Image credit: Facebook/Pierre Poilievre

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Poilievre’s makeover and the Hobson’s choice facing Canadians

Aug 29, 2023 | 4:48 AM

IT’S LOOKING MORE and more as though the Conservatives will form the next federal government. The election is more than two years away but unless Justin Trudeau pulls a rabbit out of his hat and attitudes shift on some key issues, a change is very much in the cards.

Maybe he and the Liberals will come up with a housing strategy that holds enough promise to attract Canadians, and maybe people will accept the levelling off of inflation, but it seems unlikely.

An Abacus poll last week showed the Conservatives with a healthy lead, with the Liberals running third among younger voters. Third.

The same poll had them hanging on to second place overall but 12 points behind the Conservatives. That’s huge. In B.C., the gap was 19 points.

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Interestingly, voters don’t have high regard for either Trudeau or Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. A different poll last month found that half of Canadians think they should both be replaced.

Are we living in a parallel universe with our neighbours to the south? Americans overwhelmingly want neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump as their next president but that’s the choice they’re going to get.

Will we be in a similar dilemma? As Trudeau struggles with the fact a lot of people simply dislike him, Poilievre has been busy trying to remake his image into something more acceptable to voters. He’s stopped wearing glasses in an attempt to, what, appear less nerdy?

He now sometimes leaves his tie at home, even wearing T-shirts under his sports jacket. Rumours he’s also taken to wearing Spanx are unconfirmed as far as I can tell but he’s definitely undergoing a makeover.

Underneath this marketing ploy remains a politician who talks up Bitcoin, wants to defund the CBC and consistently spouts populist nonsense.

Before we make this Hobson’s choice, we need to know more about what he intends to do with the country, not what he’s wearing.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.