February 19, 2018 - Loonie Politics

(Warning: This article is about the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leadership race, which is dramatically changing on an almost hourly basis in ways no mortal human can possibly comprehend or predict. So by the time this goes online everything you're about to read might be totally irrelevant. )

The Ontario PC leadership race is the most amazing, most spectacular and most incredible piece of political theatre ever witnessed in Canadian history.

Or to put that another way, it's the Game of Thrones of politics!

And one thing that makes it so fascinating are the marvelous characters starring in the show.

To show you what I mean, here's a brief rundown of the cast:

Caroline Mulroney
With her esteemed political pedigree, her sophisticated charm and her sterling private sector background, Mulroney is the closest thing the PCs have to an aristocrat. And that makes her the most intriguing candidate in the race since she offers the party everything it needs, except for one tiny, little thing: political experience, of which she has zero. Nevertheless, if you believe all conspiracy theories floating around, she's the handpicked candidate of the party's shadowy elites.

Doug Ford
Like Mulroney, Ford has a famous last name; but that's where the similarities end. If Mulroney is a princess, Ford is a blustery, brawny, brawling, bruiser. A born street-fighter, Ford offers a tough-talking brand of populism that will appeal not only to the Legions of Ford Nation, but also to the growing number of Progressive Conservatives who simply want to "stick it" to the system. And if you believe all the conspiracy theories floating around that's why the shadowy party elites will do everything they can to stop him. Yet, Ford has seemingly at least one well-known fan among the elites: according to certain media reports, Premier Kathleen Wynne wants him to win the leadership. It reminds of how Hillary Clinton reportedly wanted Donald Trump to win.

Christine Elliott
Elliott's vast political experience along with her deep ties to the Ontario PC party makes her the most "normal" leadership candidate in this race, which ironically also makes her an oddity. Working in her favour, however, is that she has the clearest path to victory. If for any reason, PC party members perceive the other candidates to be too "far off the wall", they will likely give their vote to the most boring and dull candidate on the slate, i.e. Elliott. Don't laugh; this is how Andrew Scheer won his race.

Tanya Granic Allen
I have no idea who this person is, but what I do know is she's giving a feisty voice to social conservatives, a group, which over the past year the PC party has seemingly done everything it could to actively alienate. So it looks like the Christians are striking back.

Patrick Brown
OK, now we've come to what's easily the weirdest leadership candidacy ever. Consider that just weeks ago, Brown's political career was in ruins, his reputation in tatters; scorned by the party he once led, he seemed to be on the road to oblivion. Yet, in an incredibly short period of time, through clever media management, Brown has, at least to some degree, rehabilitated his image. Basically, he's gone from "Sad loser" to "Scrappy underdog". And "Scrappy Underdog" is not a bad image for any politician. At any rate, if he wins, it'll be the most incredible comeback since Lazarus.

So with all these quirky, unconventional and atypical candidates crowding the PC leadership stage, who knows what plot twists and surprises; what thrills and chills; what conflicts and dramas await us as the narrative unfolds.

And yes, some might say the whole spectacle is a political disaster of the first magnitude.

But disasters attract attention, which might ultimately work to the PC party's advantage.

In other words, the PC leadership race will test that age old public relations maxim which states "any publicity is good publicity."

Photo Credit: Toronto Star

So after railing for months on this here website about the clear and present danger posed by Patrick Brown to the PC Party, and that party's prospects for victory this year, and the damage that would be done to the credibility of the conservative movement even if he did win the election, the official spokespeople for that party came around to my way of thinking.

Frenzied Facebook statuses and panicked tweets talking about the very, very scary attack ads that the Liberals will employ in June should Brown somehow regain the leadership scurry across my feeds, alongside fake polls in which supporters of the other four candidates are encouraged to vote early and vote often to create the impression that Patrick will retake this party over their dead bodies. Short weeks ago, these selfsame tactics were used against Doug Ford, albeit far less frequently.

This farcical reversal shows that the PC Party are, and always have been, a group of utterly unprincipled and entitled hacks intent on regaining power by any means necessary, and who fear losing that power at the hands of Brown's vengeful and fanatical supporters.

That fact will become clearer in the coming days as more allegations of sexual harassment are levelled, more accusations of financial impropriety are thrown around, and the once publicly united party descends into a fracas of mud throwing.

As it stands, anyone would have good reason to fear a group of people who bent reality itself to create enough of a reasonable doubt with respect to the allegations levelled against Brown so that they could go on to make the equally dubious claim that their guy's name is sufficiently cleared for him to enter the race.

But the PC braintrust also fears Brown's naked ambition because he is the Frankenstein's monster born of their own lust for bloodshed and thwarted hopes. They are as contemptibly deluded as he is- they just hide it behind a faÃ§ade of respectability. He holds up a mirror to them, and they don't like it.

Thus, I didn't expect anyone in the PC's to take me seriously when I was sounding the alarm about Brown before his mask fell off, and I don't expect anyone to take me seriously now. The one thing Brown and I have found in common is that we both point out the PC Party's glaring defects.

But where I simply wish to draw attention to what is obvious, Brown hopes to exploit the PCPO's neuroses for his own personal and manipulative ends.

He knows, perhaps consciously, or perhaps unconsciously, that these monkeys in tuxedos like to comfort their consciences with lip service to "conservative principles."

And in his King Kong-esque climb back to the top, Patrick Brown and his defenders made several references to due process and the rule of law.

Now, of course we all love due process and the rule of law. Only radicals who want to tear our society and the PC Party down would dare question either of these pillars of our democracy.

But when Patrick Brown and his crew stuff ballot boxes in nominations, or disqualify candidates for sketchy reasons, or hold stage-managed policy conferences, or engage in questionable membership practices, suddenly these principles are more honoured by the breach than in their observance.

What do we expect? Perfection? Are we so spotless and without sin? Who are we to judge and throw rocks? And why are we throwing rocks at all, when Brown and his people have machine guns?

Brown has no problem exploiting his tribe's more practical fears, either, such as the fear men have of being undone by #MeToo and the fear women have of being written off as crazy if other women speak out and get debunked.

This whipsawing alternation between principles and pragmatism has been part of Brown's daily diet as a Conservative hack since he was old enough to wear his first badly fitting suit as a Young Tory. He learned it at the feet of people who have been doing the same since before he was born. And now he seeks to bring ruin to those creators who spurned him.

It'd be poeticâ€¦.if it weren't so pathetic.

Photo Credit: Mississauga.com

Written by Josh Lieblein

The views, opinions and positions expressed by columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of our publication.

Day: February 19, 2018

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