Angry donuts strike again
A good amount of fuss was made earlier today when videos emerged showing Pierre Poilievre by the side of the road at the border between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. He stopped by to say hello and shoot the breeze with members of a group protesting the carbon tax. At any rate these days that's what they say they're protesting. They've been there since 2021 to protest COVID measures and various other things, very much including the fact that the prime minister continues to wake up on the right side of dirt.
Pierre Poilievre has bet a long time ago that actively courting far-right extremists, conspiracy theorists and supporters of the convoy would take him to 24 Suss– er, I mean, Rideau Cottage. It's taken him to Stornoway, so I guess it's working so far. This excellent story by the awesome Charlie Senack will bring you back to those early days of the occupation and how eagerly Poilievre welcomed the truckers. Just, you know, in case you'd forgotten.
Poilievre is still courting those people, who are still out there protesting. The problem is that they are awfully close to far-right extremist groups including one, Diagolon, that has been included in a 2022 House of Commons report on ideologically motivated violent extremism.
Maybe Poilievre doesn't know any of these people. Maybe he also doesn't know who Alex Jones is, that's why he's not rejecting his endorsement. Or maybe he's trying to play us for fools.
Yeah, me too. Here's why:
1) Poilievre needed these people's support to win the leadership of the party, which he did get and did win. Because he's not a certified imbecile, Poilievre knows the support of convoy enthusiasts and the Fuck Trudeau crowd is a very dangerous thing. Yes, it brought him the party. But it risks losing him the election because support for the convoy is actually quite thin across the country including in his own Ottawa-area riding. If he wants to win the election he'll have to move to the centre, like Stephen Harper did in 2011. But doing so will lose him the support of convoy types, which he can't afford to do just yet, seeing as we're still a ways from an election. Yes, Poilievre will do what he has to do to win the next election, including repudiate the people who brought him closer to the prize. But not too early. So he's playing for time.
2) There are still convoy types out there – I mean, people who are still actively mad about COVID restrictions who take time out of their days to stand around outside their trucks to wave hateful flags. Most of us have moved on from the pandemic, but not these guys. It takes a very special kind of person to be demanding the prime minister be tried for treason because for a while there before vaccines it was difficult to travel. The fact that the leader of the opposition stops on the road to greet them is one reason why they're still around.
3) The thing is, Poilievre is playing everyone for fools, very much including convoy supporters and the intransitively angry. He's using them because they can always be counted on to send money to the party, as evidenced by the record-breaking amounts the Conservatives raked in during Poilievre's first year as leader. See why he's playing for time? He'd be an idiot not to. But if you think he'll keep them around once they're no longer useful, you're about as deluded as the morons who believe "sovereign citizens" have the right to appoint god as their lawyer and to be judged according to biblical laws not the ones actually voted on by Parliament.
It sure is going to be ugly when those extremists – and the extremely stupid who ride with them – realize they've been played. As much as I dislike the toxic politics of Pierre Poilievre, I am not looking forward to that moment when he gets cancelled by his own crowd and I am prepared to bet a tidy sum that the usual snark and apple-munching won't be enough to save his career.
