Even if Poilievre Wins, it Will be a Pyrrhic Victory at Best
With the federal election fast approaching, members of the Right who are concerned about encroachments on their freedom have to come to the realization that Mark Carney will most likely be the new Prime Minister of Canada. And even if Poilievre were to win, it would be a narrow victory, with no clear mandate to enact serious reforms.
Since it was not all that long ago that victory was assured, it seems prudent to try and examine exactly what happened.
There will be much debate and disagreement over this, but in my estimation, Poilievre was mostly unlucky. Trump’s relentless attack on Canada and talk of a 51st state exposed all the worst parts of Canada. While Canadians have justly earned a reputation for being affable, many people around the world are also not aware of the strong insecurities Canadians have towards Americans. One of the Liberal Party’s favorite tactics has always been to link the Conservative Party to Republicans, or Fox News, or God forbid the terrorizing specter of “American style politics.” These are always cheap shots that attempt to feed on the insecurities of Canadians; unfortunately, with Trump’s latest actions, they are extremely effective.
This has put Poilievre in a tough spot. He could have either joined Carney in the frenzy, or try to sound like the voice of reason. In the end it seems Poilievre chose a sort of middle of the road path where he condemned Trump, but tried to keep it clean. I would have played it differently, but who is to say it would have worked any better.
When the electorate transforms itself into a virulent mob foaming at the mouth, democracy becomes the worst form of government imaginable. In the end nobody saw any of this coming because Trump did not mention any of this antagonism towards Canada in his election run, it was a total curve ball that unfortunately knocked Poilievre on his ass.
Another troubling aspect of this election is the generational divide in voting intentions. It appears that baby boomers will be the ones to keep the Liberal Party in power, letting fear drive their decisions while younger Canadians hope for Poilievre to deliver a more prosperous future. It’s incredibly disheartening to watch the glee these people show in supporting Carney. Sticking it to Americans is clearly much more preferable to setting up an economy where younger Canadians can prosper, it’s akin to Saturn devouring his children for his selfish reasons.
The Liberal Party is so successful in Canada because it allows this pillaging of younger generations to continue while allowing baby boomers to perpetuate the lie that it is they, and not the Conservatives, who care most about the poor and unfortunate. By tossing around a few cheques every month like the Canada Child Benefit, that doesn’t come close to covering the increases in the cost of living or home prices, baby boomers can keep telling themselves that they are the compassionate ones. Ayn rand called this blanking out, the willful suspension of reality for psychological benefits.
If an electorate is made up of three people and two of them decide to rob the third one blind then by all means do so. It is your democratic right as they say, all I ask is for a little decency; do not try and convince the victim that you’re robbing him for his benefit, that’s just insulting to both parties really.