As expected, Pierre Poilievre has won the months-long campaign for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. After much mudslinging from all the candidates, and media making it seem like it was a closer contest, it was clear that Pierre Poilievre was and has been proven to be the rightful leader of the party. What does this tell people about the direction of the Conservative Party? Not only the members of the party and its voters but the people of Canada about their new official opposition.
September of 2021 was a watershed moment as the Conservative Party failed once again to regain control of parliament with no real change in the dynamics of how our government is set up. Very little seat change between the parties – and much like 2019 – no mandate for the Liberal government to hold a majority government. It wasn’t the overall result that was a watershed, it was two outcomes that were noted outside of the margins that made it so. First, the Conservatives won the popular vote in the last election earning 33% as opposed to the 32% of the Liberal Party. Second, the Peoples Party of Canada represented the libertarian-populist movement in Canada and earned more than 800,000 solidifying itself as a key fourth party option in elections taking the place of the Green Party, which only earned half of the PPC votes.
For the first point, that is our parliamentary system, the popular vote does not necessarily win elections it is how those votes are distributed throughout the 338 federal ridings that make up parliament. But the second point relating to the PPC surge of 800,000 votes, shows that a large portion of Canadian voters suggested that not only did the Liberals and NDP have a blind spot – but so did this representation of the Conservative Party. In 2019, reports showed that the PPC cost Conservative votes in 6 ridings, which if the PPC was not there, would have given the Conservatives 127 as opposed to 121. Note, that this was in 2019 when the PPC earned slightly under 300,000 votes – in 2021 with 800,000 votes, reports reflect that the PPC caused Conservative disruption in more than two dozen (24) seats in the election. Numbers anywhere from 24 (low end) to 36 (high end) seats may have been affected by the PPC – meaning as opposed to the 119 seats won by the Conservatives, there could have been a potential of 143-155 seats for Conservatives. With the current landscape, 143-155 seats would have given the Conservatives a minority government as most of the seats were in contested Conservative/Liberal toss-up seats. Here is how the 2021 results could have looked:
Conservative: 143 Conservative: 155
Liberal: 140 Liberal: 130
Bloc Quebecois: 29 Bloc Quebecois: 27
NDP: 25 NDP: 25
Green: 1 Green: 1
I think it was abundantly clear when the pundits say that the PPC cost the Conservatives the 2021 election. But who is to say that the PPC ‘cost’ the Conservatives the election? Could it be said that the Conservatives lost the election for not being home to 800,000 voters? After all, public service is to indeed serve the public. 800,000 individuals said you don’t serve them, and it cost you the election. With more than 600,000 new members signed up to the party, perhaps the Conservatives have actually listened to the disenfranchised and are starting to serve the public they are upheld to do.
This provides an answer to why Pierre Poilievre was chosen, and what this tells other party leaders and voters in Canada.
What it says is that Conservatives do not want to see their party in the ideals of someone like Andrew Scheer or Erin O’Toole – who are often called the more centrist version of the Conservative Party, sometimes called Red-Tories, appeal to the conservative proclivities of the economy and trade but more socially liberal in the area of climate change, social programs, and healthcare. With 68% of Conservative voters supporting Poilievre in the leadership campaign, it is clear that the socially liberal/neoliberal vision is not what the Conservative voter wants, and potentially, a large portion of Canadians want out of a leader.
Pierre Poilievre has risen to the challenge of what people want and expect out of a leader, this may come to the surprise and disdain of some people who read this – you may belong to the person whom I described in this article discussing the Laurentian Elites – that you may not represent Canada the way you think you do, and this has been shown throughout 2022 in the many blind spots presented by political pundits, Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal corridor individuals, and career politicians.
There is an exercise that I have used many times in classrooms called the Johari Window Exercise which is a self-awareness tool to help you with leadership and decision-making skills. It is made for an individual to reflect on characteristics that are known to others and known to yourself. Divided into four quadrants are items that are open to yourself and others, hidden to yourself and others, unknown to yourself and others, and blind to yourself and others.
Openness outlines a confidence characteristic, whereas a hidden characteristic may be respectful of privacy or conviction. Unknown shows a sense of humility and humbleness to obtain new knowledge, but it is the blind spot that is situated in a place parallel to a characteristic that is unknown to you, but open to others. This is where the Conservative Party in 2021 failed, this is where our large media class failed, and this is where a lot of Canadians are failing at the moment – to see their own blind spot.
- Poilievre was picked because Conservatives do not want your vision of a “green” environment agenda, they want safe and effective forms of energy such as natural gas, nuclear, the new advancements in fracking, and carbon capture. Batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines are not acceptable.
- Poilievre was picked because Conservatives do not want even more socialized programs that cause massive deficits and inflation from wasteful spending.
- Poilievre was picked because Conservatives want immigration to work for Canadians by bringing specialized workers to our country to contribute to economic prosperity.
- Poilievre was picked because there is a crisis in culture right now on campuses, in the business world, and in greater society, and this is not a culture that most people want.
- Poilievre was picked because Canadians have an identity that is their own and should not be ashamed of being Canadian.
- Poilievre was picked – and followed by a large Aboriginal contingent – because Aboriginal Canadians are tired of being victims under this bureaucracy of truth and reconciliation and want to be a part of a prosperous Canada.
Ultimately the Conservatives, and a large portion of Canadians, have spoken tonight on the resounding victory of Poilievre for the leader of the Conservative party. I have already seen some of the pundits complain. But you have to look at yourself, reflect, acknowledge your blind spot, and ask yourself: perhaps my views are not shared as widely as I thought they were.
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