O'Toole needs to distance himself from Trump

With the federal cabinet now rebuilt and the prime minister eyeing a potential election, we can now consider what is to be done about the fanatics and racists who make up the modern Conservative Party of Canada.

Apologies, I slipped into Liberal character there for a second, previewing what will surely be Justin Trudeau's preferred line of attack. And while I'm hopeful that an election in the midst of a global pandemic will focus on high-minded questions of public policy, the Liberal predilection for poking the altright and social conservative bears (and the media's appetite to cover it) will win out, as surely as Donald Trump avoids responsibility.

Did you catch what I did there? How I subtly implied that Canadian conservatives and the Trump cultists are one in the same? What, you don't think that's fair? Well, let me pull out that survey result in which 41 per cent of Canadian conservatives say the U.S. election result wasn't fair and should be contested. Eh? How do you like them apples?

Whether Erin O'Toole likes it or not, his Conservative movement includes some bad apples, a not-insignificant minority who look at political events down south not with shock, but admiration. They view Trump's insurgency — now a literal insurgency — as a potential roadmap for politics in Canada. It would be malpractice for Liberal operatives not to pick at that wound.

And if that weren't headache enough, O'Toole's movement also includes some whose social views run retrograde to settled Canadian public opinion. These are the people who still use pejorative words for gays and look at religious minorities, Muslims in particular, with a deep skepticism, if not outright hostility. All scabs for Liberals to pick.

All the more reason, then, for O'Toole to bust out the Band-Aids. And in the case of current Trump supporters, go further and defenestrate, because failing to cut the rot will only taint the millions of fine people who support his party on election days. A failure to act will also prevent the new supporters he needs to become prime minister from coming over.

The looming election demands moral clarity. O'Toole must clearly state the arsonists who torch societal norms that bind our communities aren't welcome in his party, because unleashing bitterness, anger and intolerance is an uncontrollable and ultimately destructive path, not a route to a better future. This isn't a Liberal-lite thing to say; it's rockribbed conservative.

Which isn't to say Conservatives haven't a right to be upset about the present state of affairs. The government's pandemic response has often been a day late and a buck short. The vaccine program lags behind that of other Western democracies. Trudeau continues to show no signs of contrition or humility, even after multiple ethical and policy stumbles. That the Liberal government continues to poll in majority territory is a gravity defying feat.

Then again, it's easy to defy gravity when your opponent is nailed to an electoral floor and seemingly intent on knocking in a few more pegs. There is now a broad consensus in Canada on gay marriage, abortion and high levels of immigration, so raging against them isn't a path to victory.

And while the immigration system must be properly managed in order to maintain confidence in it, there isn't an appetite, real or latent, for any nativist Trumpism in Canada.

Rather than moaning about perceived unfairness, or about a monoculture among the governing class, O'Toole needs to inject some diversity of thought into the policy debate in areas that won't trip up his supporters. He must demonstrate how Canada can continue to fulfil its economic promise to all of its communities, geographic or cultural. He needs to focus on how to fix what globalization has broken without breaking what makes Canada a beacon among nations.

He can't do that with the albatross of Trumpism around his neck. The sooner he breaks away from any hint of it, the sooner he can lay out his party's conservative plans. Because Lord knows, we need an alternative to Trudeau 2.0.