EDITORIAL – Pierre Poilievre’s political days are suddenly numbered
Pierre Poilievre.
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
WAS THERE A BUDGET unveiled in Ottawa yesterday? Oh, yeah, I believe there was but who was paying any attention?
The real news was the defection of Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont from the Conservatives to the Liberals.
An MP crossing the floor is not all that unusual, and media attention lasts about a day. This one, however, is different. Nobody outside his own riding had ever heard of Christ d’Entremont before yesterday, but his timing on abandoning the Tories in favour of arch rival Liberals made it all quite dramatic and instantly grabbed top headlines.
For one thing, it brings the Liberals one seat closer to a majority and a guarantee the budget will pass. And there’s talk that more Conservative MPs will follow d’Entremont’s example. For another, it highlights the problems facing the Conservatives and their leader Pierre Poilievre.
Poilievre, who only a few months ago seemed guaranteed to lead the party to a landslide victory, instead lost his momentum, lost the election to Mark Carney, lost his own seat and faces a leadership review after arranging a by-election in a safe Alberta riding to get back into Parliament.
D’Entremont attributes his defection to no longer being “aligned” with Poilievre. It’s becoming apparent that others within the party feel the same way, and Canadians in general — as evidenced by his 20-point deficit behind Carney in the public’s opinion of who they’d rather have as prime minister — concur.
Not all of Poilievre’s caucus members have given up on him, of course, while others are afraid to say anything. One of them is Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola MP Frank Caputo, who won’t comment on Poilievre’s recent outrageous labelling of the RCMP’s leadership as “despicable.”
Given Caputo’s record as a staunch advocate of law and order, one would think he might have more to say, but that’s party politics for you.
Poilievre has overstayed his political moment. Canadians have concluded they just don’t want the divisive brand of politics he’s been selling.
Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. 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.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Maybe he felt that his constituents’ interests would be better served by a different party. He probably secured some goodies for his constituents with the changeover.
At any rate, in Canada, we vote for individual candidates, not parties. Although you’d be forgiven for thinking the opposite, given how our elected reps usually begin barking like trained seals the minute the party leader gives them their talking points.
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Re Chris D’Entremont crossing the floor. I believe if you want to leave the party that you represented when your constituents elected you, you should have to resign your seat and face the electorate again rather than simply cross the floor. MP’s are elected to serve their constituent’s interests, not their own. A naive take perhaps, but politicians seem to have a sense of entitlement to do as they please to serve personal ambition, when they should actually be promoting their constituent’s concerns.
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