Can Poilievre rally Canadians behind common sense?

After years of left wing propaganda, it could be quite a chore but he seems up to the task

Conservatives overwhelmingly chose Pierre Poilievre as their new leader last night, with 68% of vote. Second place Jean Charet with 16% was gracious in defeat, as were Leslyn Lewis (9%), Roman Baber (5%) and Scott Aitchison (1%). All five were solid candidates and may populate a Tory cabinet if Conservatives are able to displace Trudeau in the next election.

Poilievre’s acceptance speech was masterful and unifying. He laid out a policy framework and now Canadians need to decide whether they are willing to sign on to the changes he proposes. Some of those changes are major and constructive.

Quebec - Poilievre, a native of Calgary, proposes a greater degree of independence for Quebec and less meddling in Quebec politics by Ottawa. This is refreshing. Quebec’s unique culture helps define Canada and a more independent Quebec will strengthen Canadian unity. Most Canadians believe the issue of full Quebec “sovereignty” is settled opening the door to a highly-independent Quebec within Confederation.

First Nations - Poilievre proposes more self-determination for First Nations, something they have wanted and in my opinion deserve since Confederation. He supports First Nations’ desire to participate in resource projects on their lands and it is hard to mount a credible reason why they should not be able not only to participate but also to have the major voice in these projects.

Carbon taxes - Poilievre will repeal these abominations which do nothing for “climate” but do a lot to complicate business and damage livelihoods. It is clear that “climate change” is political science, not physics, when you review the political landscape for who supports what. Canadians are generally concerned about climate change (as they should be) but the degree of concern is clearly political rather than scientific, and the claim that CO2 is the cause is tenuous at best. In an earlier article, I demonstrated with basic physics that doubling of CO2 concentrations would have no material impact on global temperatures and it is patently obvious that Canadian emissions are so miniscule that their total elimination wouldn’t matter on anyone’s theory of the case.

Pipelines - Poilievre supports construction of pipelines to ensure Canadian oil & gas not only gets to foreign markets but also supplies Canadians in all Provinces, eliminating imports of oil from dictatorships. This is common sense, something that has been absent in Liberal Ottawa since Trudeau was elected. The majority of Canadians support more pipelines.

Attainable Housing - Poilievre will use a carrot and stick approach, providing a cash incentive to municipalities for every new home and asking Toronto and Vancouver to increase home construction by 15%, something as Prime Minister he will have plenty of avenues to enforce if they refuse to cooperate. Canada’ attainable housing crisis can be traced directly to Liberal policies forcing interest rates down and home prices up while expanding the money supply far faster than the real growth of the economy with the inevitable result of high inflation.

Inflation - Poilievre understands that the central bank has failed in its mandate of price stability and will make the Central Bank accountable to the Auditor General. The bank’s failure was inevitable with Liberal policies driving debt to an unsustainable level funded by increased money supply creating a freight train with an inflation destination that the central bank was unwilling to curb and in fact didn’t even try until the inflation rate was virtually beyond control. 85% of Canadians are now concerned about inflation while the Liberal Prime Minister and Minister of Finance deny it is their responsibility or say it is not a priority.

Immigration - It was wonderful to hear a Canadian politician married to an immigrant from Venezuela promise to ease the task of immigrant professionals becoming certified to work within their professions in Canada. This is long overdue.

Mining and Oil & Gas development - Poilievre will reduce the barriers to development of Canada’s resource industries, repealing oppressive laws that hamstring or delay development to ensure Canada becomes a source for the metals and minerals needed to supply the electrical vehicle industry and a global source of natural gas and oil desperately needed abroad.

ESG - Poilievre will take steps to amend the Canada Corporations Act to ensure directors are obliged to put the interests of the corporations they serve ahead of any other goals, a badly needed change as left-wing activists try use ESG to “re-imagine” corporations as a tool of social change at the expense of returns to investors including major pension funds like OMERS, CPP, Ontario Teachers and the Caisse de Depot. The ESG fad hurts Canadians and helps no one except politicians who use it to “look good and sound good” without doing anyone any good.

Canada has long needed a new leader and Poilievre is a breath of fresh air. Put up for adoption by his teenage mother he was raised by adopted parents as a francophone in Western Canada from modest means. No trust fund baby like Trudeau. His Calgary roots give him a first hand understanding of Western alientation while his sympathy for francophone Quebec and the injustices long faced by First Nations balances his understanding the challenges of leading our nation, and he seems up to the task.

The next election cannot come too soon for me. The knives are already out in Liberal Ottawa as they look for ways to attack Poilievre, an unsurprising tack for a political party unwilling to compete on policy initiatives alone but certain to drag the next election campaign into a mud-slinging match which I suspect will result in the Liberals being covered by mud and Poilievre ignoring their personal attacks.