Who plays what game?

Now that the convention is behind us and Pierre Poilievre got his leadership confirmed (and not just a little), I guess the name of the game is trying to show everyone the Conservatives are ready to replace the Liberals as government.

I mean, it’s not a bad idea, all things considered. Some of us in the cheap seats (hi!) had been calling on the party to do just that. Stop bitching that everything is fucked up, that the country is broken, and start showing up with solutions instead.

So, good for Poilievre to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney this week. They both pretended to agree collaboration was good. They both played the picture and the meeting to make themselves look like they were the ones trying to cooperate. And if my Twit machine is any guide, they both succeeded in getting their die-hard supporters to agree they had won that game.

Of course. That’s what partisanship is all about.

The key, when your business is get people who didn’t already vote for you to agree that they should vote for you next time, is to convince the other guy’s supporters that you’re the right person for the job at hand.

That picture alone is not enough to tell us who’s winning that game. Actions in the House, for instance on bills designed to improve the lives of Canadians, will speak a lot louder than this otherwise exquisitely framed shot.

Meanwhile, this person, who was elected by the good people of Bowmanville-Oshawa North (which is a lovely place and yes I’ve been to it) to represent them in the House, decided that since the prime minister failed to respond to his email(s) offering international assistance, he should take it upon himself to go to the White House and ask his old college roommate JD Vance to make him look good by smoothing out Canada-US relations and, I don’t know, arm-wrestle a trade deal or some shit.

I’m sure Donald Trump was thrilled! The member for Bowmanville-Oshawa North (where he’s totally never been) came to see his VP! And Jivani, perhaps because he wasn’t paying attention, failing to notice that the reason Canada doesn’t have a trade deal with the United States is because Trump only has leverage when other people beg him for deals, not once deals are signed. There aren’t any deals to be made with this president, which is something most reasonable Canadians understand a lot better than JD’s old buddy.

But that doesn’t stop Jamil, no sir. Our brave volunteer freelance trade negotiator came, he saw, he twatteth. I don’t want to speak for the good people of Bowmanville-Oshawa North, but I for one do not care to hear professions of love from that president and I think Jamil Jivani looks like an unmitigated moron with his side quest to DC.

Historically, in the game of politics, desperation doesn’t pay off. Neither does buffoonery. I’m glad the Conservatives think that working on convincing Canadians they are serious and able to govern is a good strategy. But maybe leave Jamil out of it? He’s really not helping.