Carney’s image from Wikipedia
I have covered this ground before, but today I take special glee in Friday’s showing on the federal political scene, because I could have written the script two years ago.
I warned the Conservatives. I have said clearly many times that investing all your political eggs in one basket of hatred for your opponent has a major flaw, and you will end up with your eggs on your own face. Sooner or later that person will be gone, and what will you have to say then?
And the stars finally lined up. The Liberals elected Trudeau on his personal popularity, which it soon became apparent that he didn’t deserve. The Conservatives spent the next decade in a frenzy of character assassination that was, in the most part, also undeserved.
Trudeau will go down in history as a mediocre leader that fumbled his way through tough times. His biggest legacy is for having managed the second longest minority government in Canadian History.
The Liberals are going into this new election campaign with a novice leader, an 85% repeat cabinet and a “new broom” slogan. If the Conservatives had any kind of a political platform, they’d walk all over Mark Carney.
The Personalities
But they don’t. The Conservatives’ eggs are plastered all over Trudeau, and now that target is no longer available. The only thing Poilievre can do is lamely try to portray Carney as a new Trudeau. Trudeau was a naïve former schoolteacher with a silver spoon in his mouth. Carney is a mature businessman and top-level bureaucrat who has run the Bank of England.
But they keep trying. You’ve seen the commercials; the sarcastic voice, straight out of a Nazi propaganda movie, sneering “Carbon Tax Carney.” (If it doesn’t rhyme, alliteration is next best; we’re dealing with primal emotions here.)
The Platforms
To make matters worse, the Conservatives could agree on only one slogan, “Axe the Tax.” Which is exactly what Carney did. First day on the job. Leaving Poilievre with the empty argument that once they had won the election, the Liberals would bring the tax back, “Twice as much as before.”
Collateral Damage
The end result of the carbon tax debacle is that in future, no party will dare tell the public what they’re doing to fight climate change. The costs will end up hidden, and the resulting inflation will be blamed on Trump. A clear win of petty politicking over transparency in government.
The Bottom Line
The Liberals have presented the same old cabinet with new titles, and yet have started a new narrative with an enemy from outside Canada. Now Carney can call an election and ask for a mandate from a united country to face the threat.
The Opposition, with their favourite antagonist out of the picture, are reduced to shouting the same old memes and trying to stuff the new Liberals into their old plotline.
On his first day in office, Carney has denied Poilievre his cherished “Axe the Tax Election,” and the man’s own lack of planning has shown us his weakness. Is it possible that Pierre has spent all his political capital on juvenile rhetoric, and has squandered his fifteen minutes of fame? Only the voters can tell us for sure.