Conservatives in Canada have recently been witness to a tale of two leaders. First up was Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada who dropped by Ford Nation in Etobicoke, as compared to CPC leader Andrew Scheer who spoke at the PCPO convention in Toronto.
More than 1,200 enthusiastic supporters packed the venue to listen to Bernier, who brought passion and substance, announcing PPC policy planks in a rapid-fire manner to wild cheers.
Bernier’s confidence was striking and after his speech, he hung around for well over an hour, shaking hands and posing for photos. He also agreed to an interview with The Rebel, and was obliging and generous with his time.
Three days later, Andrew Scheer spoke at the Ontario PC convention in Toronto, and in what was a friendly audience of Conservatives who desperately want regime change in Ottawa, he only received “polite applause.”
The audience seemed hopeful, desperate even, for Scheer to say something - anything! – to ignite their passions. But with the exception of stating his opposition to a carbon tax, there were very few tangible announcements.
He could have talked about things such as border control and “irregular” immigration. But, apparently, that’s third-rail stuff, obsessed as he is with how he’ll be covered by the Mean Girls at the CBC, the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail.
As for us at the Rebel, including YOU, our cherished million-plus YouTube subscribers -- well, sorry. Scheer can’t be bothered to slum it with the Canuck-deplorable’s. When he was done boring the PC rank and file, he jumped into his chauffeured SUV and got out of Dodge.
In summary, my gut feeling is that I have to agree with recent polls showing that the Scheer Conservatives are destined to lose next year.
Andrew Stephenson—I enjoyed your summaries and predictions for North America, although you don’t seem to have much faith in anyone and are betting a lot on Millennials/iGens and Immigrants."
Thanks.
I don’t have much faith because I don’t think the current trend to populism is helpful. Sometimes politicians have to do the unpopular. There are some pretty simple reasons for betting on the “youth” (an inaccurate term, the early Millennials, including myself, are now deep into our 30s) and immigrants – we have to, it’s a demographic inevitability. They’re not one and the same (youth tend to be socially liberal, while immigrants tend to be small-c or even Big C Conservatives) but both are swing groups that will vote for the Liberals, alternative to the NDP (youth) and conservatives (immigrants). The mainstream parties play to those groups because they’re the ones whose votes make a difference.
“I disagree where you said,” Bernier would run up against those same limitations – if you get too far off to one side, you don’t win ".
Bernier has already gone off the sides of almost everything he believes in, that’s why we want to vote for him. I am really tired of Politicians sounding nice and correct for a 10 minute speech, and afterward I try and remember what they said or stood for. "
Bernier did go offside … and he didn’t win. Same thing with Trost or Leitch. First choice for a third of conservatives, down-ballot choice for another sixth. Further, his appeal is largely on the Right side of the spectrum – how many big-government types are actually going to vote for a libertarian? We’ll see, there are a lot of undecideds out there at the moment (almost entirely taken from the CPC) but the numbers simply aren’t there for a general election victory at the moment. A split’s hugely problematic, especially since Trudeau may as well be coated in Teflon for the way the raked muck fails to stick to him, though “muck” about his dubious fashion sense is trivial, nor is it helpful to hold anti-Trudeau rallies in Alberta where he holds few ridings and has little to lose.
I’m not fully convinced Bernier is being totally above the table himself. He talks about “Canadian vallues” – what does that mean? Does it mean religious freedom (as in the constitution) or is it a dog-whistle to the anti-Muslim brigade (two diametric opposites), or something else entirely? Thus far, when asked that he’s simply attacked the person asking the question.
They have decided already that Bernier is a threat and they will do anything in their power to stop him. Heck maybe all the leaders of the three existing parties are involved who knows. But they are trying to take him down, It has started. The mayoral election was just a test. I am furious it wasn’t blown out of the water then.
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/11/23/minister-reverses-stance-on-peoples-party-eligibility-for-leaders-debates/
THIS IS BULLSHIT. The liberals don’t like a law they change it. Its NOT supposed to work that way in Canada.
I know there are others that have vanished…
This written confirmation(scroll down a bit and click on sensitive material) seems to indicate that the CPC is as far away from saying no to the UN Migration Pact as they always were. Study study, amend, rewrite, but its still basically Canada’s sovereignty being watered down(at best). Rempel means, Canada shouldn’t sign THIS UN agreement, and the CPC won’t sign THIS agreement, not that they won’t sign an amended agreement. Why would a sovereign country be asking the UN to promise to grant them “sovereignty on decision making regarding immigration policy” if they were not planning to sign any UN Migration Pact? Scheer has committed to the UN Paris Accord, who thinks he won’t commit to a UN initiative as well, amended after further study or not. Study shmuddy. Same old mincing when asked outright. Why does it always feel like they are playing us?
https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-1906&fbclid=IwAR08892btTt4xb8hzwXD0nxY54Z4ukCeE_0zGgTAI54vmn7T7w6DkXGk2aI
We, the undersigned, Canadians, call upon the Government of Canada to likewise withdraw from the Global Compact For Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
I can see and hear it now…BUT!!..there has to be a NEUTRAL MODERATOR…Repeat..a NEUTRAL…GET IT CANADIANS??!! A NEUTRAL moderator that is in the middle of the debate..
I vote for Ezra to be the moderator…lol..
Considering the PPC already has aprox 200 of the 338 riding associations covered it shouldn’t be too hard to elect 90 candidates. I look forward to Bernier debating Justin and Scheer. That will be a show and tell us a lot more about how things will pan out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WBJsYJwHdQ
That was my point. The PPC supporters aren’t worried about a vote split, the CPCs are. If you believe what Bernier is proposing, take the leap. He has a great platform. Many are just waiting and watching right now, not a bad thing necessarily. If the PPC continue on the trajectory they are on, they have a fair chance.
I disagree where you said," Bernier would run up against those same limitations – if you get too far off to one side, you don’t win ".
Bernier has already gone off the sides of almost everything he believes in, that’s why we want to vote for him. I am really tired of Politicians sounding nice and correct for a 10 minute speech, and afterward I try and remember what they said or stood for.
Bernier’s performance may not be proven yet, but Scheer’s most definitely is. To me at least.
Ron J. Holy cow! I figured Belgium would have agreed. That is significant and a darn good sign. Lets hope the whole thing falls apart.
“Besides, I believe that Justin is an inherently evil human being, with ill intent for our nation. "
Evil is a stretch. He’s a classic example of what happens when you’re born at the top and assume that you automatically have the skills needed to be there. Which is to say, he’s in over his head, and it’s largely inexperience rather than malevolence. He’s really not much different than a left wing version of Trump or Ford in that regard; populists whose egos and desire to be popular amongst their respective bases are enough to temporarily hide the fact that they lack the skills to be effective at actually governing. Trudeau’s divisive, but he’s no different than other populists. Left-wing populists are much rarer so you simply have less experience with being on the wrong side of that divide, but that irritation you feel is exactly the same to that felt by the Left when talking about Trump.
Unlike Trump (but like Ford) Trudeau is heavily limited by Canada’s weak-executive system which really has trouble deviating from the general liberal social attitudes and centrist vaguely neoliberal tendencies of mainstream politics, where the slow left-tending incrementalism is the best you can do.
Bernier would run up against those same limitations – if you get too far off to one side, you don’t win, and your caucus won’t let you drag them down with you. Ironically, Scheer’s bland inoffensiveness puts him in perhaps the strongest position to do well under our system in that he wouldn’t find himself bouncing off the limits of our political system. Yes, Scheer would see Canada continue its slow drift to the left, but he wouldn’t spend the whole time fighting the inevitable. Canada’s future is in Millennials/iGens, and immigrant, an exceptionally diverse, individualistic, and worldly group who strongly believes in things like climate change. Scheer recognizes that, instead of wishing for a past that will never return, if it ever actually existed.
Common Sense in Belgium and we have Trudeau. 3 min.video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXsi7ia_dug
While I am disappointed in Andrew Scheer’s performance since he was elected leader of the Conservative Party, I am even more distrustful of Bernier …as I have noted in my other comments. But we need to get behind a leader who has has won fair and square.
Trump could have started his own party…but he chose to run for the leadership with other Republicans, because that party was already ‘established’. Bernier did the same but failed. Now he’s into splitting the conservative vote which could well cost the Conservatives the next election. I’m not impressed.
Bernier could have started his party after the next election. His sense of timing is way off.