During the recent by-election in Mississauga-Lakeshore, Pierre Poilievre was nowhere to be seen. Michael Harris asks:
Where was Pierre Poilievre when his candidate needed him?
Perhaps he was on YouTube preaching to the converted.
Or going for a stroll wearing his ‘Tarsands Strong’ hoodie.
Maybe he was preparing a draft of the pink slip for Tiff Macklem, to be delivered to the governor of the Bank of Canada should Poilievre ever become prime minister.
He might even have been reviewing his investment portfolio, to see if he had sunk a bit too much into cryptocurrency, you know, that great hedge against inflation. A financial commentator on CNN described the virtual money differently: the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.
This is a politician who claims to fight for the little guy. That is exactly what his candidate was in this by-election, a rookie underdog going up against a savvy veteran, the former finance minister of Ontario.
Last time around, the Conservatives lost by six points. This time they lost by fourteen:
The same Poilievre who shook all those hands during the leadership race and bragged about it didn’t knock on a single door in Mississauga-Lakeshore.
Remember, Poilievre won the lion’s share of the votes in Mississauga-Lakeshore during the Conservative leadership race. As Konrad Yakabuski wondered in The Globe and Mail, where were the hordes of new and enthusiastic Tories Poilievre signed up for that race? They certainly weren’t at the polls to save their candidate from getting waxed.
When the auditor general points out the small matter of $27-billion of dubious COVID payouts that should be investigated, and the government reacts with a yawn, you would think that would give the Conservatives an advantage. Instead, the party bombed in its first electoral test under its new leader, just as disqualified leadership candidate Patrick Brown predicted it would, if the CPC made the hard-right turn to Poilievre as leader.
Voter turnout was just 25 per cent. There are two interesting things about that. Under normal circumstances, the CPC wins when the turnout is low. This time they were crushed. NDP votes appeared to go to the Liberals.
And then there is this. Is it possible that voters here didn’t show much interest in punishing the government because they don’t see the problems they are facing as nation? Inflation is not made in Canada, and supply lines have been disrupted everywhere. The current dismal situation is a global phenomenon that no one national leader can either fix or be blamed for.
If that is true, and if that perception were to hold in other ridings, the CPC dream of riding aggrieved suburban voters across the land back into power will be dashed. The strategy of claiming everything is broken and just one person, Justin Trudeau, is responsible, will prove as empty as it is intellectually dishonest. Trudeau’s message that Canadians stick together in tough times, backed by their government, might just have more resonance than trying to make cheap political points out of universal hard times.
The Conservatives made a mistake when they chose Poilievre. Do they really understand the mistake they made?
Image: Macleans
