Politicking Pierre can do better than silly sloganeering

Open this photo in gallery:

Hey, have you heard? Pierre Poilievre wants to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime and bring it home now. Rolls off the tongue so naturally, doesn’t it? That must be why he has said these catchphrases (or versions of them) approximately 7,000 times in recent days and sounds so, uh, normal when he does. And it’s why his Conservative MPs parrot the phrases with such believable sincerity. No artifice whatsoever.

Also, bring what home?

Slogans are part of politics, but things seem to have gotten out of control at Conservative HQ, as they work to topple the Carbon Tax Prime Minister and his former Costly Coalition partner Sellout Singh, a.k.a. Stuntman Singh.

There is a whole lot of rhetoric. (And merch to go with it. They’re selling Bring it Home toques, ball caps and hockey jerseys on their website. Or perhaps you prefer a W.T.F. T-shirt. It stands for Where’s The Funds? of course.) But how about some meaningful dialogue? A plan, rather than what Conservatives consider a bon mot? A path rather than indiscriminate insults?

All rocky Canadian roads, in this political strategy, lead to Justin Trudeau or, as Mr. Poilievre has called him, our “wacko Prime Minister.” The reason Canadians can’t make ends meet? “Justinflation,” of course. (It is unclear whether Justinflation is also responsible for rising prices in the U.S. If so, what power, huh?)

We are headed for a “nuclear winter,” Mr. Poilievre is warning. (Surely he knows what that actually means.) Therefore we need a Carbon Tax Election so Conservatives can spike the hike; end Mr. Trudeau’s “gun grab”; bring in “jail and not bail” and end “decriminalized crack”; and stop “high-tax, high-carbon, high-flying hypocrite Justin Trudeau” from transferring wealth “from the have-nots to the have-yachts.”

In addition to inflation, when something terrible happens, Mr. Poilievre is quick to blame Mr. Trudeau and his government. On social media and in the House, he has cited his rival’s culpability for everything from a knife attack in downtown Vancouver to a triple murder in Lloydminster, Sask. And beyond.

Violence in Kingston? A home invasion in Markham, Ont.? A Pakistani citizen in Canada on a student visa accused of plotting an attack on Jews in New York? No apportion of blame is too out-there, too beyond causation (or jurisdiction), or too preposterous to lay at Mr. Trudeau’s feet.

“Devastating news from Kingston, with two people murdered and another hospitalized after an attack outside a Trudeau-funded drug den,” Mr. Poilievre posted. And in a petition-flogging post about Markham: “Quiet suburban neighbourhoods in Canada are being targeted by criminals committing robberies, carjackings, and home invasions. It’s proof criminals are more confident than ever after nine years of Trudeau.”

This is what Mr. Poilievre calls proof? These are complex issues caused by multiple, intersecting factors. Mr. Poilievre must know the difference between causation and correlation. But if this is his take, does that mean that any crime that happens on his watch will be on him, should he become prime minister?

Meanwhile, as Jasper, Alta., was burning, Mr. Poilievre posted a new ad on X featuring a crude cut-out of a smiling Mr. Trudeau and his surfboard: “You earned your summer vacation. You shouldn’t have to take Trudeau (and his tax) along for the ride,” he wrote. While others were on social media expressing sincere concern, the efficacy of Mr. Poilievre’s scheduled tweet went up in insensitive smoke. This is a deeply unserious approach to politics. And it rankles in speech after speech, this memorization and regurgitation of catchphrases that are intellectually unworthy of even a bumper sticker.

The echo-recitation sometimes gets a little sloppy. “Life has never been harder for Canadians,” Conservative MP Rosemarie Falk said in the House this week. Really? Has Ms. Falk heard of the Great Depression? Or conscription? How can anyone have confidence in such people governing?

Mr. Poilievre spews about Carbon Tax Carney, Costly Trudeau, Greedy Jagmeet. It’s literal name-calling. Perhaps the Conservatives have been impressed with Donald Trump’s playground-level taunts, with his Crooked Hillary, Sleepy Joe, and Comrade Kamala quips. But this lowbrow bullying is below us, as is the tacky focus-grouped sloganeering.

Mr. Poilievre promises, “We’re going to make common sense common in this country.” How about – rather than reviving the 1990s language of Conservative Ontario premier Mike Harris’s Common Sense Revolution – Mr. Poilievre tries speaking like an actual, common Canadian? With some real sense? As opposed to: “Who’s ready to axe the tax, who’s ready to build the homes, who’s going to fix the budget, and who’s ready to stop the crime?”

Canadians, polls indicate, are ready for something – change. But – and no need for a poll here – we are not stupid. Politicians should give us some credit and speak to us like we have brains (and they do as well). They should show us that they are more than scripted automatons.

Mr. Poilievre must be capable of this. Surely, there is a real person behind all those cheesy slogans. With those polls suggesting where he is heading, Canadians should hope so – sincerely.