Keep Your Eye On Trudeau

Dennis Matthews knows a thing or two about the political zeitgeist, having worked as advertising guru for Stephen Harper and Doug Ford.

He said on Twitter recently that there is a sense among some Conservatives the populist wave which elected Ford and Donald Trump, and ushered in Brexit, is coming to an end. The dwindling approval ratings for the former two, and buyer’s remorse over the latter, suggests there’s something to the argument.

Canadian Conservatives had best hope the wave has broken, because there are few more capable exponents of populist techniques than Justin Trudeau. He is clearly not an authoritarian right-wing demagogue, playing on the insecurities created by cultural competition that have left many voters feeling estranged from the predominant values in their own country.

But even if his causes are more cosmopolitan — globalism, diversity, women’s empowerment — they are similarly tribal and, at times, equally disdainful of divergence from their orthodoxy.

Trudeau and his team have been adept at using polarizing rhetoric, symbolism and identity issues, even while accusing his opponents of adopting “the politics of division.” Earlier this month, his chief of staff, Katie Telford, tried to associate the federal Conservatives with the arrival in Canada of an anti-abortion movie, Unplanned. While some fringe Tory MPs had petitioned the movie be shown, the party leadership has been adamant it will not legislate on abortion.

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See Also:

(1) Federal government to pay $900M settlement in lawsuits over sexual misconduct in military

(2) Falun Gong incident more reason Canada needs system to handle complaints of Chinese intimidation: Amnesty

(3) Concrete blocks no barrier to illegal dispensary owners

(4) Trudeau says Ottawa open to proposals for B.C. refinery as province’s gas prices soar

(5) Trudeau visits Victoria to announce $79M for new buses