16 Comments
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Dan's avatar

It is fascinating to see how the one dimensional campaign strategy by the Conservatives is falling apart. Dismissing your opponent as incompetent is a reflex in the Conservative's world. Remember when John Baird said something nice about Prime Minister Trudeau during an introduction at an event? I am sure he had a yelling Jenni Byrne on the phone within 30 minutes. Now they are dealing with an opponent who is clearly competent and endorsed in the past by Conservatives, and the reflex does not work.

The smart thing to do is to say “Harper, Flaherty and Carney did a good job more than 15 years ago in managing the crisis, but the world has changed. We need to adapt, generate new ideas and develop a strategy that is right for today’s world.” And then you pivot to the issues people care about today. It is not hard, unless it is hard to admit that your opponent may have had some professional success in the past.

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Dustin Smith's avatar

You can't use that line of thinking when Carney also helped the UK avoid financial devastation post Brexit too. Back to back Crisis he helped avert and even addressing that fact is going to just blow right back into their faces.

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Ella's avatar

This sounds a bit like what the Russians were doing in the US for the last 8 years, what Elon Musk is doing in Germany and the UK and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if money and other help from such autocrats & billionaires being used to influence Canadian elections. This is hybrid warfare charged by the digital age. Hybrid warfare relies on disinformation ( manipulating public opinion through fake news, propaganda and social media), economic coercion ( leveraging trade dependencies, energy ), cyber operations (data theft, digital disinformation, attacks on critical infrastructure), sabotage and proxy actions to destabilize countries and regions. Given Trump's & Co.'s repeated statements that Canada should be the 51st and the Canadian response to date, one should not be surprised that disinformation would appear on the scene.

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Quinton's avatar

I imagine there is a fledgling DOGE sidecar project trying to figure out how to hack the Elections Canada voting system.

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Dustin Smith's avatar

They can't. We do hand counting for our ballots. So unless Elon wants to try to manually stuff ballot boxes, it doesn't work here.

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Quinton's avatar

Exactly. Maybe the DOGE kids will take all those cozy Elections Canada jobs away from those nice seniors who normally staff our polling stations.

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Curt Petrovich's avatar

The ethically-challenged Soudas, and the propaganda pushing Anaida Poilievre say what now?

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Tris Pargeter's avatar

This is also a reminder of how and why PP wants to fire the governor of the Bank of Canada. No fooling around with gutting these institutions, just start at the top when you've got wind in your sails, confirming to everyone how dangerous it can be to put wind in some people's sails.

AND the clip (invaluable, thanks for it) is also a reminder of how it's already been 13 long YEARS of having to endure trademark con pettiness and nasty churlishness that has only increased, (although SURELY it's reached the apex of assholery with Poilievre) with Post Media right in lockstep back then too.

That question near the end was so tacky it was embarrassing, just an example of how these cons have no respect, as Carney recently pointed out. No class either.

Flaherty was clearly one of the last PC's, but I must admit that at this point I have zero charitability toward ANYONE from that side. Turns out hatred is contagious; their Achilles heel ultimately (also how boring it ultimately is), that and consistently going WAY too far.

Carney in that clip is truly top-drawer, somehow classical Canadian nice with a genuine smile and unassuming manner despite for example how those ten years living in England that he mentioned came about because he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford where he earned a doctorate in economics....

We're bloody lucky to have him, period.

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Tris Pargeter's avatar

Correction: Carney had a scholarship to HARVARD, not Oxford, but he does have a doctorate from the latter, a master's from Harvard....

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Maggie Baer's avatar

Yes, Carney won a hockey scholarship (cerebral goaltender!) to Harvard for his BA, then grad studies at Oxford (where he also played hockey!)

As Evan has said, Carney should play up his impressive jock creds vs Poilievre's nerdiness to "bring back home" some of the macho vote!

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Ethan Crane's avatar

Agree with this post 100%.

It is pathetic and disgraceful of the Cons.

They should try and make the case for why PP is better suited to respond to Trump. And have an honourable election. Fat chance?

I will be watching to see who truly stands up to Trump. No wimpy words. Tell him to fuck off loudly and clearly and we will not have our sovereignty challenged.

Carney is a brilliant, accomplished person. But I have yet to see a spark of life in him. It’s too much “business as usual” nonsense. I want someone who will FIGHT.

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Dan's avatar

Even if Poilievre is able to do this, Poilievre cannot do this when 30%- 50% of his base supports Trump. These people will run to the PPC or stay home at an election.

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Linda M.'s avatar

This is 100% accurate. The Venn Diagram of people who support Poilievre has no centre, and that is why he is now paralyzed in his ability to respond to a landscape without Trudeau to demonize.

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Stephanie Cowles's avatar

Have you really looked at MC? He exudes steely-eyed determination and a not-to-be-fucked-with persona. Did you watch the speech/news conference from Halifax? I don't know if the Cons or the media are brave enough to get into a verbal contest with them....he will wipe the floor with them while giving detailed, factual, substantive responses.

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Tris Pargeter's avatar

That's simply juvenile, and showing it's limitations as we speak.

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Thomas D’Arcy O’Donnell's avatar

.. this is investigative journalism .. 🦎🏴‍☠️🍁

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