Finesse versus force will be the signs in federal battle

By Ryan Dahlman

It is going to be a battle for Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s son hasn’t faced since the Parliamentary Brawl (for charity) versus then Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau back in 2012. Trudeau was the gangly, smarmy, spoiled rich kid who got anything he wanted due to his last name and Brazeau was seen as the person to put him in his place.  

Brazeau started out well, but wasted all of his energy at the start of the fight and by the end Trudeau surprisingly was all over him. 

Fast forward to 2022 and Trudeau has overcome a lot in his time as leader. With all the scandals and embarrassments which should have killed many politicians’ careers, somehow Trudeau has survived. 

While Trudeau has major team of bureaucrats helping  him and directing him what to say, Poilievre 

Pierre Poilievre has come out swinging, versus Trudeau, lefties, the media, anybody that does not subscribe to his platform.

Both politicians are clearly different in population but they are a little more similar than people would expect. 

While to label Poilievre a Canadian version of Trump would be an exaggeration, the one comparison that is the same that they are both very populist, i.e. they appeal to the ordinary Joe, that person who has an ordinary job and feel that the silver-spooned elite establishment (aka Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals) have control of the country and are catered to by the national media. 

For example Poilievre was addressing the national media last week, he got into it with Global TV’s senior correspondent David Adkin who yelled at him to answer journalists’ questions. Poilievre told assembled journalists that he was wasn’t taking questions again: in listening to the national media, he rarely takes questions. It didn’t help that the exchange got uglier and Adkin had to apologize and agreed he could’ve handled the situation better. 

Poilievre has said many times it is “us against the mainstream media controlling the message.”

Trudeau thought connecting with the ordinary folk was by being a movie-star type, a hero. Selfies, looking glamorous for adorning fans isn’t going to help these days when groceries and fuel prices are out of control. 

The ever-shrinking middle class can’t make ends meet. 

Many of those in the agriculture and traditional energy sectors of petroleum sees Trudeau as directly attacking their livelihoods and while the fighting back with the convoy, the obscene rhetoric and social media attacks show they mean business and won’t back down. The lack of subtly and finesse of knocking a billiards table ball an inch away from the pocket by using full force to hit it in. 

While The next election which isn’t for 2025. The strategy for both? Poilievre will keep hammering the Liberals and more specifically Trudeau right up to the date of the election. Poilievre’s energy and drive is like a heat-seeking missile. No new taxes. No misspending. The disenfranchised who know enough they are being mistreated, but don’t know exactly how to change it, those ar Poilievre’s people. 

Trudeau will be looking at the environment, green energy, and trying to convince people that electric cars are the way to go. Trudeau will also wait for Poilievre to overstep his bounds and say a few things that are deemed controversial or radical. He will accumulate all of these and show he’s not fit for leading the country. Whether these ideas would anger voters in the west, doesn’t really matter to him. As long as Ontario and Quebec voters are happy. Trudeau is already hinting in speeches that Poilievre is irresponsible for making outlandish claims. 

The national media will attack Poilievre and will mention he was born and raised in Calgary. In the east, that isn’t viewed very well. 

Parliamentary television this autumn may be an interesting watch. Poilievre has been a thorn in the side of the Liberals for a while now. Consistently and not very quietly calling out Trudeau on a number of issues for the past as a shadow minister of finance as well jobs and industry, he is exactly the representation the ordinary Joe wants. Standing up to the spoiled East. Not afraid to fight for seniors, veterans and “ordinary” Canadians. It will be loud, brash and the quotes will be eye-opening. Make no mistake, this will be a fight. Both are come from political backgrounds and other than stint as a drama teacher for Trudeau, politics is all both have ever known. Each sees the other as a major political threat, but each sees the other as someone they can defeat. It is a battle of egos and Trudeau has not seen this level of intensity from Erin O’Toole or Andrew Scheer.

The trick will be Poilievre being able to reach the ‘ordinary Joe” east of Manitoba. No matter how many angry people there are in the west, the way to win the election is to get support from Ontario and Quebec. It is a battle Trudeau seems to be winning those fights. If Poilievre can learn anything from Brazeau, don’t expend all of your energy in the first round. For both Trudeau and Poilievre, the momentum going into the final round, right around election time. 

Ryan Dahlman is the managing editor of the Prairie Post East, Prairie Post West, and 40 Mile Commentator

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