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EDITORIAL: Poilievre’s perfect storm (Feb. 2025)

February 21st, 2025 · No Comments

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A unified Canada is a nightmare for the Conservative Party of Canada whose leader excels in practicing the politics of division. 

Until very recently, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre could feel confident in forming the next federal government with a massive majority. However, a recent poll from Pallas puts the Conservative lead at just 6 percentage points, a huge plummet from the 20-point lead they comfortably had over the governing Liberals just a month ago; that’s a worrisome trend line for Poilievre.

More concerning for the official opposition leader is that the same pollsters put his party and the Liberals in a tie for the popular vote if Mark Carney is elected Liberal leader.

Poilievre can thank Donald Trump and himself for the situation he now finds himself in. 

The relentless tariff threats from the U.S. president have rattled Canadians. Trump’s apparently serious musings about making Canada the 51st state present Canadians with something of an existential moment.

The prime minister urged all Canadians to “remain united” and “support one another.” He commended the provinces for developing their own strategic responses. Trudeau promised the federal government “would be there for them” should the American tariffs cause them hardship. He pledged a round of Canadians tariffs of his own, targeting products coming from Republican-held states. This is the same strategy he and then-Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland successfully employed when Trump tried this bully move in his first term.

Contrast this unity message with Poilievre’s blame game and his promise to cut government spending dramatically. His “Axe the Tax” slogan now seems somewhat trite given that the Liberal leadership candidates have vowed to axe the consumer part of the carbon tax. What do the Conservative have left? It’s certainly not their policy initiatives. The “Canada is broken” narrative is no longer what Canadians want to hear.

The Conservatives capitalized on Trudeau’s unpopularity, positioning themselves as the only way to “fire” the prime minister. When Trudeau chose to resign pending the election of a successor as Liberal leader all the wind got sucked out of Poilievre’s sails. Had the Conservative leader not been so successful at blaming Trudeau for everything from petty crime to the price of eggs, he may still have his desired opponent.  

The Conservatives are having to pivot their attack from Trudeau to Mark Carney who may be the next Liberal leader and prime minister. Fond of simplicity, they are trying on some new slogans: “Carbon Tax Carney” and “Carney-Trudeau Liberals,” even though Carney was never in government and does not support the carbon tax.  Susan Delacourt of the Toronto Star described this recently as “a communications strategy built from Popsicle sticks and Elmer’s glue.”

Premier Doug Ford is not helping the Conservative brand. Caught in a hot mic moment, during the current provincial election campaign, he admitted how glad he was that Donald Trump won even though he knew tariffs were promised. Ford needed the straw man to run against, a vehicle for re-election, a crisis to distract from an utter failure of his own governance. 

The Annex Gleaner publishes a Q and A with all the major parties for municipal, provincial, and federal elections. This gives readers an opportunity to comparison shop before they vote. For the first time in 30 years, the candidate for one major party, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC), is not willing to answer the questions. That speaks volumes about the PC’s lack of respect for democracy, the media, and the voters themselves.

Pierre Poilievre has done no favour to Canadians or to himself for his hateful, divisive messaging. The amount of effort expended in coming up with clever rhymes instead of real policy initiatives suggests they don’t take themselves or the electorate seriously. As leader of the opposition, he has not helped the government be more effective; instead, he is always attacking, not contributing. Poilievre’s lust for power is in plain sight, and Canadians are starting to see him as just that guy who throws snowballs at the bus.

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Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion