{"id":332392,"date":"2021-08-30T17:58:37","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T14:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-conservatives-pull-even-the-protests-turn-ugly\/"},"modified":"2021-08-30T17:58:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T14:58:37","slug":"the-conservatives-pull-even-the-protests-turn-ugly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-conservatives-pull-even-the-protests-turn-ugly\/","title":{"rendered":"#The Conservatives pull even; the protests turn ugly"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#The Conservatives pull even; the protests turn ugly<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Politics Insider for Monday, Aug. 30: Big moves are happ<\/a>ening in Ontario; radical anti-vaxxers disrupt Tory momentum; and the leaders gather for Radio Canada\n <\/div>\n
\n Welcome to a sneak peek of the <\/em>Maclean\u2019s Politics Insider news<\/a>letter. Sign up to get it delivered straight to your inbox in the morning. <\/em><\/p>\n

Philippe J. Fournier,<\/strong> Maclean\u2019s<\/em> resident poll ponderer, has sifted through all the polls and sees good news for the Tories<\/strong>. His model has the Conservatives and Liberals neck in neck\u2014the Liberals projected to win 140 seats and the Conservatives 139\u2014but the momentum is with the Conservatives. The Liberals have been losing an average of two seats a day since the election started.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s mostly about Ontario:<\/p>\n

The most significant movement in vote intentions comes from Ontario. When the campaign began, the Liberals held an average lead of 10 points over the Conservatives. Both parties are now tied in the province, and the seat projections in Ontario have moved accordingly:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That sudden shift to the CPC has the outcome up in the air.<\/p>\n

Against all expectations just last month, the Conservatives should now be perceived as the favourites<\/strong> to win the most seats in Canada. Granted, today\u2019s update puts the Liberals and the CPC in a statistical tie, but one party is in free fall while the other has been on the rise.\u00a0The question is therefore: Will the CPC be able to maintain this momentum<\/strong> in public support until election day?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dark portents:<\/strong>\u00a0As the third week of the campaign begins, it\u2019s looking nasty<\/strong> out there. In Cambridge, Ont., on Sunday afternoon, Justin Trudeau was drowned out by protesters\u00a0chanting \u201clock him up,\u201d CTV reports<\/a>. The video<\/a>\u00a0shows an angry crowd.<\/p>\n

The second week\u00a0ended badly when out-of-control anti-vaccine protesters forced Justin Trudeau<\/strong> to cancel a rally on Friday night in Bolton, Ont. Trudeau scrummed later, calling for calm:\u00a0\u201cI know we have to work even harder to be there for each other, to support each other. We need to meet that anger with compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erin O\u2019Toole<\/strong> and Jagmeet Singh<\/strong> also denounced the protest, CTV reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Conservative candidate in the riding, former MP Kyle Seeback<\/strong>, said Saturday some of his volunteers were at the protest, and\u00a0as a result they are \u201cno longer welcome on my campaign,\u201d CBC reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Radical anti-vaccine protests have been following Trudeau\u2019s campaign, and also confronted Conservative politicians in New Brunswick<\/a>\u00a0and Alberta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, longtime Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant<\/strong> took down a video with an image of Trudeau being hanged, the Canadian Press reports<\/a>. In the video, Gallant accused Trudeau of planning a \u201cclimate lockdown.\u201d<\/strong> O\u2019Toole declined to condemn her remarks. Trudeau called for him to do so<\/a>. One protester had a poster of Trudeau being hanged<\/a>.<\/p>\n

National Post<\/em> columnist John Ivison<\/strong>, who was at Bolton, wrote a column<\/a>\u00a0equating the out-of-control protesters with Trudeau\u2019s own intolerance.<\/p>\n

Yet he has no tolerance for anyone who dissents from his vision of the future. Those who disagree are not just in error, but in sin. There is no recognition in this vision that it is as divisive, if not more so, than Stephen Harper\u2019s brand of hardball politics.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the Star<\/em>, Susan Delacourt has a thoughtful take,<\/a>\u00a0pointing to the way attacks on Trudeau often feminize him.<\/p>\n

\n

For years, Trudeau haters have been spewing the same kind of bile they usually hurl at women politicians; mocking his hair, his family and casting any success as the product of smarter men around them. There\u2019s a direct line between that mockery and the taunting hordes<\/strong> on the campaign trail; the sneering contempt.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Former Paul Martin<\/strong> staffer Scott Reid<\/strong>, on Twitter<\/a>, opined<\/a> that the protest and Trudeau\u2019s response offered an opportunity for the Trudeau campaign to get back on track.<\/p>\n

Not currently on track:<\/strong>\u00a0The Liberals appear to be in deepening trouble, according to the rolling polls. EKOS<\/a> had the Liberals trailing\u00a0the Conservatives\u00a035-29. Nanos<\/a> has them 33-31. Mainstreet<\/a> has them 38-28. The NDP is at 19 or 20 in all three.<\/p>\n

Veteran pollster John Wright thinks\u00a0it\u2019s all over but the crying<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Maclean\u2019s<\/em>, Paul Wells<\/strong> has a bit of fun with a Star<\/em> story<\/a> from last week in which a senior anonymous Liberal said\u00a0\u201cJustin Trudeau does not do shakeups<\/strong>. That is not in his nature.\u201d Wells checks the record and finds that is not so.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This corner offers no general<\/a> opinion on the utility or otherwise of shakeups. If you need to make a change, you make a change. If it works, it was a good idea. In the case at hand, I see no point in replacing people with new people who were raised in, and participate in, the deeply flawed assumptions that have characterized this campaign.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pallister out:<\/strong>\u00a0Brian Pallister will leave office Wednesday, well before Manitoba Progressive Conservative choose a new leader on Oct. 30, CBC reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cinq chefs:<\/strong> Trudeau, O\u2019Toole,\u00a0Yves-Fran\u00e7ois Blanchet<\/strong>,\u00a0Singh and Annamie Paul<\/strong> were grilled at length on Radio Canada Sunday night by a panel of three journalists. It was not a debate, since there were no head-to-head exchanges, but a sustained exploration of the leaders, with tough questions on vaccines, climate and abortion, among other things. Your correspondent thought Trudeau had the best of it<\/strong>, seeming sharper than he has been lately, but the other leaders handled themselves well. The only verdict that matters will come from French Canadian viewers, which we await news of today.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Stephen Maher<\/strong>
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