It’s good for Canadian democracy that Pierre Poilievre won his byelection seat and will be making his return to Ottawa; as much as the notion of parachute candidates is as cringy as ever.
It was almost surreal to see the city slicker, prep school-stamped, suit-as-second-skin Poilievre don cowboy hats, white T-shirts and blue jeans to pretend he could in any way relate to rural Alberta on a personal or human level. But that farce being played out, and the byelection won, Poilievre can now get back to the staid offices, dark suits and dimly lit halls he is used to on Parliament Hill.
Poilievre represents a key constituency in Canada, and that voice needs to be heard. But what Canadians don’t need, and the message seemed very clear in the recent federal election, is Donald Trump light.
Poilievre may have made his bones with pithy quips and negative rhetorical sloganneering– it might have even worked fairly well against the deeply unpopular Justin Trudeau. But the ground has shifted, and Poilievre, who has a reputation as a policy wonk, is going to have to steer a new course for the federal Conservatives that shows Canadians what his party will do for them if given the chance to govern, instead of simply tearing down the other guy across the aisle. Can Poilievre show he can defend Canadian national interests and help Canadians steer through the complex arena the world has become?
The stakes are high: broader war or lasting peace, global recession or new world economic order, Canadian prosperity and sovereignty or broken federation? Is Poilievre up to the challenges of these times? He is going to have to prove to Canadians that he is the better man for the job– and that means putting good policy where his mouth is while avoiding extreme positions.
Guess, we’ll see.
