By Staff
December 1st, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
The following is from the Toronto Stars’ National Columnist Susan Delacourt:
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Pierre Poilievre are very different conservative leaders. Their response to a 25% tariff threat to Canada this week is laying bare those differences in a stark way.
Ford is doing a lot of things right; Poilievre, perhaps not so much.
Poilievre, perhaps not so much.
In the wake of Wednesday’s emergency meeting of Canada’s first ministers, Ford told reporters on Thursday that he was focused on taking a “positive” tone. Poilievre, wrapping himself in Canada-is-broken rhetoric, has been sounding relentlessly negative.
For the federal Conservative leader, a potential economic disaster for Canada is another chance to cast Justin Trudeau as a bad prime minister.
“With the threats coming from the United States, with our border and chaos, our economy collapsing and everything broken, we need real, responsible leadership from a strong, smart prime minister who has the brains and backbone to put Canada first,” Poilievre told reporters on Thursday.
Dispositionally, Ford and Poilievre are different types of populists. Ford is more of a happy warrior, who likes to be liked. The premier has frequently shown himself willing to admit when he makes a mistake and reverse himself.
Poilievre, on the other hand, is more of an angry populist, who tends to double down when he goes too far, whether that’s in name calling or personal attacks on his detractors.
The two leaders also have very different interests at risk. Ford heads up a government that has huge stakes in any tariff war with the U.S. He is very aware that any attack on Trudeau and Canada will hurt Ontario in a big way.
That’s why the province is rolling out a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz in the United States next Monday, to directly tell Americans how much their economy relies on trade with Canada’s most populous province.
Poilievre has obviously decided he doesn’t benefit from helping Trudeau to the point of agreeing with Trump’s allegations that Canada is doing a bad job with the border and illicit drug traffic.
I agree with Poilievre’s description of who we need to run the country. Sadly it isn’t him or Trudeau.
As to the event in Montreal, I listened to the app Canadaland, where the journalists dug a bit deeper than the main newspapers. No – Montreal was not burning – two cars were. And the whole thing was over before the TS concert even started. But that is not the issue. What is important is that our government has run out of ideas. I was offended when Ford decided to give us back our own money, in order to buy our votes, but it is even worse when that’s all the Feds can come up with.
Poilievre has been calling out the misgivings of this liberal government with reasonable questions that one might expect from an opposition MP or any MP, regardless of party. His questions are never answered in question period and instead responded to with lengthy tirades with little if any relation to the questions asked and often with false assertions and inuendo about the opposition leader (which the partisan speaker of the house ignores). This should make all of us angry with this government, not just Poilievre. He is keeping remarkable composure and civility in the circumstances.
The Toronto Star to some has become the oracle of Delphi, Herodotus suggests one of the main differences between Greeks and barbarians is the ability of clever Greeks to interpret oracles correctly, so before attacking the Persians, Croesus consulted the Delphi oracle, Herodotus reports that the priestess replied that, should Croesus attack the Persians, a mighty empire would fall. Gleefully, Croesus launched his attack; Sadly, for him, he didn’t realize that it would be his own empire that fell.
Well, if people don’t like Poilievre then they can vote for Justin Trudeau in the next Federal Election and have more years of a Woke, inefficient government with a leader who dances at the Taylor Swift concert while radicals destroy Montreal. Didn’t “Nero fiddle while Rome burned”?
Let’s not forget the infamous trip to India where Justin and his family dressed like” Alibaba”. How about his trip to Tofino instead of attending an invitation meant to honour indigenous survivors of Canada’s Residential School System.”
One of the most current “incidents” was honouring Mr. Hunka who fought with the Nazi’s in Ukraine.
Justin is an embarrassment and the reputation of Canada on the world stage has suffered.
Justin needs to go – NOW.
Not to mention our ever decreasing productivity (GDP/ capital) which ultimately determines our collective quality of life. I agree 100%, Penny. Justin needs to go – NOW.
Editor’s note: Get used to the phrase “buyers remorse”. You will use it often.
Poilievre is power hungry…he hasn’t put forward an original idea in years….we need to ask ourselves what we would be getting under his “leadership”.
He is arrogant and bombastic ….compromise is not in his vocabulary…no real world experience… nothing to admire as a potential Prime Minister.