 Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) Leader Pierre Poilievre will become Canada’s next prime minister.
If the CPC does take power, it will be interesting to see what type of government they will be.
Certainly it is hard to tell, as to date they appear to have no plan as to how they will govern. They have released no policies on climate change outside of opposing the current carbon tax and vowing to eliminate it. What would they replace it with, or do they even believe in climate change? The CPC won’t say. They denounce the current state of the Canadian military, however they refuse to outline their own plan on how to rebuild our armed forces. What will they do with taxes? Who knows?
One area we know a CPC government will continue to embrace is anger and an utter lack of class and decorum. For example, on April 4 veteran New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus announced he will not seek re-election in the next federal election after more than 20 years in Parliament. For the record, I rarely agreed with Mr. Angus’s politics, but I greatly admired his support for the First Nations and his outstanding ability to represent his constituents. (In 2006 the Toronto Star selected him as one of the 10 top opposition MPs and in 2012 Macleans magazine voted him as one of the 25 most influential Canadians.)
So how did Poilievre react to this news? On X (previously known as Twitter) Poilievre tweeted, “Charlie Angus jumps ship rather than face voters after he voted to hike the carbon tax and ban the hunting rifles of Northern Ontarians. Common sense Conservatives will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime — and let you keep your hunting rifle.”
That's Poilievre in a nutshell: no class and no grace. But he's not the only one:
Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie commented “I’d like to thank the member for Timmins-James Bay for relieving us of our misery and announcing his resignation. Thank you so much; I truly appreciate that. You know, we’re all gonna really miss him on this side of the House. Not!”
Conservative leaders used to be statesmen:
Conservative leaders were not always this crass. Here in Ontario in the last 70 years we saw highly successful, dignified premiers in Leslie Frost, John Robarts and Bill Davis. All of them were policy driven, made decisions based on objective evidence and logic and behaved in classy, dignified ways.
Federally in my life time, while not as successful as the Ontario premiers, Conservative Party leaders Robert Stanfield and Joe Clark stood out for their decency and well thought out detailed policy alternatives. Recently deceased Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney was renowned for his kindness and class. People from all over the political spectrum spoke about how Mulroney reached out to them when they were in a time of need. One wonders why Poilievre and his party feel it is necessary to behave as uncouth boors so much of the time.
Today's Conservatives live in the gutter.
Image: Justin Tang/Canadian Press
18 comments:
The point made about previous Conservative leaders is well founded. I have been loathe to give Muldoon full credit due to scandal that overshadowed some of his real accomplishments but in view of Harper's reign of terror he was a saint.Things fell apart for Progressive Conservatives after Mulroney and they(new conservatives) have been in the gutter even in Provincial roles ever since. We are now at the bottom of the barrel now and P.P. gives full meaning to the term Pissant. An insignificant and contemptible being and certainly lacking in class and empathy.
And, if the polls are right, zoombats, he'll be our next prime minister.
Yup, Mr Wallace is spot on. This has been noted before but pp and his henchmen continue to outdo themselves. They don’t miss an opportunity to represent the boors and they won’t let a put down go to waste.
I get how they aren’t releasing any details of what they would do just yet but a few hints would be good. I sure hope a few folks change their minds at that point and put their vote elsewhere. Of course that will probably not be for the trudeau liberals.
Now, can we change up what is used as a picture of pp and trump? This is your blog Owen and I very much enjoy coming here and participating but I gotta say, I am getting an anxiety tic every time I see a photo of one of these nasties. Maybe it’s just me or perhaps I’m not the only one.
Often it’s just as I’m settling in with my morning coffee and it can be a bit of a jolt at that time of day. Perhaps your readers could come up with something we could use to represent each of them that would provoke a less stressful response.
For trump some have depicted him as a large baby, or a pumpkin or maybe a bullhorn or Jabba the Hutt.
For pp we could use a Chihuahua or a stereotypical used car salesman, or perhaps a broken record or a black hatted bad guy.
I bet you and your readers have some good ideas.
"why Poilievre and his party feel it is necessary to behave as uncouth boors so much of the time"
Why?
It is not a choice. It is who they are.
Complimenting these willfully ignorant miscreants as 'uncouth boors' is unfair to the peasants. ;-)
To Zoombats point, these are not conservatives, pp is not a conservative. These are reformers, plain and simple. They had to steal the conservative party to get any credence and slipped in the back door.
I was not a conservative and didn’t vote for them but at least I could understand them and even agree with a few things they put forth . The reformers have never been able to do that for me.
You are right about Stanfield here, Owen. I voted for him, a rare instance of my offering support to the Conservatives. As for the lack of policy, perhaps PP is assuming that since it worked so well for Ford in Ontario, it will also work for him nationally.
I like the idea of a small dog standing in for Poilievre, Graham -- one of those little dogs, a kind of overgrown rodent, that makes a lot of noise.
The assessment that Stanfield was "the best prime minister that Canada never had" was quite accurate, Lorne.
They have told us who they are, PoV. We should have believed them the first time.
I agree, Graham. Calling themselves conservatives is simply not truth in advertising.
CBC using an oil industry apologist and climate change denier as chief expert spokesperson on gas prices on all platforms this morning.
Meanwhile Poilievre can say anything he wants with any tone or style and get no fact checking or serious scrutiny on any issue from the Ottawa media. Character, judgement, policy, PM ready as far as our gatekeepers in the capital are concerned.
Character is destiny, John. We ignore that truth at our peril.
Stanfield really did show class but he lacked the Hollywood charisma that populace and the media media wanted. Ed Broadbent was often referred to as "the best prime minister that Canada never had". RG
What a difference a generation makes, RG.
The problem I see is that I don't know anyone who admits to liking the Liberals or NDP.
It seems that the momentum is on the side of the Conservatives, Toby.
At least PM Trudeau has some manners. Anyong
I agree, Anyong. Poilievre is no statesman.
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