Pierre Poilievre led his party into the April 28 election — and straight into a wall. The Conservatives not only lost the election, but Poilievre also suffered a personal humiliation. He was trounced in his longtime stronghold of Carleton by political newcomer Bruce Fanjoy of the Liberals. Ouch.
Poilievre wants to stay. Instead of packing up his blue suit and heading for the exit like past Conservative leaders, he wants to stay. He wants to “finish the job.” Translation? Stick around, rebrand failure as vision, and keep the title of leader, at any cost.
Enter stage right: Damien Kurek, a newly elected Alberta MP. He is now generously offering to step aside and gift Poilievre his ultra-safe Battle River–Crowfoot riding. A political sacrifice? More like a carefully staged performance — with Kurek playing the loyal understudy and Poilievre angling for an encore.
Traditionally, after a bruising loss, Conservative leaders exit gracefully. Poilievre, though, isn’t big on tradition. He’s on a mission — to “finish the job.” But what exactly is that job? Slashing the CBC into irrelevance? Resurrecting plastic straws and grocery bags as symbols of freedom? Bulldozing homeless encampments in the name of “public safety”? Gutting dental, daycare, and pharmacare programs while pretending to champion the working class?
Behind this “job-finishing” crusade is a political contortionist. Poilievre talks tough to the Right. He dog-whistles to the populists. Then he awkwardly embraces diversity with photo-ops beside turbaned Sikh MPs. You’ll find him beaming at Gurdwara events. He flashes the smile of a man trying very hard to look like multiculturalism is in his blood. It’s clearly not his heartbeat.
But here’s the catch: The Conservative Party will face more electoral heartbreak. This will happen as long as it remains close to the hard-Right underbelly. Outrage is currency there, and progress is a punchline. This latest loss? Their fourth in a row.
If the Conservatives want to win, they need more than slogans and straw men. They need a reboot—maybe even a throwback to the Progressive Conservative roots that once gave them broad national appeal.
The party’s South Asian supporters must ask themselves: Is loyalty to one man worth repeated defeat? All moderates should consider this too. Blind allegiance isn’t leadership. It’s political short-sightedness dressed up as discipline.
Promod Puri.com 