21 Comments

Yes, he's laser focused on an issue. The problem is that neither he, nor anyone else have an actual solution to it. Sure, he may become PM, and he'll say a whole lot of things that sound great, yet accomplish nothing. He's a spin-doctor and nothing more. Because he has yet to answer a difficult question any differently than Trudeau. That may still be enough to make him PM.

If Trudeau quits, it's a whole new ballgame.

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Sep 19, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

I don't think Trudeau can win another term. For country, for party, he must resign, or the voters will send him the message he refuses to listen to....in Kathleen Wynne-esque style. I don't see Pete getting more than 2 terms. The first one is a honeymoon, and he'll spend the whole time saying he's undoing the Liberals damage.....

There are no leaders left in Canada

Expand full comment

I hope Pierre keeps the adults active in the room and doesn’t get too far ahead of their skis. There is a lot that can go wrong between now and next election. Be smart. Canada cannot afford another Trudeau government.

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Sep 19, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

If the LPC and NDP are as similar as you claim, why have they not merged? If such a thing occurs, you’d see a fair few liberals move to the CPC.

Expand full comment

A great point ... presented succinctly ...

Expand full comment

One of the most indebted countries in the developed world with one of the worst trajectories on productivity can't afford the #progressive that it already borrows to fund. The Trudeau government is great at signalling its #progressive credentials but has produced few meaningful results. If Canadians truly prefer #progressive, they must prefer declining quality of life, an economy thst struggles to improve productivity and declinijg global influence.

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Sep 19, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

11th for debt uses a selective measure of debt by not including provincial debt and wrongfully including CPP assets. Canada's true debt position is far worse than the Liberal spin masters convey:

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/were-deeper-in-debt-than-ottawa-tells-us

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Sep 19, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

Attacking the source rather than the content rarely wins an argument. Which numbers do you dispute?

Expand full comment

What makes Pierre NOT progressive?

Expand full comment

What is purpose of progressive? Government scope can't increase forever and recent history of increasing government scope, has produced diminishijg returns. Progressive may be self congratory, but it long ago jumped the shark in terms of advancing quality of life.

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Sep 19, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

You can't have winners without losers and some people in life are just losers no matter what you do for them.

Conservatives don't trust in those who want to "collaborate." They tend to define collaboration as command and control and that isn't in the interests of those with ambition, drive and ability.

Expand full comment

Canadian debt is climbing and GDP per capita is falling. We are the worst performing of our peers currently and an underachieving nation when all our advantages are taken into account.

That's what you get with leftist culture, expensive equality in mediocrity.

Expand full comment

Another key to Poilievre winning will be how well he handles the hostility that dominates the mainstream media.

Expand full comment

I do wonder how many Canadians realize that the housing issue is a provincial one and the majority if provinces in this country are conservative. The man never says what he would do. Not my vote.

Expand full comment

Health care is provincial as well and the feds are all over Canadian health care with their claustrophobic Canada Health Act.

What can the feds do? Same as with health, use cash as a carrot and stick.

This isn't even hard to figure out

Expand full comment

I’m not sure I’d want to use Harper’s rise as a model for Conservative success. Paul Martin basically had the rug pulled out from under him by the Liberal establishment and had to use the D team for his campaign strategy after going hard on the investigation into the sponsorship scandal. This led to one of the worst run campaigns in somewhat recent memory. He had a well established brand as a fiscal conservative that he abandoned immediately and suddenly he was crazy uncle Paul wanting to buy everyone a pony. It was baffling. The Conservatives also don’t have a Jack Layton on the other side to provide a viable alternative for shaken Liberals who just can’t bring themselves to vote Conservative.

I like many of Poillievre’s policies and for the successor to attack dog John Baird, he’s come a long way and he clearly is emulating a lot of Harper’s approach to campaigning. He’s electable, but probably needs help getting there.

Expand full comment

Old politicuans and their advisors should neither be seen nor heard.

The past is rarely prologue. Dishing up tropes like the CPC must have a plan and run a flawless campaign is less than insightful. The Liberal Sponsorship scandal is nothing like the housing crisis ( which is not even a crisis ). The Sponsorship Scandal was about Liberal party corruption, like the more recent SNC Lavilan scandal. If there is a recent comparison, the election interference inquiry would suffice, but just barely.

Frankly, if you can't get basic information and analogues right, then stay in your Home for Political Has Beens and remain silent.

Expand full comment

If you're smart and actually want to see conservatives at the federal helm you won't do anything further to remind Canadians of Stephen Harper, who's the principal reason Trudeau became PM in the first place. Take one for the team and disappear back into the woodwork. Poilievre will be fine as long as no one succeeds in linking him to Harper.

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Sep 19, 2023
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

This is exactly what Jen and I have been talking about for some time. First of all, the motions the party adopted are narrow and defensible on the chosen ground. More broadly, the culture has shifted under all of us, and the danger to Poilievre is thus reduced accordingly. If this holds, this is, to quote the sitting president of the United States of America, "a big fucking deal."

Expand full comment

I remember that line! I believe that he said, "Mr. President, this is a big fucking deal."

It's all about context, da?

Expand full comment

The convention showed a united Conservative party. Infighting has always been the party's downfall. I was not a Pollievre fan, but he and Jenni Byrne, have effectively united the party against a the common enemy: the Laurentian Elite and its nice haired avatar.

Expand full comment