Canada
It’s party time!
NDP
The NDP elected a new leader on March 29; Avi Lewis. I wrote the specifically Alberta perspective on that already but I’ll add that despite all the pearl-clutching, Mr. Lewis is probably the right leader for the party right now because there is a lot of space to the left of Prime Minister Mark Carney. There’s also that weird orange-blue/blue-orange shift to contend with federally.
Innovative’s recent polling suggests that Avi Lewis may pose a greater threat to Mr. Poilievre’s numbers than Prime Minister Carney’s, given that more of the alienated left chose Mr. Poilievre’s party in 2025.
Having a leader that was more centre-right than former PM Justin Trudeau was also something I thought would be beneficial for the Liberal Party after he stepped down in 2025. In fact, I managed to write about it during the whole five minutes former B.C. Premier Christy Clark was considering a run (I believe she backed out the very next day). The overall point still holds up, however.
I prefer our multi-party system to a two-party, or a dynastic, one. I’m sure there are some saying that the Liberals are basically a dynasty in Canada but you can’t tell me that Justin Trudeau and Mark Carney are cut from the same cloth. It’s also why there’s a real space for Avi Lewis; when it’s time to rebuild, there’s no better place to start from than the very core values that remind everyone what your ideals are when there’s no pressure to actually make waves by becoming Official Opposition, or, you know, government.
CPC
With that being said… CPC leader Pierre Poilievre came back from his U.S. tour on a high note. For the first time since January, the polls were not just holding for him, but his unfavourables actually dropped a couple of points; it was as if he had managed to stop the bleeding of support and could take a breath. His tour of right-wing podcasts was received well by those who listen to them, and frankly, the fact that he managed to demonstrate the willpower to refrain from attacking the Prime Minister (and even put his foot down in defence of the former Prime Minister!) on foreign soil was a Mr. Poilievre we had not seen before.
And that was a good thing. It meant that Mr. Poilievre’s new direction— credited to the new strategic forces of Communications Director Katy Merrifield and veteran conservative campaign expert Steve Outhouse— was working.
Then Mr. Poilievre decided to strongarm his caucus. Instead of trying to build on that good will, Mr. Poilievre sent out requests to his caucus to detail how they spent their time, explain how they contributed to their portfolios, and for good measure, let him know if they even wanted to be in those portfolios anymore.
Just like that, the cautious step forward became four steps back. Not only did Mr. Poilievre lose MP Marilyn Gladu this week, but Katy Merrifield is also returning to some projects she “put on hold” to assist the flailing conservative leader. Probably just coincidence.
As someone in my orbit pointed out, perhaps losing such a varied range of caucus members is a consequence of decisions that should be given more consideration. If the foundational structure of your base of support comes from just really hating the other guy, there’s really nothing left to hold onto once that guy is gone.
A quick op-ed hammered out by Michael Higgins insisted that the real shock value of Ms. Gladu’s crossing came from exactly that: “she hated the Liberals”. He then went on to detail how often she disagreed with policy decisions.
Disagreeing with policy is entirely valid… especially if you have the wherewithal (and backbone) to admit it’s a disagreeable policy no matter who proposed it. This distinction has been sorely missing in political discussion. Hating the Liberals/Conservatives/NDP is lazy. Effective, but lazy. Outside of partisan preference, it has no meat because leadership changes and with it vision and policy.
While it might be fun to piss around in opposition for an incredibly lucrative paycheque and retirement security like few Canadians could ever imagine, some people have higher ambitions. Marilyn Gladu set hers out before the 2025 election in an interview where she detailed how she’d like to use her 30 years as a chemical engineer working in the oil and gas-adjacent petrochemical field to a government’s advantage.
In 2016, Gladu was recognized by Maclean’s as “a loyal Conservative who consistently works across party lines.” The magazine voted her the most collegial MP, a distinction she often brings up in interviews.
Her ability to find common ground between opposing sides appears to be her strategy when talking about US/Canadian relations.“I think that we should recognize the US has been our friend and ally for decades, and there are things that Canadians and Americans both want,” she said, listing more military resources, a solution to the fentanyl epidemic, a new approach to security around immigration, and more development of the energy sector.
The election of one man for four years south of the border shouldn’t permanently divide the two nations, said Gladu.
With the right government, Canada can still expand its energy sector and put many more Sarnians to work. That kind of growth would fund the social systems Canada needs, and provide inexpensive energy to the US, said Gladu.
“I think there are things we can do to increase our prosperity that will increase US prosperity…and restore the balance in the relationship.”
The Independent, April 25, 2025
I will repeat that Mark Carney’s vision to move Canada forward is not in opposition to conservative values. Despite some of Ms. Gladu’s rather imperfect moments, she laid out pretty clearly that she wanted to be moving in the same direction the Prime Minister is going almost a year ago. If anything, it’s probably only because she had faith in Pierre Poilievre’s leadership that kept her from crossing sooner.
Hey, he’s not my cup of tea, and I don’t think his ambitions make up for his lack of experience outside of the House of Commons, but the Prime Minister took everything good that conservatives were offering and put them on his own table. Why wouldn’t they want to take part in that?
The hill I will probably die on is that partisanship is bad for our country, our democracy, and our political discourse. The only thing partisanship good for is manipulating people into joining the hive mind that’s buzzing around the sign colour they like best. And political cartoons showcasing the cringe-worthy level of hypocrisy, of course.
To sum; we can and should debate policy, political parties are exercises in branding— not living beings— and some people are ill-suited for the responsibilities they’ve been given.
State of the Onion
How’s that for a segue?
In recent weeks:
ICE agents were deployed to “help with long lines” and are now leaving some airports.
JD Vance endorsed Viktor Orban while accusing European Union countries of interfering in another country’s elections. The Vice President’s endorsement apparently hurt the once-conservative-turned-dictator in the polls immediately after. It’s amazing because Rob Schneider also endorsed Orban, leading to this incredible Aljazeera headline: “Why is ‘Deuce Bigalow’ rooting for Viktor Orban in Hungary? A washed-up American comedian’s endorsement offers a window into Hungary’s central role in the global far right.”
Mr. Vance also gave a weird speech stating that countries shouldn’t use foreign heads of state to threaten allied countries. Mkay.
Trump is having trouble getting oil companies to invest upwards of $180 billion to restart Venezuelan oil development and production; shocking but true.
He threatened to commit war crimes (but it doesn’t count unless the threats are carried out) by attacking civilian infrastructure in Iran, then threatened to just wipe out an entire civilization if Iran didn’t agree to a ceasefire, which Iran did— but Israel didn’t and kept attacking Lebanon— but wants to talk to Lebanon now.
Plus, a soldier who survived an attack in Kuwait says Dept. of War twatwaffle Pete Hegseth is lying about it. Insert surprised emoji here.
Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte is bought and paid for, apparently, as he’s now trying to get NATO members to come clean up Trump’s mess in Iran as if that’s what NATO does (it doesn’t). That guy needs to go, like, yesterday.
Oh, and they managed to threaten the first U.S. Pope.
Nothing burns more brightly than a Trumpster fire.
Final Thoughts
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With a line like this Deidre I feel like you’re auditioning for the newly vacant PR job - “his unfavourables actually dropped a couple of points; ”. Now that’s spin!
Good essay as always
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Great essay - thank you!