SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME — The House isn’t sitting this week but that didn’t stop leaders from dropping their gloves.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU and PIERRE POILIEVRE squared off in what felt a little like an election preview, with high-energy ping-pong response clips of them soundbite-ifying in front of campaign-style backdrops. At a stop in Kitchener meant to emphasize cost-of-living issues (limited to five media questions), a reporter asked Poilievre how the Conservatives will respond to the Liberals’ soon-to-come online hate speech legislation. — Blue plate special: Poilievre called it Trudeau’s “latest attack on freedom of expression” and, after rattling through some “woke authoritarian agenda” talking points, delivered a personal blow. “I point out the irony that someone who spent the first half of his adult life as a practising racist, who dressed up in hideous racist costumes so many times he says he can't remember them all, should then be the arbiter on what constitutes hate,” he said,referencing the blackface scandal from the 2019 election. “What he should actually do is look into his own heart and ask himself why he was such a hateful racist, despite his enormous personal privileges — of a multimillion dollar trust fund, being the son of a prime minister, growing up in mansions, traveling the world — why he had so much hate in his heart.” — Return serve: Trudeau shot back from an event in Edmonton. “Mr. Poilievre hasn't even seen the legislation we're about to put forward next week. He is already telling people exactly what it is and what it isn't,” he said at an event, accusing him of “stoking division, creating fear, throwing out personal insults.” “That’s not leadership.” Earlier in the day, Trudeau appeared on “Real Talk” with RYAN JESPERSEN, where he was asked if he’s “100 percent convinced” he’ll lead his party in the next election. Trudeau framed his decision to stay on in terms of a fight for democracy: “Right now in politics — in Canada and around the world — there is a fundamental question that’s being asked around which way we go as democracies. People have realized that it’s easy to instrumentalize anger and get people to vote in ways that are not necessarily in their best interest — take the challenges of the United States in the 2016 election, for example. These are things that can be powerful tools and they will leave people worse off.” — Surprisingly aggressive: Abacus pollster DAVID COLETTO on social media pointed to past research to suggest Poilievre risks overstepping by going on the attack as he did: “The vengeful/uncaring frame is a real liability.” Abacus has Poilievre ahead 19 points;Nanos pegs the lead at 17. — Recall: Policy areas that deal with communication have historically spelled trouble for this government. Its other digital measures, the Online Streaming and Online News acts, activated political constituencies worried about internet freedoms and censorship. The long-delayed third pillar, the online harms bill, could prove to be the most controversial of all, depending on how it’s written. The legislation was promised to combat hate speech, terrorism and child sexual abuse material. — Curt but clear: Poilievre did endorse other restrictive online legislation, though. He said he would support the Senate Bill S-210, which makes it an offence for organizations to make sexually explicit material available to young people online. Here’s the full exchange: → Q: Do you believe parliament should make it law that pornography websites have to verify the ages of users so minors can't access their material? And will [your] future government do this? → A: Yes. Oui. | 
Comments
Post a Comment