It feels like I’ve been writing non-stop about the trade talks and a potential deal, maybe because I have, but before I jump into that, I have to address the Conservative infighting that’s turned into an all-out civil war.
There was a live recording of The Curse of Politics podcast in Ottawa this week, all part of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference.
As you may have seen or heard, Kory Teneycke went off on Pierre Poilievre again. He didn’t just criticize Poilievre’s leadership style or policies; he was calling Pierre nasty names, and I don’t mean Skippy.
Don’t watch the video if you don’t like swearing.
Clearly, my call for ending the infighting is falling on deaf ears.
Teneycke won’t stop chirping at Poilievre, Poilievre won’t stop chirping at Teneycke, the online multitudes continue to denounce anyone not pledging fealty to Poilievre as leader, and now Conservative MPs are putting out statements of support for Poilievre.
It seems that Teneycke wants Poilievre gone as leader. He’s going to keep making his comments as often as he feels like it.
That’s not helpful to Poilievre and, in my view, not helpful to the conservative movement and it’s something I have told Teneycke directly. Teneycke disagrees with me on that last point. He thinks getting rid of Poilievre is exactly what the conservative movement, and the Conservative Party, needs.
Can the party survive a split and leadership race?
Anthony Koch worked very closely with Poilievre on his leadership race, acting as his main spokesman. I’m not sure if they have remained tight, but Koch has offered up some criticism of Poilievre’s leadership.
That said, in a piece in the National Post this week, he argues that a leadership contest would hurt the party at this point.
“A leadership contest right now wouldn’t just be about who has the best tax plan or who performs best in a debate. Every unresolved argument on the Canadian right would suddenly have a candidate attached to it.
The populists would go after the establishment. The establishment would go after the populists. Social conservatives would organize. Libertarians would organize. Immigration would become a defining issue. Trump would become a defining issue. The convoy and COVID would somehow be litigated all over again. Quebec Conservatives and western Conservatives would discover, once again, that they do not always want the same things. The list goes on.
And because this is happening in the social media age, every disagreement would immediately become personal.”
If you want something a bit longer and a bit more philosophical about the state of the Conservative Party, read Michelle Rempel Garner’s Substack post from about three weeks ago.
My advice to all...
Since my advice to stop the infighting is being ignored, maybe I’ll phrase it another way.
Kory Teneycke isn’t going away, and he’s not going to stop making his comments. Teneycke, in my long experience with him, can be a very focused and determined man.
Let him take his shots at Poilievre, but ignore him.
For a long time, Teneycke has been living rent-free in the heads of Poilievre, his team, and many of his supporters. They all know each other, they have all been friends at various times, and they all have their own personal grievances.
It doesn’t help for Poilievre, his team, or frankly his supporters to obsess over what Teneycke says. Focus on winning, focus on proving him wrong, but focusing on him is not a path to victory.
“I’m so tired of it all,” one senior Canadian business executive who knows both men said to me this week.
A lot of people are tired of it, but if Teneycke doesn’t want to quit, and it’s doubtful he will while Poilievre is leader, then just move on and focus on other things.
About those trade talks...
I’ve written five columns on the trade talks since Monday, and by the time you read this, some of what we think we know may already have changed.
Why?
Because the situation keeps changing, but as I write, we still don’t know all the details. In fact, we know very few.
Other than that Prime Minister Mark Carney asked the eight provincial premiers who still have bans on American booze to put the booze back on the shelves.
No, we won’t be getting an elimination of tariffs; we will get a reduction. And if things go well, we won’t be slapped with more tariffs this weekend.
“Is it any good?” a friend asked about the deal.
Well, it’s better than what we have now, but let’s not pretend it’s a good deal.
It looks like Carney tried to play hardball and lost. We could have taken a different path, something I wrote about on Monday, but we chose to fight and antagonize.
Courting China and fighting Trump was always the wrong strategy.
What are we giving up...
It’s really not clear what we are giving up to get a deal where auto tariffs will likely be 15 per cent and steel and aluminum will be 25 per cent.
We’ve heard about the booze request, but what else is there?
While the Canadian side has been quiet, the Americans have been loud. Some of you might dismiss Donald Trump given how bombastic he is, but Jamieson Greer, Trump’s trade representative, is much more measured.
In a post on X on Tuesday night, Greer said the Americans were getting a lot more than we have ever been led to believe by the Canadian side.
“Congratulations Mr. President. The deal will include comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment, and many important provisions that will continue to protect our market and American workers, along with our Canadian partners.”
Digital trade alignment?
What exactly does that mean?
Dropping the Online Streaming Act?
I think dropping that act would be a good idea, but those three words could mean so much more. Are we aligning with the Americans on AI policy?
Barry Appleton, a former adviser on trade with governments in Ontario and B.C., is asking those questions in a very good piece he published yesterday.
Teneycke sounds more deranged each time he opens his mouth.
There's no civil war. Teneycke is a petulant child looking for attention! Everyone still supports Pierre because he is true leader and genuinely cares about Canadians and the future of this country unlike the liberals. Stop giving this lunatic a platform! We have enough misinformation and bs being pumped out by the mainstream media, we don't need to add to it!