Poilievre-Trump comparisons are dishonest
Justin Trudeau’s latest cheap shot at Pierre Poilievre is a sign that he is getting desperate. Earlier last week, the prime minister said the Conservative leader’s “Canada is broken” rhetoric stems from Donald Trump’s failed political playbook.
He continued: “Well, you know what? They tried that down in the United States. Someone who said he was going to fix everything fed into anger and disconnect, frustration by so many people in the United States. It didn’t leave them any better off.”
There’s plenty to criticize Poilievre about — for starters, he has yet to lay out specific policies to confront the many challenges we face as a nation. While Poilievre has been vocal on important matters like the high cost of living, lack of affordability in housing, and pointing out how more Canadians are relying on food banks (a number that reached an alltime high in 2022), as the candidate with the greatest chance of winning the next election, he needs to lay forth his vision with substantive policies if he wants to be taken seriously as a viable alternative to the status quo.
Whether Poilievre will be a Trump-like candidate, or even a serious candidate at the ballot box in 2025, is up for speculation since a lot can happen in three years. Ideally, in a democracy, constituents will vote for the candidate with the best policies — one who will make their lives easier — voters should never vote based on fear, especially in a country that prides itself on holding free and fair elections. The prime minister arousing fear by comparing Poilievre to Trump, who at one point claimed an Americanborn federal judge could not be impartial because he was Mexican is not grossly unfair to Poilievre, but dishonest and lazy.
Instead of thoughtless attacks against the opposition leader, the prime minister should use his position to improve life in Canada. The long list of issues that plagues our country is vast. A Canadian Payroll Association report from September suggested nearly half of workers in Canada live paycheque to paycheque. Adding on, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation predicts we lack the labour capacity to construct the 3.5 million new homes needed to ensure housing affordability by 2030. In other words, if nothing changes, expect an exorbitantly expensive housing market and sky-high rent prices to continue for the next decade as a consequence of supply shortfalls.
Then again, should any of this surprise us? Back in 2016, Trudeau stated precarious work, which can be understood as a type of work that’s poorly paid, uncertain and insecure is now a “fact of life.” While he doesn’t bear all the blame for a changing labour market in an evershifting global economy, no leader should tell its citizens they should get used to uncertainty, in any capacity. The amount of taxes Canadians pay is by no means small — for that, we deserve a life that ensures our protection, certainty, and security. To reach that destination, we need our leaders to zero in and focus on the issues, not distract themselves on personal and often petty political squabbles.