KINSELLA: Tories need a change in strategy with Trump looming

Published Jan 11, 2025  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, holds a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP /Getty Images

In any conflict — real-life or otherwise — it is always a danger to be fighting the last war.

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Politics stands still for no one. Events never stop coming. What was an issue yesterday almost certainly won’t be tomorrow.

Despite all that, there was Pierre Poilievre this week, standing at a podium bearing the slogan: AXE THE TAX ELECTION. Just below that, it said the same thing, in French.

The precise date that the Conservative leader launched his vaunted “Axe The Tax” campaign is lost in the mists of the time. CTV tells us it started in June 2023. Whatever the case, this much is true: the world has changed, pretty dramatically, since June 2023.

Oct. 7 and the war in Gaza hadn’t even started; a ceasefire was in place with Hamas. Ukraine had commenced a counteroffensive against Russia, and the results were looking promising. California was experiencing a deluge of rain. Donald Trump was viewed unfavourably, or very unfavourably, by half of Americans. The Canadian dollar was worth 75 cents (U.S.). And, while Poilievre was ahead of the Trudeau Liberals, his lead was a fraction of what it is now: just seven points. Almost the margin of error.

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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump looks on during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center, Dec. 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Ariz. Photo by Rebecca Noble /Getty Images

Since June 2023, of course, a couple other events of note have happened. One, Justin Trudeau has announced that he will no longer be Prime Minister. He will be gone — completely gone — in 56 days. Less than two months.

Two, the aforementioned Donald Trump is about to again become President of the United States of America. That’s happening in just a week.

It is Trump’s extraordinary return that should be causing Poilievre to reflect on his election strategy. But, so far, it hasn’t.

In just the past few days, Trump has said he wants to use “economic force” against Canada, to make us — as he puts it — the 51st state. He has referred to Trudeau as “governor” of said state. He has mocked Poilievre. He has published maps in which Canada no longer exists — you know, kind of like the Israel-hating pro-Hamas forces do, with their logos and signs and keychains showing just “Palestine,” from the river to the sea.

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Simultaneously, he has threatened to use military force against Denmark and Greenland, members of NATO — which compelled Britain and France to actually state that they would not hesitate to defend Denmark and Greenland under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. Trump has also threatened military action against Panama, a sovereign state. And, as is well-known, he has promised to impose 25% tariffs on all goods entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico.

That last one — which, when (not if) it happens, will result in up to possibly five million Canadians losing their jobs, and throw us into a recession and possibly worse. Which is kind of economically significant, is it not?

Trudeau’s carbon tax was poorly designed, poorly implemented and poorly communicated, yes. It was wildly unpopular, as taxes always are.

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But in comparative terms, the carbon tax is dwarfed by the multiplicity of threats posed by Trump. Before he even assumes the office of president, Trump has effectively declared war on Canada and much of the world. America, whether Tories accept it or not, no longer considers us an ally.

That, perhaps, may have been why Poilievre surrounded himself with 13 Canadian flags (one for each province and territory) at his press conference this week. He, or someone around him, has possibly started to wonder if the ballot question just might not be the carbon tax anymore. It might be the damage caused by The Human Cheeto, as my gal calls him.

The contents of Poilievre’s press conference didn’t inspire much confidence, either. In it, the Tory leader went after Trudeau’s likeliest successors, and launched yet another bumper sticker for the ages: “JUST LIKE JUSTIN.” Poilievre uttered those words like they had been handed to him on a barf bag five seconds before the press conference kicked off. It sounded ridiculous.

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And it was off-message and off-target, too. Canadian Conservatives pride themselves on being closer to the ground than their pointed-head Liberal elite opponents, and there’s quite a bit of truth to that. So, hustle down to your local Tim’s, Tories, and listen to what the Unapologetically Canadian Canadians are saying.

I did. Did some research at my local coffee shop this week. Here’s what one old guy said to us:

“The biggest threat to this country in my lifetime is Trump,” he said. “Who the hell is speaking for Canada when we are under attack?”

Time for a change in strategy, Tories. The world ain’t waiting for y’all to keep up.

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