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Day: September 23, 2018

This new party has a leader who wasn't elected and few members. It appears intended simply to soothe Bernier's fragile ego

When Maxime Bernier, a former Conservative cabinet minister and federal leadership candidate, abruptly quit the party last month, he announced he would be starting a new political party.

Well, the nameless entity with one public face was finally given an identity on Sept. 14: the People's Party of Canada.

He couldn't have made a worse decision.

The term 'People's Party' has long been associated with socialist and communist parties around the world.  This includes the People's Party of Panama, Cambodian People's Party, People's Party of Armenia, Pakistan Peoples Party, Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan, Danish People's Party and the People's Party of the United States.

There are, or have been, right-leaning People's Parties in countries like Spain, Austria and Belgium.

There's also the European People's Party, a transnational organization in the European Parliament that supports liberal conservatism and Christian democracy.

Nevertheless, it puzzles me why Bernier, a right-leaning libertarian who wants to shrink government, promote free trade, and eliminate restrictive policies like supply management, and end Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) control of that industry, would choose such an overtly left-wing name for his new party.

Marketing and branding are huge keys to success in modern politics.  Bernier could have consistently said his mission was to work for the people, much like Ontario Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford, but use language that's associated with his personal and political ideology.

There's already a Libertarian Party in Canada, and the word 'freedom' is being used by a small party.  Words like 'liberty' and 'justice' remain untouched, however.  There was a New Capitalist Party in the 1965 federal election, but it quickly folded meaning the second word was available.

Or what about Free Market Party, which I proposed several years ago?

All of these concepts could have worked to Bernier's advantage.  Instead, he chose People's Party which, in the savage world of political communications, is what many of us call a massive failure.

Ah, but there's more.

Bernier is not only the interim People's Party leader, he's also the future leader.  Why?  Because the so-called party of the people isn't going to have a leadership race to give the people a choice.

No one is disputing that several small Canadian political parties also skipped an inaugural leadership contest.  But taking into consideration that the People's Party is arguably the most significant outfit to pass on a leadership contest, Bernier's decision leaves a bad taste.  He should have opened the leadership up to other people.

Speaking of people, where exactly are they in this party?

Not a soul flanked Bernier during his press conference to unveil the party's name, or during his announcement of his decision to hightail it from Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives.  He also claims the People's Party has raised more than $140,000 which may be true, but we don't know the identities of the donors.

Meanwhile, only three people with public profiles are supporting Bernier: Michael Wekerle, a merchant banker who used to appear on CBC's Dragon's Den, marijuana activist Marc Emery and former Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal.  That's fine, but it's hardly going to lead to a firestorm of activity.

In fairness, the People's Party is starting to acquire new grassroots members.  Some disgruntled Conservatives have expressed interest in joining, which is to be expected.  If Bernier's current popularity (between 14 and 17 per cent nationally, according to polls) continues into next year's federal election, he'll be endorsed by others and may find a way to join the leaders' debates.

Yet the party's biggest hurdle to success remains its public face.  Bernier's decision to discredit a former leader, party and political movement that represents most of his views was bad enough.  The decision to start a new party to soothe his hurt, fragile ego was disgraceful.

Have fun with the People's Party of the left … right … whatever, Mad Max.  Most Canadians have or will see through this facade and stay away for now, and perhaps for good.

Photo Credit: Jeff Burney, Loonie Politics

Troy Media columnist and political commentator Michael Taube was a speechwriter for former prime minister Stephen Harper.

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.

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Toronto progressives and the Laurentian Elites lost their collective minds — yet again â€” when Premier Doug Ford responded to Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba's eyebrow-raising ruling from September 10 by putting the proverbial smackdown on judicial activism by invoking Section 33 of the Charter.

For a few brief hours, liberals were manically jubilant over the the Court decision, which has now been deemed "dubious" by a panel of appeal judges on Wednesday who stayed Belobaba's convoluted decision.

But for an entire week all one could hear from the left was how UNPRECEDENTED, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, UNDEMOCRATIC, UNFAIR, UNBELIEVABLE, UNHINGED, UNNERVING, UNCANADIAN Premier Ford's use of his trump card was.

The best way to sum up the irrational rage from the left would be the unmoored news anchor from the 1975 film classic, Network, getting his audience to recite after him: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

They weren't mad as hell when Wynne's Liberals sold off the majority of Hydro One.  They weren't mad as hell when the OLP plunged the province into unchartered debt.  And they weren't mad as hell when the OLP dumped dinky, costly, ineffective wind turbines in rural folks' backyards.  They weren't mad as hell when they blew a billion-dollars-plus cancelling a gas plant.  No, that was all fine and dandy.  They only got mad as hell when Premier Ford decided to cull the amount of hogs at the Toronto City Council trough.

Their delirium reached its fever pitch on Sunday night when Premier Ford opened the legislature at the madness of midnight to enact a new bill including the notwithstanding clause in order to get on with the inevitable shrinking of Toronto City Council down to a manageable 25 councillors.  During the witching hour, protesters (i.e. toddlers), up past their bedtimes, from outside the legislature, kicked the walls of Queen's Park while wailing, "Let us in! Let us in!"

In the end the whole ordeal wrapped up rather anticlimactically.  Premier Ford and MPPs enjoyed a placid plowing match on Tuesday, where rural folks couldn't care less if some well-to-do Toronto City Councillors lose their jobs, and by Wednesday appeal judges decided Belobaba's ruling was in all likelihood judicial overreach, giving a second assent to the PC government's legislation.

Don't expect the same anger for the unelected judge impeding an elected government from passing perfectly legitimate legislation though; progressives don't typically care about respecting democratic principles when they're the ones on the outside looking in.

All of this hyperventilating, even by usually even-keeled Laurentian Elites like Andrew Coyne, is doing severe damage to the credibility of the establishment — despite their foolhardy belief that it's the other way around.

Premier Ford in Washington on Wednesday came across as measured and reasonable when he spoke of the appeal judges' decision to stay the unconstitutional ruling.

Yes, polling says the majority of Torontonians and Ontarians opposed the premier's use of the notwithstanding clause, but that was while the Toronto-centric media sphere was manufacturing dissent, now that the appeal judges have sided with Ford the media look silly.  Also, as the progressives like to point out, Ford wasn't elected with the majority of voters, but it was a bigger mandate than other governments before his.

The bottom line is the media are collectively the boy who cried wolf.  Now that it came out Friday that the former Liberal government's budget deficit is apparently more than double the disclosed amount — not $6.7 billion, but whopping $15 billion — it means Ford is only getting started in finding efficiencies to get spending under control.  Expect more irrational freak outs from his powerless and pathetic opposition in the days to come, when the imperative real cuts begin.

Photo Credit: Jeff Burney, Loonie Politics

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.

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