Canada finally has a conservative alternative to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Ontario Member of Parliament Pierre Poilievre (CPC-Carleton) became the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) on Saturday night in a first ballot victory, winning 68% of the membership vote. Unlike the United States primary system, where party candidates are decided on a state-by-state basis, CPC members vote across the country but these results are then “weighted” according to the number of electoral constituencies in Canada. So it is conceivable for a candidate to win the popular vote but lose overall if he or she demonstrates weak support in a specific region.
None of that mattered to Poilievre as he showed strength across the country, winning in all but eight constituencies. His closest rival, barely won 16% of the vote. Jean Charest embodied what Canadian Conservatives like to call a “Red Tory.” That’s the equivalent of a RINO. Charest was the leader of the old Progressive Conservative Party – an oxymoron if there ever was one – before it folded into the CPC in 2003. Charest had no difficulty shifting to the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party and becoming premier in that province. During the long Conservative leadership contest, he was chosen candidate of the Conservative establishment, who consistently touted him as a man of moderation and unity while warning that Poilievre was dangerous and extremist for actually espousing conservative policies.
Poilievre’s election means the Conservative Party is actually going to talk and walk conservative policies and is going to stop aping failed Liberal policies. Poilievre had his epiphany last February when he fully embraced the Freedom Convoy trucker protest and said he would end all COVID-19 mandates. Concurrently, he opened his arms – passionately – to new immigrants and blue color workers who were disillusioned with Trudeau’s authoritarian elitism and became engaged with Poilievre’s discourse of individual freedom. He spoke to those same dispossessed voters that former President Donald Trump discovered in 2020 as the Republican Party welcomed the working class and not just the country club.
That political fact scares Trudeau.
Well, all hell has broken loose in the usually sedate land of Canada since Poilievre has become leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.
We haven’t discussed the increasingly strange behavior of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since he made a decision to essentially ban fertilizer in Canada and force a food shortage. Since then, his deputy prime minister has been making it loud and clear that she wants the secretary general job at NATO before the Trudeau ship sinks beneath the cold waters of political reality. Chrystia Freeland, who is also the finance minister in the Trudeau government, has also been pushing money into Ukraine as fast as it can be printed and so will be a perfect fit for that warmongering alliance of everybody but Russia.
Trudeau was seized with a panic attack upon learning that Poilievre was elected leader of the CPC and one prominent member of the national media corps had a meltdown at a Poilievre news conference that was, to say the least, memorable.
Trudeau used the tired old hidden agenda attack against the new Conservative leader. “What Canadians need is responsible leadership. Buzzwords, dog whistles , and careless attacks don’t add up to a plan for Canadians,” Trudeau said Sunday at a Liberal caucus retreat.
Then on Monday, Global News senior political correspondent David Akin went into meltdown mode, swearing profusely at Poilievre as the CPC leader tried to hold a news conference.
Poilievre is already sending Liberal Trudeau Government and legacy media into panic attacks. Watch Global News' David Akin make a fool of himself. pic.twitter.com/XczYnDGrZ2
— David Krayden (@DavidKrayden) September 14, 2022
Had this sort of thing happened in front of a Trudeau news conference, the reporter would have been physically removed in irons but nothing of the sort happened to Akin, who continued heckling as if he were at a boxing match.
So, what kind of talk was Poilievre dishing that has earned him this sort of notoriety? Well, here’s a few of his comments at his first news conference, where he outlined his fiscal direction.
“Canadians are out of money, and this prime minister is out of touch.”
Poilievre’s vision includes lowering taxes on our farmers, workers and small businesses in order that they can “grow more affordable food, build more affordable homes, and produce the energy we need for future right here in Canada.”
“I want every single Canadian to have the opportunity that I had,” Poilievre continued.
“To come from modest beginnings but work hard every day, to make sacrifices, to be responsible, and to have all those virtues pay off as they realize their dreams in their country. A country with a small government but big citizens,” he outlined his radical agenda.
Then on Tuesday Akin, my former colleague from Sun News, went crazy at Poilievre’s news conference, telling the new Tory leader to “go f*ck himself” as he unleashed a string of profanity against Poilievre for not immediately answering questions.
What makes this interesting as well as disturbing is that Poilievre and a lot of us have long been saying that much of the mainstream media is in the Trudeau government’s pocket because it is either wholly owned or largely subsidized by the government. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is state media. The other television networks and major daily newspapers receive large payments from the federal government to stay in business. So who do you think they are going to support?
Poilievre has promised to stop the subsidies and privatize the CBC. No wonder he called Akin a “Liberal heckler” because he aptly proved Poilievre’s point that Akin and his media outlet sure look like they are working for Trudeau.
Akin must be auditioning to be the Jim Acosta of Canadian media. Do you remember how rude and arrogant Acosta was to then-President Donald Trump when Acosta was the CNN White House correspondent? He refused to relinquish the microphone to other reporters, started arguments with the president and was always demanding that Trump knock the chip off his shoulder.
Poilievre has never been popular with the Parliamentary press corps, any more than Trump was. But conservatives rarely are. But there is no question that Canada has its more ideologically conservative Prime Minister in waiting in its history and the Conservative Party has become the MAGA Republicans in its desire to take back freedom and restore liberty in a country where it has been all but banished by a tinpot dictator named Justin Trudeau.
