At some point in the life of the official opposition in the House of Commons, the party – and especially its leader – need to start auditioning for the role of government.
A good time to do that is when you’re leading by miles in the polls and an election could come any time in the next two years. And a good way to do it is to demonstrate that you have the judgment and temperament for the serious job of running a G7 nation.
By that score, the Conservatives and their leader, Pierre Poilievre, just had a lousy week. Given opportunities to demonstrate leadership, they instead showed themselves to be petty, partisan and disingenuous.
The most egregious such display was the party’s unanimous vote against the enabling legislation for an updated Canada-Ukraine free-trade agreement. (The bill passed second reading because of support from the other parties and now goes to committee.)
The sticking point for Mr. Poilievre was a clause in which the two countries agree to “promote carbon pricing and measures to mitigate carbon leakage risks” – a bit of virtue-signalling boilerplate that he has falsely portrayed as forcing Ukraine to adopt a carbon tax similar to Canada’s.
“[Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] expects them to rebuild from a war with a devastating and crippling tax on their energy,” Mr. Poilievre said Thursday. “The Ukrainian farmers, he expects them to pay a carbon tax while they’re trying to feed their hungry people. This is cruel and, frankly, it is disgusting.”
The agreement does no such thing. The Ukraine embassy confirmed the same day that the agreement in no way obliges Ukraine to impose new taxation on itself or even reduce its carbon footprint.
But beyond that is the simple fact that the Ukrainian government signed the deal, meaning that it was in agreement with the clause. A spokesperson for the Ukraine embassy noted that the beleaguered country, at war with Russia, already has a modest carbon tax in place and is working on policies to address climate change as part of its efforts to join the European Union – something Russia wants to prevent.
The Conservatives should have simply supported Ukraine, especially in its time of great need. But Mr. Poilievre instead chose to virtue-signal to his base.
Mr. Poilievre also failed to demonstrate the maturity and experience needed for running a country when he rose in the House of Commons on Wednesday to ask a question in the wake of that unsettling incident at the Rainbow International Bridge in Niagara Falls, New York.
The debate over whether Mr. Poilievre spoke before or after a particular media report of a possible terror attack at the border is irrelevant. What matters is that Mr. Poilievre immediately veered into partisanship, complete with his party’s “bring it home” slogan: “It is the principal responsibility of government to protect the people,” he said. “Can the Prime Minister give us an update on what he knows and what action plan he will immediately implement to bring home security for our people?”
That was a moment when every Canadian politician, and especially federal party leaders, should have been working to calm the public, instead of trying to exploit the possibility that the worst had occurred.
None of this screams “mature leadership.” And we could go on: for instance, Conservative MP Andrew Scheer’s irresponsible decision on Nov. 15 to use X, formerly known as Twitter, to publish the name, photo and office phone number of a senator who had voted to adjourn debate on a Conservative private member’s bill, and call on his followers to contact her. The senator, Bernadette Clement, was subjected to a stream of online racist abuse and was forced to leave her home after getting a threatening phone call.
It’s clear from recent polling that Canadians are fed up with a Liberal government that has proven to be divisive on many issues and is obsessed with virtue-signalling. They appear ready for change, and Mr. Poilievre is best positioned to benefit from that sentiment.
But he and his party are not making a convincing argument they are ready for the job.
Mr. Poilievre should remember the adage that says that politicians who audition for leader of the opposition usually land the role.