— Feature, Musings —04.03.2025 06:39 AM
My latest: a big day on the campaign trail
Before the tariffs hit, before Donald Trump kicked off his three-ring circus in the White House lawn, my genial colleague Brian Lilley suggested I come with him to see the Conservative leader speak to the elite of Bay Street.
So I did. I watched at the back.
His tone was right. Pierre Poilievre looked and sounded like you would expect a Prime Minister to look and sound. His economic plan, and his plan for dealing with the tariffs, seemingly made sense.
But as I stood there at the back observing the guy, it was obvious that he could not bring himself to clearly and unambiguously condemn Donald Trump.
Canadians want him to do that. I’m now convinced he will never do that. Is that bad? Well, it could be fatal.
I had never seen Pierre Poilievre give a speech in person before. He seemed a bit shorter than I expected – although this writer is 6’4″ in my Doc Martens.
He was impeccably suited, there was not a hair out of place, and he seemed a bit younger than he does on TV. Certainly less severe.
At one point he made a joke about snow in mid-April, and I was the loudest laugh in the room. It was funny.
I thought to myself: he should do that more often. He should smile more. He should laugh more.
But in politics, as in life: once you reach 40 or so, how you are is how you are. No big changes are possible.
[To read more, subscribe here]
Lilley’s latest column…. I think that’s an example of a journalist projecting their own feelings and presenting it as news.
He has laid out his plan for dealing with Trump. I don’t want a leader who childishly name calls another leader for cheap points as he will have to deal with that person later and I want him to have the moral high ground. Will it cost him the election? Possibly and as a Conservative I’m good with that. I want him to stick to a set of principles and if he has to abandon them to win then is he worth the vote that could be wasted on tue other sell out.
Dink,
What’s the point of becoming leader if you don’t instinctively have what it takes to win? What pisses me off the most is that deep in his reserve Pierre has what it takes to win but he’s intent on throwing that away in the campaign. He MUST out do Carney on Trump to win but refuses to do so. As a result, he will pass for a Trump supplicant and that will be electorally fatal…what can I say. He refuses to listen and immediately course correct. Blessed principles only elect Liberals.
He isn’t prime ministerial – he just doesn’t carry himself like a PM and the polls reflect that – Pierre is an ideologue and an attack dog, he just isn’t a prime minister
And it’s hard for him to attack Trump because they are in sync – why would anybody want to put Canada through that –
Oh yeah, that empty suit Mark Carney is soooooo impressive!
Listen to man rally the crowds!
People will sure want to fight for him!
Warren,
The guy who voters see as the natural antithesis to Trump will form a majority government. There is no middle ground politically speaking. Right now, that guy is called Carney. Pierre has decided not to outdo Carney, and so when we lose, this will be why we lost—as simple as that.
I agree Ronald – at least you’re honest.
And the secondary factor will be progressive women who are abandoning the NDP in droves to support the Carney Liberals. If the NDP is still in single digits on election day, it’s all over for the CPC before the vote is counted. Our party does not embrace our progressive or Red Tory members so why would anyone else on the progressive side support us in significant numbers? Elementary, my dear Warren.
If you wanted progressive voters your party should have elected Charest – Pierre scares them all away
Curious,
Well, as I predicted, Charest had no chance because You Know Who sent out the word to block him.
However, The National Post reports on a poll showing the CPC in the lead.
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/conservatives-in-lead-for-first-time-poll
My former partner Greg Lyle is a very smart fellow.
Could this poll be a push pull, if that’s the correct term? A partisan poll designed to build momentum – it is way off in comparison to all the others so somebody’s got it wrong.
Ronald,
Lots of folks out there, who are uncomfortable, saying how they’re going to vote.
They’re quiet with the pollsters.
But they don’t want another four years of Liberal rule after nine dismal years under, essentially, the same lousy bunch that now has a new leader.
The big IF: if Trump goes quiet on Canada, that’ll take the oxygen out of Team Red.
Twenty-four days to go. A lot is going to happen
Douglas,
Here’s my take, which could be full of shit: CPC support is huge and growing. NDP support is dismal and rapidly shrinking, SO almost inevitably, Liberal support, which is not growing with Liberals, is having a vast uptick thanks to NDP female supporters. IMHO, that’s why we’re still losing even with record crowds across English-Canada in many cities and towns. Jagmeet won’t be able to get those people back into the fold, so we’ll likely lose because of that cohort.
Warren,
If we had the same political makeup as down south I would argue that Carney is Harris and that pollsters by and large are missing a political wave. I was wrong last time but I can’t get my head around that possibility this time either. Are there any more efficient voting blocks than progressive women? Maybe seniors but I still give PW the edge. Women know that they will decide this election.
According to the polls, the Liberals will win. There is hope, though. There are unions that have endorsed the Conservatuves, there are new voters the polls might be missing and Conservative supporters are likelier to vote. I’m not ready to give up.