Three weeks ago I wrote an article on Donald Trump vs. Kamala Harris on the eve of the 2024 US election. At that time I thought about writing an article about Pierre Polivere and Justin Trudeau, but the prevalent thinking then was that the next Canadian election won’t be held until the Fall of 2025.
Lots could happen over the next twelve months, including those forces that want Justin Trudeau to step down as leader of the Liberal Party could get their wish and Mr. Trudeau could step aside. In this case an article about Pierre vs. Justin would be a moot point.
But now that NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has torn up the cooperation agreement between the NDP and the Liberals, a non-confidence motion in the Liberal government could be called at any time, plunging Canada into a federal election. And, it seems that Justin Trudeau has no intention of leaving the leadership of the Liberal Party, so whether it be the Fall of 2024, Winter 2025 or sometime later in 2025, it seems the next Canadian federal election will indeed be Pierre vs. Justin.
Pierre Polivere is a career politician having been first elected to Parliament in his mid 20s, and now having served in office for 20 years. When first elected he was perceived as a boy wonder for having been elected so young and with no notable private sector experience. He had no notable accomplishments in his first 17 years in office, and then in 2022 when the opportunity arose he was elected leader of the Canadian Conservative Party.
Many of us refer to Pierre Polivere as baby Trump, because of his propensity to fabricate facts that suit his thinking, for being friendly with anybody or any group that is anti-Liberal or anti-Trudeau, regardless of how outlandish that person or group may be. A recent example is his cozying up to trucker protesters in Ottawa who forced a gridlock to the downtown core of Ottawa with many absurd actions. Yet there was Pierre being chummy with the truckers. Pierre has also been seen with protestors bearing “F@#$ Trudeau” flags. These are not the actions Canadians want from their future Prime Minister. We also refer to Pierre as “baby Trump” because he seems to be using the same playbook as Donald Trump, and it makes Pierre look equally childish and immature.
Justin Trudeau has been leader of the Liberal Party since 2013 and the Prime Minister of Canada since 2015. He comes from political lineage, being the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Justin was a school teacher before entering politics. He is known for ensuring there was a gender balance in his Cabinet, as well as ethnic equality among his cabinet members. One could argue that in order to achieve gender and ethnic equality in his cabinet he sacrificed experience, a criticism level at Justin by Pierre Polivere. Justin Trudeau is seen as having done a good job for Canadians during the Covid-19 pandemic, as deaths from Covid were kept to minimum, and much less than the United States on a pro-rata basis. A common criticism of Trudeau during Covid-19 and in general throughout his time as Prime Minister of Canada was that he adopted a deep socialist posture and spent lots of money fixing problems, perhaps more money than necessary. This would be something that would drive conservative Canadians crazy. The Canadian federal deficit has certainly grown considerably under Trudeau's leadership.
Justin Trudeau is generally well-regarded around the world as a leader and this puts Canada in a good position on the world stage. One exception to this is Donald Trump’s impression of Justin Trudeau; Donald doesn’t hold Justin in high regard, but then Donald only likes tough guy autocrats, such as Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping of China, Viktor Orban of Hungary, and Kim Yung-Un of North Korea. We can only imagine how Pierre Polivere would fare against Donald Trump.
In recent elections around the world the incumbent parties have not fared well. In England, and the United States the incumbent parties lost their elections. In France and India the incumbents had their majorities but back significantly. In Canada the Liberal party has been in power for nine years, and it will be ten years in power by the time the next Canadian election is called. Given the global trend against incumbent governments, it seems like it doesn’t matter who the Liberal leader is. The Liberals are destined to lose the election. In this sense it is best if the captain goes down with the ship and the Liberals save their leadership talent for the future. In this regard it is admirable that Trudeau stay on as leader of the Liberals and lead the party into the next election. Whether this is the true reason Justin is staying on as leader, or if he truly believes only he can beat Pierre, or if it’s his own hubris, only Justin Trudeau knows.
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