Pierre Poilievre thought he had marked out a path to victory. Max Fawcett writes:
From the moment he announced his bid for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada last February, Pierre Poilievre’s path to power has been clear. He would run on a platform of uncompromising conservatism, sew up his party’s far-right flank, and prevent the sort of leakage of votes to the People’s Party that cost Erin O’Toole the 2021 election.
That was before Christine Anderson showed up at the behest of three members of his caucus:
Anderson, for those who don’t know her, is a member of Alternative für Deutschland, a populist German political party that opposes immigration, talks about the “Islamization” of Europe, and occasionally downplays or diminishes the country’s Nazi past. She made waves last year when she gave a speech trashing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his visit to the European Parliament that went viral in Canadian right-wing circles.
That made her a minor celebrity and could explain why she was greeted so warmly by a trio of Conservative MPs (including former leadership candidate and shadow minister of infrastructure Leslyn Lewis). The three MPs who happily posed for a photo with her, Poilievre suggested, were “unaware” of her “vile” views.
Still, their actions forced Poilievre to denounce Anderson’s visit on Friday. “Frankly, it would be better if Anderson never visited Canada in the first place. She and her racist, hateful views are not welcome here,” he said in a written statement.
But Poilievre's reaction doesn't quite wash:
First, as to the notion that his caucus mates were blithely unaware of their guest’s views, there are only two possible options here: they’re lazy, or they’re lying. Neither is a particularly good look, especially when we’re talking about someone who’s hardly an unknown entity to Canadian conservatives.
Her “What What Would Christine Anderson Do” tour is sponsored by “Canadians for Truth,” the same organization that promotes events by anti-vaccine activists like Jamie Sale and Theo Fleury. Upon her arrival, she was embraced by the same people who starred in last year’s Freedom Convoy, from protest leader Tamara Lich to lawyers Keith Wilson and Eva Chipiuk. Anderson even met with, and struck a pose beside, members of the neo-Nazi group Diagolon.
Poilievre made common cause with the truckers. Now he's trying to put some distance between himself and them:
This version of himself was one he clearly wanted to leave in the past. And now, thanks to Anderson’s visit to Canada and the backlash generated by his MPs and their decision to meet with her, he’s being dragged back there. If he refuses to kick those three MPs out of his caucus, he’ll look like he’s soft on the sort of hate that Anderson is peddling — and help write the Liberal Party’s attack ads in the next election for them. But if he does give them the boot, he risks handing Maxime Bernier a ready-made parliamentary caucus, along with an argument for why the former PPC supporters who may have reluctantly decided to embrace Poilievre should return to the fold.
Poilievre calls himself a conservative. But he and his Party are not conservatives. Anderson's visit does nothing to clarify who they are. But it suggests they're getting uglier by the day.
Image: The Toronto Star
