Poilievre’s problem(s)
And a round-up of recent articles.
Before we get to the beef jerky of the subject, you’ll find an Ottawa Citizen column on summer fun that doesn’t include painfully slow transit commutes, an essay on why artists should study cats and become mild sociopaths, and a commentary on the Coldplay CheatCam thing, which to my mind shows just how hypocritical humans can be.
I haven’t written about the question of lowering the voting age because what I have to say about it fits into one word: Yes. If I were to expand, I’d say that if we’re allowing 16-year-olds to work and pay taxes, then we should give them the right to vote. Also? They can’t be stupider than adults.
Update: My book about Bruce Fanjoy is now available on Kindle for those who prefer that option. There are signed copies available at Westboro Books, Octopus Books, Black Squirrel Books and Books on Beechwood.
Now. The August 18 by-election in Battle River-Crowfoot is becoming interesting in a fantastic way, and not just because it’s making it obvious to everyone now that Pierre Poilievre was always blinded by his national ambitions. You know the old ads against Michael Ignatieff? He didn’t come back for you? Amazing how adaptable they can be.
Poilievre is facing a bunch of challengers (no, I don’t mean the terminally unfunny yahoos with the Longest Ballot Committee), people who are running as libertarians or independents to say, whoa there partner. You can’t just come here and use us for your personal ambitions. Giving Pierre Poilievre a seat in the House after his own constituents of 20 years in Carleton booted him is not something that’s necessarily good for the country and especially not for the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot.
Whether they vote for him or not is up to them and I’m not here to substitute my opinions to theirs. But I hear the rumblings. And I want to ask the Conservative Party a favour. For the rest of us, you know?
Interlude: Like many people this week I discovered a comedian whose Poilievre impersonations are spot-on. His name is Roman Danylo. His cowboy “Pierrody” is here and it’s pee-your-pants funny. Especially how he does the Sudden Weird Smile. Go watch.
You know what it means when everyone’s laughing at you? It’s time to pack your bags and go do something else with your life. Poilievre is young and he has a full parliamentary pension. If he’s willing to work hard, I’m sure he’ll succeed at something other than politics.
It’s time for the party to get this leader out and replace him with someone who’s less arrogant and who doesn’t go from one group of people to another in the hopes of skipping over enough heads to reach Rideau Cottage and become prime minister, something he’s evidently dreamed about since long before he left Alberta.
Arrogance is a feature with Poilievre, not a bug. I know this because I’ve watched him for 20 years and no matter what happens, he’s always the same. He doesn’t listen to what he doesn’t already know, and he is never prepared to change his mind on anything.
The reason it’s important for the Conservatives to change leaders is because we need competitive alternatives in politics otherwise we’ll get stuck with the already-arrogant Liberals longer than is good for us. Real competition will force the red team to pay closer attention to voters, too, instead of assuming they already know better. Who doesn’t want that?
Yes, that means being closer to the middle than to anti-vaccine or great replacement conspiracy theories. That shouldn’t be that high a bar to clear, right?
The sooner the Tories replace Poilievre with someone who’s not a moralizing grunkle (lovely word invented by my teens), someone who can smile like a normal human being, someone who can speak entire paragraphs without throwing childish insults, someone who’s real and relatable instead of a robocop wannabe with brylcreamed hair parted way too low, we’ll have it made. Look beyond the aviator shades, people. And pick a leader who can win, please and thank you.