Pierre Poilievre has a message for Canadians: Don’t worry! I’m not going anywhere! I’ll be right here when you decide you want me again. And if you don’t think you need me, I’ll be right here anyway, whether you like it or not!
Didn’t we just tell the guy for the second time in a year to get lost?
Here’s the federal Opposition leader in the House of Commons on Tuesday as his Conservative Party was coming to terms with its really lousy performance in those three by-elections on Monday, all of which were won by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals. “Canadians might be discouraged right now because of the current political situation, but let us say this, Canadians should not give up.”
You’ve gotta admit, though, Canadians, collectively speaking, don’t seem all that discouraged at the moment – at least with the makeup of Parliament. Notwithstanding the mess being made of the world economy by Mr. Poilievre’s larger-than-life political ally south of the Medicine Line, a lot of Canadians – and not just in the three ridings that were in play Monday – seem pretty satisfied with the direction our country’s party politics are heading.
That is to say, far away from Mr. Poilievre’s Conservatives and away from the hapless federal New Democrats as well, into the arms of Canada’s natural governing party, the L-shaped Liberals, who have made another sharp turn in the year since Mr. Carney led them into a federal election and emerged with a minority government.
It’s not a minority now, is it? That’s thanks not just to Monday’s by-elections, but the fact that the easy-to-dislike Conservative leader seems to be shedding MPs like ducks shed water.
On it’s face, Mr. Poilievre’s pledge Tuesday that he’ll be stickin’ around to help us as soon as we come to our senses sounds kind of creepy, as if he’s driving around the house in his pickup truck. Do we have to get a restraining order to make the guy leave us alone?
In fairness, though, it did look as if he was a shoo-in to be prime minister for almost two years, and two of the three ridings in question were in downtown Toronto and the other one in Quebec, so I suppose he can be forgiven for not quite being able to believe he blew a 27-point lead in 2025. Still, you’d think he would have remembered that he lost his own Ontario riding and just to stay in the game had to make one of his MPs let him have a do-over by-election in a part of Alberta so Conservative its voted that way since the late Jurassic era.
That may have looked like a good plan at the end of April 2025, but now it’s starting to just look pathetic.
By way of explanation, Mr. Poilievre went on: “I will continue to lead that fight in this House, across this country, and in the next election.” He may be deluded, but at least that’s less creepy than having the guy stalking an entire country.
It’s even a good thing, I guess, if you’re one of Mr. Carney’s Liberal MPs, or a Conservative who’s had enough of Mr. Poilievre’s bullying leadership style to be feeling a little Grit-curious every time Andy Scheer comes stomping down the hall past the office.
It’s certainly not as bad as the bitter little screed Mr. Poilievre published on social media the night after the by-elections. “The Carney Liberals did not win a majority government through a general election or today’s by-elections,” he whinged. “Instead, it was won through backroom deals with politicians who betrayed the people who voted for them.”
But as Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean observed on her Women of ABPoli Substack Tuesday, “If Conservative voters were feeling betrayed by the floor crossings, they didn’t show up to say so at the ballot boxes. If anything, the drop in support for the Conservatives, combined with the increased support for the Liberals, suggest that fewer Conservatives are unhappy with the Liberal Prime Minister or the way things have been going than Mr. Poilievre.”
Yesterday, indeed, it sounded as if the possibility of more floor crossing – of which there are yet another eight or so to come, according to some Ottawa rumours – was what was preying on the minds of Mr. Poilievre’s inner circle.
“Our caucus is united behind Pierre Poilievre,” said Mr. Sheer, the Conservative House leader, The Canadian Press reported.
“Caucus is united, and united behind a leader that has a vision,” agreed deputy leader, Melissa Lantsman.
“This is a long game that we’re playing, we’re prepared to do that work, but I absolutely stand behind Pierre Poilievre as our leader,” said Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP Andrew Lawton.
Methinks these MPs doth protest too much!
Yeah, Canada has a Liberal majority now and it’s going to stay that way at least until 2029, notwithstanding Preston Manning’s prayerful plea yesterday for a return to minority government thanks to “an unholy alliance of socialist leftovers and Liberal turncoats” and maybe even Conservative government thanks to “a temporary resuscitation of the NDP.”
In case you missed it, the NDP have been pretty well hammered, and few Liberals are likely in a mood to go renegade, especially if that meant joining Mr. Poilievre’s miserable caucus.
I’d love to know what Mr. Manning was smoking when he came up with that one.
My money’s on Prime Minister Carney turning out to be the William Lyon Mackenzie King of the 21st Century.
