Oh boy, what a pretty pickle Pierre Poilievre finds himself in.
It’s not his fault. He’s just become yet more collateral damage, courtesy of the rampaging bull set loose in the global china shop that is U.S. President Donald Trump.
A few weeks ago the Conservative leader was cruising to take over as prime minister, just as soon as the Liberal government deigned to finally recall parliament and allow opposition parties to call a no-confidence vote; thereby triggering a federal election.
Heck the Grits were wallowing so low in the polls some pundits figured their resulting seat count might drop to the single digit level, such was the national disillusionment with both the party and its long-time leader, Justin Trudeau.
Well, it’s never wise to count those chickens. Because right now Poilievre’s Tories are struggling, as their leader walks a dangerously slippery tightrope on deciding where to position his party in these suddenly tumultuous days.This conundrum arises after Trump’s decision to threaten hefty tariffs on Canada’s U.S. exports, while making matters even more incendiary by imagining we’d ever want to become some lame 51st state. (Today Canadians would rather walk barefoot over broken glass, than become Americans.)
So, in a bizarre chain of events that followed, Trudeau, the prime minister Canadians wanted rid of at Christmas, and who reluctantly stepped down as party leader, suddenly found himself the rally-round-the-flag leader he’d always wanted to be in facing off against Trump.
It must be particularly frustrating for Trudeau that, given the weak voter appeal of his successor, had he ignored the calls from within his own caucus to resign, he might have captured that elusive fourth term as PM he so badly wanted. He would have loved campaigning as Captain Canada, standing on guard for us all. And yes, it’s possible he’d have won, given today’s machinations.
Anyhow, here in Alberta we might find a certain pleasure in this righteous revenge of fate.
Ah, but Poilievre has no time to smirk. Not when suddenly facing a serious challenge from a rather bland banker, one who has never placed his name on a public ballot in his entire life and whose recipe for our future success as a nation is to borrow yet more money. (Hey, once a banker, always a banker.) How can the Tory leader aggressively point out the many things wrong with our country these days without appearing as some type of Trump stooge? Yet if he doesn’t do what an opposition leader is supposed to do, but instead hops aboard the ‘We stand united as Canadians’ bandwagon, then why would people vote for change?
He’s damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.
Oh, and the Liberals are exultant. Don’t be fooled that the future of Canada means more than the future of the Liberal party. It wasn’t long ago their front man – Trudeau – was celebrating Canada as the world’s first post-national state. What the heck does that even mean? Well, he explained it in an interview with the New York Times, shortly after first becoming PM: “There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada.”
But now then Liberals are trumpeting the true north strong and free, while casting Poilievre as the threat. They’ve launched a nasty ad campaign linking the Tory leader to Trump. It could well work – Poilievre isn’t exactly a politician who elicits warm and fuzzy feelings.
Is all the hard work of the past years, waiting for his chance to finally grasp the brass ring, to be in vain? If so, there’s only one man to blame.
Welcome to Trump’s world.
