Amazing the blindness by so many otherwise intelligent people involved equating 'against' progressive/woke/CCP favouritism with 'pro-Trump'. Tedious and ever so tiring.
This assumption - especially endemic amongst media commentators/once-upon-a-time-journalists and pseudo-intellectual talking heads - kills honest investigation and meaningful dialogue about real world problems western countries generally, and Canada specifically, face. And that includes a world where Trump really is the President of the US and really does do things worth criticizing. But incorporating this assumption into opinions does serve to further tribal divisions and social dysfunction (and quite possibly economic ruin) in the name of 'patriotism' in the form of anti-Americanism. This is huge disservice to effectively dealing with very real and pressing problems through recommended policy. This article is no different.
I get it that The Line likes its Conservatives (conservatives) prostrate, deferential, and labile, if not actually defenestrated.
None of the folks in my Conservative EDA meet the description of the Party you have described.
Every single member of our Board joined due to the decay, diminishment, and destruction of our Country. None has uttered a word of support for Donald Trump, MAGA, or whatever other goblin you have conjured up to further disparage the best Leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in our history, the man whose Party chased off the worst Prime Minister since Confederation, and the man who forced The Great Canadian Economic Savant to adopt his Party’s platform.
Yes, there are problems under this big tent. But are they any more insurmountable than the FarLeft-CentreLeft split between the Palestinian/Climate Fanatic/Woke/Progressive/Postmodern/Deconstructionist wing of the Liberal Party of Canada?
JJ should not have done what he did; like all elected members, the voters will decide his fate.
Given the number of real problems facing conservatism in this Country, perhaps The Line, generally, and this author, specifically, could get back to discussing those, and the actual problems threatening this Country.
I am not a supporter of censoring MPs over civil political disagreements. While Jamil Jivani is being insufferably oblivious to the Trump regime's bad-faith motives, Jivani is still being perfectly civil in his communications, and the ban hammer does not need to be the first tool applied to someone who is being misguided.
That being said, Pierre Poilievre should at least be able to publicly slap Jivani on the wrist, and his not even doing that is truly weak.
Well put. If he does not have enough courage to end this behaviour than the verdict is he is a coward or that is who is really is. We need everyone pulling together. I am pleased to watch here in BC as the Conservative party (which use to be a moderate party under the Liberal label) is falling apart as the people are recognizing the danger of extreme under the tent. You are either a Canadian or you are not. Decide
Yes they should be, but that applies to the NDP as a whole. The difference in this instance is for some reason there is a vocal section of the Conservatives Party that supports Trump over Canada and that is extreme to a disloyalty level. It is one thing to say Trump has some points about our defence posture and maybe some other points which I cannot fathom and it is another to support him in spite of his obvious aim of subjecting us to US control and his whims.
I’m a Conservative, I live in a Conservative area and most people I meet and converse with on a daily basis are Conservatives. That said, 99% of those Conservatives are 100% against Trump, against his methods and against his aim to subjugate Canada. It is online where I come across the fools and the basis for much of their argument is Globalism, the foolish myth that a few actors are driving the world in a direction to benefit them. For some reason they totally overlook the fact that Trump is trying to reshape the world to benefit Trump. No President of the US has gained wealth in the amount or at the speed that Trump has in this term. Hers the danger, not the saviour.
Absolutely. We have this element now in all parties and political stripes. I was only speaking to the topic. The pendulum swinging far left/far right when Political parties want to win so badly they do not set boundaries.
Where is the sober evaluation of what damage Canadian tariffs can inflict on a population 10 times larger that holds most of the cards? Sobriety is nowhere to be found, because the Liberals want Canadians to float along on a story that they provide. "Strategically" has no meaning in a context devoid of relevant data.
Could central Canada please get with the needs of the 2020's instead of some now ancient era, and ask for information and data before deciding who to vote for?
Carney won't tell us what the US deal was, possibly because many voters would initially not support the decision to withdraw if they knew. But central Canadian voters will support the Liberal decision if Carney gets a story/spin started first. Carney/Ford are working on their story.
The Conservatives recognize that Trump is willing to negatively affect other economies, and disrupt spending patterns (such as the military) to strengthen the US economically. They realize that the deal is everything to Trump, and he is used to upsetting people to get the deal he wants. Central Canadians are uniquely easy to upset. Just make up a story they buy into.
The Liberals' willingness to delay puts Canada in economic and possibly other perils. We are done in by the central Canadian culture of supporting half true stories. Meanwhile - would you rather the US remain the dominant world economy or face the Chinese Communist jackboot? Don't avoid the weakness in the US that forces Trump to get going on economic renewal.
I will still vote to stay in Canada because I think that Alberta and others can get a better deal from central Canada, and there are no viable plans for what happens should we separate. BUt central Canadians could kill their own economy and ours with their willfull blindness.
The Democrats would be no different in terms of protecting and repatriating US jobs. They have been in bed with big unions for a few generations. The Republicans managed to identify with the workers - a job made easier by the overt elitism of Eastern democrats such as Hillary Clinton who took Big Labor and the Black and Latino vote for granted.
Unfortunately Canada’s response to the US job repatriation via tariffs has been governed more by TDS than anything else. But Trump in spite of being a loose cannon and his erraticness - so well cultivated and amplified by US mass media - enjoys the support of 80 million largely working class Americans. Polievre projecting the image of a meek polite Canadian who has spent his entire working career in the Ottawa government bubble has zero in common with the average working Canadian.
It would help immensely if Canadian leaders would look at their work culture and the entitlements which make them less efficient than the competition. Starting with unemployment benefits and subsidies intended to keep people where they are regionally and the myth of free health care which is rationed by waitlists (except for MAID).
With intellectually lazy criticism like this, who needs enemies?
The idea that loyalty is owed to the governing party and prime minister, implicit in this piece, is absurd and disloyal.
As Canadians our first concern is not Trump, but what we can control which is our government. The lack of information and intentional duplicity by our prime minister is hugely concerning and the focus of media like this on supposed disloyalty instead is galling.
What deal did we walk away from? What were the specifics? Is this another Gordie Howe situation?
Literally today they are now saying that they will go back to the table because French label requirements are back on. Did we tank the deal for that?
Drifting through this piece are buckets of ambiguity. Is the Line promoting (A) unification in the face of a threatening Trump or is it promoting (B) the sort of Democrat-like hate mongering so prevalent in much of what we hear and see in Canadian commentary.
C'mon Matt and Jen...come clean. We need to support Canada in the face of the US aggression. We do NOT need the sort of broad brush hate so common in our country.
“The more the CPC is associated with the pro-Trump faction that they refuse to remove, and the more the CPC lets the toxic influencers define the CPC brand, the more voters will rightfully recoil from supporting the Conservatives in their current iteration.”
Wow! TDS moves north of the border. Trump is America's president, responsible to American voters, who convincingly demonstrated in 2024 that they have more faith in his rationality and leadership than in that of the shadowy cabal that was pulling Biden's puppet strings and clearly had the same plan in mind for the inept, deeply confused Harris. Trump has no responsibility whatsoever to Canadian voters or political leaders: he doesn't need their 'support,' and doesn't have to listen to 'criticism' from them. For Canadians to go out of their way to antagonise an American president of either political party would be entirely pointless, and certainly wouldn't advance Canadian interests in bilateral negotiations on any matter.
Let Canadians—Liberals and Conservatives alike—get their own house in order: that isn't Donald Trump's job. The real threats to Canada's sovereignty and competent global performance emanate from within this country, and if Trump is more astute than our own leaders at putting his finger on some of the problems besetting us, that's on us. As Canadians, we should have no objection to sharing with an American the credit for insight into truth. Instead, we should profit from the wake-up call and get our own priorities straight.
As for Vance, he's quite likely to succeed Trump as America's president. For Canadians to join Democrats' ideologically-driven 'Resistance' against him and the majority of American voters, as the culture wars-tinged rhetoric in this article suggests, would be pure posturing and self-defeating.
It’s only right that Jason Kenney make an effort to clean up the mess he created, rage-farming as he did to get votes, so, no thanks to him! He’ll have a lot to atone for when he bites the big one! As for including Stephen Harper in full-throated support of Canada? Give your heads a shake. Has anyone (Matt! Jen?) asked him outright, “What are YOU doing to save Canada?” This deference and “elder statesman” bullshit is gross! Glad I’ve cancelled my subscription to this mealy-mouthed subscription.
The CPC is finished. The 2 loudest voices are both unelectable idiots. But let's not pretend Doug Ford is anything less than Ontario's Trump, and we were just as stupid to re-elect him as the US was.
No, he's not. He's a "Trump Conservative". He cares about Doug. he cares about Doug's friends. That's it. Let's not pretend any Conservative government in the last 40 years has approached fiscal responsibility. They have nothing else to offer.
Canada is in the grips of an irrational moral panic, akin to early Covid, the 2025 election, and for a foreign example, the US post-9/11. If this was a Democrat government playing hardball in trade negotiations it would be news, for sure, but much more austere and restrained. Trump's threats of "annexation" and "attacks on our sovereignty" are entirely fictional and massively overblown, respectively. But the reaction by Canadians, like it or not, is real.
Donald Trump is our enemy. He's taken real steps to hurt the Canadian economy - we lost $60 Billiion in economic growth due to his tariffs and the uncertainty his threats have caused. He's a vile human being, a terrible leader, and tends to destroy everyone and everything he touches. You can make the argument that he's objectively evil, reveling in the suffering of others and obsessing over petty revenge while engaging in unprecedented corruption for personal gain. While I can understand some Americans still being aligned with him due to some niche policy or ideological alignment (to the extent he even has an ideology), it's totally baffling that any Canadian can admire Trump at this point.
It's distressing that Poilievre and the Conservative Party lack the self-awareness to play the game that is in front of them. Yes the reaction isn't rational, and yes we should still be talking about other things and aren't, but the country is going nuts and you guys have no response. The CPC isn't going to lose supporters by attacking Trump. Pick the damn fight, trade insults, you're good at it. If Trump is insulting Pierre on Truth Social like he's doing with Doug Ford, you are doing well. Sacrifice Jivani, he's an electoral anchor and he's also angling for leadership - two birds there. Don't worry too much what the Pleb Reporter or Jasmin Laine have to say about it.
Yes, the CPC is stupid for not playing ruthless politics. Even if you were a CPC MP who loved Trump like your own father, you have to play the politics of attacking him and being more anti-trump than the Liberals.
It is depressing that they have still not figured out this very basic fact you would have thought was pounded into them with the election.
But their stupidity pales in comparison to the obvious duplicity of the Liberals and medias pathetic cowardice in towing the Liberal line unquestioned.
The number one reason we are in this position is because of Liberal policies that have neutered our country. The biggest problem is not Trump, but our own self-imposed powerlessness.
The CPC needs to be maximally ruthless, willing to lie, manipulate, cheat, bribe, backstab, blackmail. Every tool available. They need to win the propaganda war, or Christ, at least participate in it. Sometimes that means momentarily abandoning principle for what sells. And with Trump it isn't even hard!
This Liberal government is smart, dangerous, and plays by no rules. If Pierre can't match that then we may have found a real reason for him to step aside. It's ironic that his detractors still think of him as a mean boogeyman coming for yer abortions and healthcare with a sneaky hidden agenda when his real weaknesses are that he's too nice and too honest.
The Democrats would be no different in terms of protecting and repatriating US jobs. They have been in bed with big unions for a few generations. The Republicans managed to identify with the workers - a job made easier by the overt elitism of Eastern democrats such as Hillary Clinton who took Big Labor and the Black and Latino vote for granted.
With respect, the reason Trump gained a following is because (and aside from his profligate spending and non sensical foreign policy) he has gone after DEI, illegal immigration, our non sensical Dairy and Poutlry cartels, China and the Chinese movement into Canada and has gone after teh Mullahs in Iran and we may have peace for the first time in decades in the Middle East. Even Ven is starting to get off its knees and Cuba is next to come.
I haven't much to say here. My entire circle hates Trump but also realizes that its not our leader nor our country. Also my entire circle are proud Canadians. Thats it.
Actually, I'm for Canada. Not the same thing.
Amazing the blindness by so many otherwise intelligent people involved equating 'against' progressive/woke/CCP favouritism with 'pro-Trump'. Tedious and ever so tiring.
This assumption - especially endemic amongst media commentators/once-upon-a-time-journalists and pseudo-intellectual talking heads - kills honest investigation and meaningful dialogue about real world problems western countries generally, and Canada specifically, face. And that includes a world where Trump really is the President of the US and really does do things worth criticizing. But incorporating this assumption into opinions does serve to further tribal divisions and social dysfunction (and quite possibly economic ruin) in the name of 'patriotism' in the form of anti-Americanism. This is huge disservice to effectively dealing with very real and pressing problems through recommended policy. This article is no different.
I get it that The Line likes its Conservatives (conservatives) prostrate, deferential, and labile, if not actually defenestrated.
None of the folks in my Conservative EDA meet the description of the Party you have described.
Every single member of our Board joined due to the decay, diminishment, and destruction of our Country. None has uttered a word of support for Donald Trump, MAGA, or whatever other goblin you have conjured up to further disparage the best Leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in our history, the man whose Party chased off the worst Prime Minister since Confederation, and the man who forced The Great Canadian Economic Savant to adopt his Party’s platform.
Yes, there are problems under this big tent. But are they any more insurmountable than the FarLeft-CentreLeft split between the Palestinian/Climate Fanatic/Woke/Progressive/Postmodern/Deconstructionist wing of the Liberal Party of Canada?
JJ should not have done what he did; like all elected members, the voters will decide his fate.
Given the number of real problems facing conservatism in this Country, perhaps The Line, generally, and this author, specifically, could get back to discussing those, and the actual problems threatening this Country.
I am not a supporter of censoring MPs over civil political disagreements. While Jamil Jivani is being insufferably oblivious to the Trump regime's bad-faith motives, Jivani is still being perfectly civil in his communications, and the ban hammer does not need to be the first tool applied to someone who is being misguided.
That being said, Pierre Poilievre should at least be able to publicly slap Jivani on the wrist, and his not even doing that is truly weak.
Well put. If he does not have enough courage to end this behaviour than the verdict is he is a coward or that is who is really is. We need everyone pulling together. I am pleased to watch here in BC as the Conservative party (which use to be a moderate party under the Liberal label) is falling apart as the people are recognizing the danger of extreme under the tent. You are either a Canadian or you are not. Decide
What about extreme under the NDP or Liberal tents? Aren’t they subject to the same criticism?
Yes they should be, but that applies to the NDP as a whole. The difference in this instance is for some reason there is a vocal section of the Conservatives Party that supports Trump over Canada and that is extreme to a disloyalty level. It is one thing to say Trump has some points about our defence posture and maybe some other points which I cannot fathom and it is another to support him in spite of his obvious aim of subjecting us to US control and his whims.
I’m a Conservative, I live in a Conservative area and most people I meet and converse with on a daily basis are Conservatives. That said, 99% of those Conservatives are 100% against Trump, against his methods and against his aim to subjugate Canada. It is online where I come across the fools and the basis for much of their argument is Globalism, the foolish myth that a few actors are driving the world in a direction to benefit them. For some reason they totally overlook the fact that Trump is trying to reshape the world to benefit Trump. No President of the US has gained wealth in the amount or at the speed that Trump has in this term. Hers the danger, not the saviour.
I don't know what Conservative is anymore. Fiscal responsibility is gone, so what else do they have to offer?
Absolutely. We have this element now in all parties and political stripes. I was only speaking to the topic. The pendulum swinging far left/far right when Political parties want to win so badly they do not set boundaries.
missing the point a bit
Where is the sober evaluation of what damage Canadian tariffs can inflict on a population 10 times larger that holds most of the cards? Sobriety is nowhere to be found, because the Liberals want Canadians to float along on a story that they provide. "Strategically" has no meaning in a context devoid of relevant data.
Could central Canada please get with the needs of the 2020's instead of some now ancient era, and ask for information and data before deciding who to vote for?
Carney won't tell us what the US deal was, possibly because many voters would initially not support the decision to withdraw if they knew. But central Canadian voters will support the Liberal decision if Carney gets a story/spin started first. Carney/Ford are working on their story.
The Conservatives recognize that Trump is willing to negatively affect other economies, and disrupt spending patterns (such as the military) to strengthen the US economically. They realize that the deal is everything to Trump, and he is used to upsetting people to get the deal he wants. Central Canadians are uniquely easy to upset. Just make up a story they buy into.
The Liberals' willingness to delay puts Canada in economic and possibly other perils. We are done in by the central Canadian culture of supporting half true stories. Meanwhile - would you rather the US remain the dominant world economy or face the Chinese Communist jackboot? Don't avoid the weakness in the US that forces Trump to get going on economic renewal.
I will still vote to stay in Canada because I think that Alberta and others can get a better deal from central Canada, and there are no viable plans for what happens should we separate. BUt central Canadians could kill their own economy and ours with their willfull blindness.
The Democrats would be no different in terms of protecting and repatriating US jobs. They have been in bed with big unions for a few generations. The Republicans managed to identify with the workers - a job made easier by the overt elitism of Eastern democrats such as Hillary Clinton who took Big Labor and the Black and Latino vote for granted.
Unfortunately Canada’s response to the US job repatriation via tariffs has been governed more by TDS than anything else. But Trump in spite of being a loose cannon and his erraticness - so well cultivated and amplified by US mass media - enjoys the support of 80 million largely working class Americans. Polievre projecting the image of a meek polite Canadian who has spent his entire working career in the Ottawa government bubble has zero in common with the average working Canadian.
It would help immensely if Canadian leaders would look at their work culture and the entitlements which make them less efficient than the competition. Starting with unemployment benefits and subsidies intended to keep people where they are regionally and the myth of free health care which is rationed by waitlists (except for MAID).
With intellectually lazy criticism like this, who needs enemies?
The idea that loyalty is owed to the governing party and prime minister, implicit in this piece, is absurd and disloyal.
As Canadians our first concern is not Trump, but what we can control which is our government. The lack of information and intentional duplicity by our prime minister is hugely concerning and the focus of media like this on supposed disloyalty instead is galling.
What deal did we walk away from? What were the specifics? Is this another Gordie Howe situation?
Literally today they are now saying that they will go back to the table because French label requirements are back on. Did we tank the deal for that?
This essay is just vapid foolishness.
Drifting through this piece are buckets of ambiguity. Is the Line promoting (A) unification in the face of a threatening Trump or is it promoting (B) the sort of Democrat-like hate mongering so prevalent in much of what we hear and see in Canadian commentary.
C'mon Matt and Jen...come clean. We need to support Canada in the face of the US aggression. We do NOT need the sort of broad brush hate so common in our country.
“The more the CPC is associated with the pro-Trump faction that they refuse to remove, and the more the CPC lets the toxic influencers define the CPC brand, the more voters will rightfully recoil from supporting the Conservatives in their current iteration.”
Spencer, your only friend is a straw man.
Wow! TDS moves north of the border. Trump is America's president, responsible to American voters, who convincingly demonstrated in 2024 that they have more faith in his rationality and leadership than in that of the shadowy cabal that was pulling Biden's puppet strings and clearly had the same plan in mind for the inept, deeply confused Harris. Trump has no responsibility whatsoever to Canadian voters or political leaders: he doesn't need their 'support,' and doesn't have to listen to 'criticism' from them. For Canadians to go out of their way to antagonise an American president of either political party would be entirely pointless, and certainly wouldn't advance Canadian interests in bilateral negotiations on any matter.
Let Canadians—Liberals and Conservatives alike—get their own house in order: that isn't Donald Trump's job. The real threats to Canada's sovereignty and competent global performance emanate from within this country, and if Trump is more astute than our own leaders at putting his finger on some of the problems besetting us, that's on us. As Canadians, we should have no objection to sharing with an American the credit for insight into truth. Instead, we should profit from the wake-up call and get our own priorities straight.
As for Vance, he's quite likely to succeed Trump as America's president. For Canadians to join Democrats' ideologically-driven 'Resistance' against him and the majority of American voters, as the culture wars-tinged rhetoric in this article suggests, would be pure posturing and self-defeating.
It’s only right that Jason Kenney make an effort to clean up the mess he created, rage-farming as he did to get votes, so, no thanks to him! He’ll have a lot to atone for when he bites the big one! As for including Stephen Harper in full-throated support of Canada? Give your heads a shake. Has anyone (Matt! Jen?) asked him outright, “What are YOU doing to save Canada?” This deference and “elder statesman” bullshit is gross! Glad I’ve cancelled my subscription to this mealy-mouthed subscription.
Harper was and still is a loyal Canadian. More than Justin Trudeau ever was. Good grief!
The CPC is finished. The 2 loudest voices are both unelectable idiots. But let's not pretend Doug Ford is anything less than Ontario's Trump, and we were just as stupid to re-elect him as the US was.
Let's not pretend Doug Ford is a Conservative. He is basically a Liberal.
No true scotsman fallacy. Conservatives chose him as leader and have refused to remove him.
No, he's not. He's a "Trump Conservative". He cares about Doug. he cares about Doug's friends. That's it. Let's not pretend any Conservative government in the last 40 years has approached fiscal responsibility. They have nothing else to offer.
Parliamentary democracies thrive under a strong loyal opposition. Polievre & the CPC don't seem to understand this basic concept.
Canada is in the grips of an irrational moral panic, akin to early Covid, the 2025 election, and for a foreign example, the US post-9/11. If this was a Democrat government playing hardball in trade negotiations it would be news, for sure, but much more austere and restrained. Trump's threats of "annexation" and "attacks on our sovereignty" are entirely fictional and massively overblown, respectively. But the reaction by Canadians, like it or not, is real.
Donald Trump is our enemy. He's taken real steps to hurt the Canadian economy - we lost $60 Billiion in economic growth due to his tariffs and the uncertainty his threats have caused. He's a vile human being, a terrible leader, and tends to destroy everyone and everything he touches. You can make the argument that he's objectively evil, reveling in the suffering of others and obsessing over petty revenge while engaging in unprecedented corruption for personal gain. While I can understand some Americans still being aligned with him due to some niche policy or ideological alignment (to the extent he even has an ideology), it's totally baffling that any Canadian can admire Trump at this point.
It's distressing that Poilievre and the Conservative Party lack the self-awareness to play the game that is in front of them. Yes the reaction isn't rational, and yes we should still be talking about other things and aren't, but the country is going nuts and you guys have no response. The CPC isn't going to lose supporters by attacking Trump. Pick the damn fight, trade insults, you're good at it. If Trump is insulting Pierre on Truth Social like he's doing with Doug Ford, you are doing well. Sacrifice Jivani, he's an electoral anchor and he's also angling for leadership - two birds there. Don't worry too much what the Pleb Reporter or Jasmin Laine have to say about it.
Yes, the CPC is stupid for not playing ruthless politics. Even if you were a CPC MP who loved Trump like your own father, you have to play the politics of attacking him and being more anti-trump than the Liberals.
It is depressing that they have still not figured out this very basic fact you would have thought was pounded into them with the election.
But their stupidity pales in comparison to the obvious duplicity of the Liberals and medias pathetic cowardice in towing the Liberal line unquestioned.
The number one reason we are in this position is because of Liberal policies that have neutered our country. The biggest problem is not Trump, but our own self-imposed powerlessness.
The CPC needs to be maximally ruthless, willing to lie, manipulate, cheat, bribe, backstab, blackmail. Every tool available. They need to win the propaganda war, or Christ, at least participate in it. Sometimes that means momentarily abandoning principle for what sells. And with Trump it isn't even hard!
This Liberal government is smart, dangerous, and plays by no rules. If Pierre can't match that then we may have found a real reason for him to step aside. It's ironic that his detractors still think of him as a mean boogeyman coming for yer abortions and healthcare with a sneaky hidden agenda when his real weaknesses are that he's too nice and too honest.
The Democrats would be no different in terms of protecting and repatriating US jobs. They have been in bed with big unions for a few generations. The Republicans managed to identify with the workers - a job made easier by the overt elitism of Eastern democrats such as Hillary Clinton who took Big Labor and the Black and Latino vote for granted.
Well just look at what Gavin Newsom said when asked if he would reverse the tariffs on CTV.
He would not answer the question and gave a word salad answer.
With respect, the reason Trump gained a following is because (and aside from his profligate spending and non sensical foreign policy) he has gone after DEI, illegal immigration, our non sensical Dairy and Poutlry cartels, China and the Chinese movement into Canada and has gone after teh Mullahs in Iran and we may have peace for the first time in decades in the Middle East. Even Ven is starting to get off its knees and Cuba is next to come.
I haven't much to say here. My entire circle hates Trump but also realizes that its not our leader nor our country. Also my entire circle are proud Canadians. Thats it.