Poilievre’s Policy Problem

Talk About His Bad Ideas, Not His Personality

Pierre Poilievre is an asshole.

Yes, I know people who have met him and they mostly have great things to say about him personally, but what’s in his heart is irrelevant to the persona he plays as Opposition leader, and he’s an asshole. His party are assholes. They’re lobbing “jokes” that Justin Trudeau and Tom Clark are gay lovers in the House. They’re calling bureaucrats pointyheaded in official communications with the CBC for no reason. They’re a party of assholes. Poilievre’s brand of politics is abrasive and brash if we’re being nice, two adjectives that, as someone who has been called them many times, are just polite ways of calling someone an asshole. I know an asshole when I see them. I am one.

The problem is, it’s becoming a talking point that Poilievre’s asshole tendencies are going to wear the public out before an election, and that the more they learn he’s an asshole the less popular he’s gonna get. It’s a nifty theory that at least has a true point as its basis, but it’s also one that seems odd in the wake of the Ford Family.

Ontarians have never known the Ford family to be anything other than assholes. Put aside Doug Ford’s corrupt practices, his callous treatment of autistic children, his refusal to meaningfully raise ODSP, his treatment of teachers, nurses, and basically everybody who doesn’t agree with him already. Put all of it aside. Rob Ford once answered allegations he told a female staffer he wanted to eat her out by responding “I’ve got more than enough to eat at home.” This is the same man who was polling ahead of Olivia Chow before Doug had to tap in for him in the Mayoral race of 2014. Doug Ford got a third of the vote in 2014 despite his brother being an international joke who did nothing for the citizens of Toronto. A video of him on crack and more than enough to eat at home still left a third of the city of Toronto wanting to vote for a Ford.

Danielle Smith compared the vaccinated to German citizens who went along with Nazism. Scott Moe killed someone once. Wab Kinew was once arrested for (allegedly) throwing his girlfriend against a wall. That’s pretty compelling evidence that there is no penalty for people who would otherwise vote for those parties in their leaders being … less than stellar humans, to varying degrees. Given I probably would have voted for the Manitoba NDP if I were in a competitive seat, this is not a judgment.

So, if Poilievre being an asshole won’t work, what will? I think there’s a few ideas short of a broad cabinet reshuffle of the kind I’ve been begging for that could help, from both a messaging and a policy standpoint.

Wade Into Controversies At A Provincial Level

Doug Ford is proposing to tunnel the 401 to build a new highway. It’s not in any way a serious proposal, but it is nominally the position of the Ontario government that this is a good idea. Presumably, this is a policy that would require Federal dollars. Talk about it. (Listen to this week’s Scrimshaw Show, as well.)

Why did the PM not get in front of the cameras already to condemn Doug Ford’s idiotic idea, or his crass claim that disability recipients need to get off their asses? “Ontarians, like all Canadians, face a lot of challenges right now, and it would be nice if we had a provincial leader willing to work constructively for Ontarians instead of attacking disabled individuals and wasting time on nonsense proposals that will never go anywhere.”

The Premiers have no problem attacking Trudeau when they see a political opening. Even Doug Ford, who has a nominally good relationship with JT, will attack him all the time. It’s time to start attacking back, not just because it feels good, but because it’s helpful.

If we make the nonsensical and dangerous ideas of the Premiers what Canadians think of when they think of conservatism we can make Skippy answer for their idiocy. Doug Ford is effectively making Bonnie Crombie answer for every single dumb or unpopular thing the Feds have ever done, so why can’t we do the same to Poilievre?

Stick To A Fucking Message

I wrote about this with Bonnie but the Federal Liberals are letting Poilievre dictate the media environment and the message calendar. The Feds need to start taking that back by stringing together some announcements and doing a very message of the week style fightback.

In October, the Carbon tax rebates come out on a Tuesday, so let’s make that whole week Environment Week. Monday should have the PM hold a meeting with senior climate scientists, Tuesday is an event with “regular Canadians” to speak about the benefits of the rebate. Get some clips of a mom talking about how “the Canada Climate Rebate lets me buy my kid a winter coat”, stuff like that. Wednesday can be sending JT up to a tree farm that’s had a significant increase in planted seeds since the government’s tree planting initiative was announced. For Thursday, have him announce something new - new investment in clean energy firms, seed money for startups, something. Take over the week, and make yourself the top story instead of Poilievre.

Repeat that trick multiple times - do a Child Care week to highlight how much families have saved, how many jobs have been supported, how many parents (and yes, mostly mothers) can now enter the workforce! Do a Dental Week, meeting seniors who got rid of chronic pain that has made it easier for them to live full lives still and announcing further rollouts - and you start to reclaim the narrative about the government. It also renders Skippy to the back pages, which he won’t like. He likes being the centre of attention and he likes being the Opposition tail that wags the government dog. Stop letting him.

Cut The Trump Comparisons

There was a certain irony in Chrystia Freeland having to deliver her “Maple MAGA” attack line in response to Melissa Lantsman. Lantsman, who I fucking hate, is of course a CPC Deputy Leader, but also is a gay Jewish woman. I don’t agree with the Poilievre/Trump comparisons on merit - Poilievre is bad because he’ll cut spending, kill crucial programs, and hurt the fight against climate change. Trump is an authoritarian who might end American democracy. These are not equal - but even ignoring that, it’s hard to pass off a party with a lesbian as the presumptive DPM as truly Trumpian.

I get that the plural of anecdote isn’t data but I’ve just spent too much time around politically engaged, very anti-Trump, mostly women, who dislike Poilievre but hate the Trump attack line. It makes them roll their eyes and even feel the need to defend him. It doesn’t work.

What does work is reminding them that he was a Cabinet Minister under Harper and voted to weaken unions, cut spending, do nothing about the environment, and raise the retirement age. Poilievre is bad not because he’s Trumpian, but because he’s just like every other failed Conservative leader, from Mike Harris to Stephen Harper to Doug Ford and beyond. That’s the argument that is both true and can be heard from voters.

Poilievre’s an asshole. He’ll also make wait times longer, speed up climate change, and make the old wait longer for their benefits. That’s the argument we need to prosecute.