The lady, once again, is not for turning. Pierre Poilievre, who has made his admiration for Margaret Thatcher clear, went back to the same page in her political book on Monday.
He could have treated the Alberta separatist referendum as an opportunity to leave behind the grievance-mongering and reflexive partisanship that have defined his time as leader — and informed his consistently negative approval ratings — and instead start acting like a leader.
He could have spoken out clearly against the small-minded politics of separatism, and the digital misinformation-industrial complex that sustains and feeds it. In the process, he might just have reintroduced himself to the red Tories and blue Liberals who have abandoned him and his party for Mark Carney and given them something to chew on leading to the next election.
He did none of those things.
Instead, he went back to his favourite, and perhaps only, political argument: blame the Liberals. In the process, he gives the soft separatists and “frustrated federalists” an excuse to vote yes in October’s referendum — and extend the damage that it will do to Alberta and Canada’s economic and social fabric.
Also in this week’s “Receipts” newsletter: why our “Central-Canadian elites” need to butt out of the separatist debate, a long-overdue accounting of the potential costs of setting up a new country, and more good news on the energy transition — and bad news for oil and gas demand.
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