Keeping it Real…

“Axe the Tax” was great … perhaps the most memorable political slogans in modern Canadian political history.

Successful too! Effective enough to force the Conservatives’ arch rival Liberals to drop the tax … at least temporarily.

But Pierre Poilievre’s subsequent slew of slogans and catch phrases have not done so well … and are even turning voters off!

The Conservative leader recently repeatedly served up a vision of Canadians living “in beautiful homes on a safe street protected by brave troops under a proud flag”.

Ugh!

I don’t want troops on my street! Too many Canadians can barely afford apartment rents … let alone “a beautiful home” and relatively few fly “our proud flag’ from their roof.

Poilievre has to get real!

Canadians want substance.

He should emphasize MORE exactly HOW a Conservative government will bring down the cost of living, housing, rents, taxes, groceries, crime, drug use/abuse and also increase jobs, investment, find trade alternatives to the US., retaliate against US trade/tariff threats/actions and expedite and finance infrastructure and industrial projects to counter balance any impacts.

And, yes, Poilievre should remind voters about all those issues that led so many to yearn for and even demand an election long before the Mad Hatter down south unleashed his threats/tariffs/insults against Canada.

He has a lot he can work with in this campaign.

Voters should be reminded of the Liberal record: not just the carbon tax, but how they squeezed the middle class mercilessly as inflation rose and rose and rose; the inadequate funding that led to health care deterioration across the country; failures over and over again to amend Criminal Laws that favour offenders over victims and Sentencing rules that force Judges to release recidivist criminals before the ink on their Arrest documents are dry; and, internationally, the huge immigration flood that negatively impacted so many aspects of Canadian society; while turning Canada’s back on Israel at the UN (I believe in pursuit of votes from the 1.7 million Muslims now in Canada?) and, as a corollary, offering only weak responses to increasing anti-Semitism and violence/vandalism by militant Islamists; and … maybe the worst legacy: “According to the International Monetary Fund Canada experienced nearly zero real per capita GDP growth between 2014 and 2024 …Compare that to our peers: the United States: saw 21 per cent real per capita GDP growth; Italy, 13 per cent.” (Source for this reference: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/anthony-koch-the-liberals-engineered-canadas-lost-decade-they-cant-be-trusted-to-fix-it.)

That’s what Poilievre/Conservatives should be emphasizing/reminding Canadians: the Liberal record.

Not hollow slogans like “More boots; less suits”, “Bring it home” or “Canada First”.

Unless Poilievre wants to finish second.

Harv Oberfeld

(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for FREE First Alerts to new postings on this blog.)

So on April 28, Canadians will finally get what millions have yearned for/demanded over many, many months … even years: a federal election!

At last!!!

YET, it looks like millions of Canadians … many of the same ones who wanted this vote for so long … could vote based entirely on a single, emotional issues only two months old, that will likely be resolved within a few months, maybe even weeks: Trump’s trade threats.

That would literally be a “short-sighted” decision.

Because we are all going to have to live with the government we choose for probably the next four years …and by voting based largely on one issue, Trump’s stupidity, millions of Canadians could find themselves AGAIN yearning for/demanding an election years before the next one is due!

Canadians from coast to coast to coast who have wanted an election for a very long time should remember why:

Justin Trudeau himself? The carbon tax? Inflation? Housing costs? Health care? Crime ?Jobs/unemployment? Too many immigrants? Too many refugees, especially Islamic militant troublemakers? Drug issues? Lousy sentencing laws? Social issues? Indigenous reconciliation failures or pandering/spending? Foreign relations/stances/spending? Or just plain tired after 10 years of a Liberal government?

Just this weekend, Carney’s Liberal government announced it would contribute $1.9 BILLION to expand Montreal’s subway system another six kilometres and add FIVE new stations.

However, What in Vancouver, the feds also announced funds earlier for the six kilometre Broadway subway extension and SIX stations …. but will get $896.9 million … less than half of the amount given to Quebec, for a smaller project!

(Hopefully, now that I have exposed this Liberal double standard, the Vancouver/BC media will ask Carney and all BC Liberal candidates WHY BC is not getting its fair share!!)

Another clear example about why this election should be about more than just the Trump/tariff dispute.

Canadians should cast their vote bearing in mind the outcome will impact all our lives for years to come!

Long after the Trump/trade/tariffs dispute is way behind us.

Of course, that still doesn’t necessarily make it an easy “Throw the bums out!” decision.

Trudeau is out; Mark Carney is in … and his “CV” is impressive.

Former governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, Carney  holds a degree in economics from Harvard, a master’s degree and a doctorate from Oxford and had a successful career at the Goldman Sachs investment firm. (Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Carney )

And so far, Carney is looking/sounding confident, calm, capable and even statesmanlike on TV as Canada’s new PM.

However, 21 of his 24-member Cabinet are holdovers from Trudeau’s Cabinet … political veterans who helped form, pass, impose and defend all those policies and taxes so many Canadians came to hate … and, in many cases, suffered under.

And with so many recycled Cabinet members, so many of the previous Liberal government top bureaucrats/policy advisers/attitudes/beliefs will also likely be recycled.

Pierre Poilievre was … until Trump upset Canadas’ political equilibrium … the overwhelming choice for change.

Poilievre studied international relations at the University of Calgary and then went to work in Ottawa for Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day, before first being elected himself as an MP in 2004, later serving as Minister for Democratic Reform, Minister of Employment and then Conservative Finance critic. (Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Poilievre )

The Conservative leader won considerable support across the country with his “Axe the Tax” campaign and promises of a “Common Sense” government, and seemed a shoo in as Canada’s next PM … even if many suggested they’d hold their noses and vote Conservative just to get rid of Trudeau/government.

Until the Mad Hatter threw his tantrum.

Now it’s a whole new campaign … that will last just 37 days.

But Canadians will have to live under the government they choose … for a lot longer than that!

Harv Oberfeld

(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for FREE First Alerts to all new postings on this blog.)