On the wall near the desk where I write my weekly commentaries is the front page of the Toronto Daily Star, dated June 11th, 1957. The headline proclaims the victory of John Diefenbaker and his Conservative Party after decades of Liberal governments in Canada.
The picture on that front page was a group of people celebrating the Tory win. Among them is a 13-year-old boy with a wide smile on his face. That was me.
Several weeks prior to that, on my way home from school, I had wandered into the campaign headquarters of a Conservative candidate and offered to help, as I was in no hurry to go home. They put me to work as a gofer, stuffing envelopes, etc., and I was hooked.
I barely knew what a Conservative was at that point in my life, and I have often wondered since if I had stumbled into a Liberal campaign headquarters instead of a Tory one, if my political path would be different from what it has become.
But as I grew older, I was happy to be a Conservative; I continue to believe in limited government, the importance of helping people who cannot help themselves, the essential priorities of protecting our safety and our environment, and the necessity of economic prudence that doesn’t overload our national debt and provides real opportunities for Canadians to prosper.
In that respect, I admired and voted for John Diefenbaker (when I was old enough), Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney, and even Stephen Harper, who although he was further to the right than I am, primarily stayed on a traditional Conservative path.
I do admit that I slipped once in a while. I liked Mike Pearson. I continue to believe that he and John Diefenbaker were the most eloquent parliamentarians of our time, followed closely by Brian Mulroney. I also liked John Turner. I did not vote for either Pearson or Turner, but I confess that I did vote for Paul Martin.
In this day and age, however, everything in political circles seems different, less defined, far more acrimonious, and totally void of any dialogue that promotes an avenue for compromise, cleverness, and ingenuity. As I have said before, we are in a “my way or the highway” era.
The Trudeau Liberals have moved that party far to the left. The New Democratic Party has given up all pretense of not being socialists, and while I know that some of my Tory friends will disagree with me, I believe the Conservative Party is in danger of moving too far to the right.
One consequence of this is that the political scene in Canada, not unlike that in the United States, is getting down into the gutter. The decorum in Parliament is quickly deteriorating. Gone are the days when party leaders respected each other, recognized that each had a role to play, enjoyed parlaying vibes and witticisms back and forth, and got on with solving the issues of the day.
Not anymore.
Party leaders, at least at the federal level, no longer see each other as opponents but rather as enemies. There is a big difference between the two, in my view. How the leaders behave, their adherents, and colleagues follow; thus, we see a Parliament today in Canada that borders on the dysfunctional.
We saw this on full display last week as Parliament debated the no-confidence motion put forward by the Conservative Official Opposition. Everyone knew it would fail. The NDP, despite their theatrics of ripping up their accord with the Liberals, were not going to force an election, and the Bloc Separatists believe they are in the catbird seat now and can get more goodies for Quebec out of the Trudeau government. Sadly, they well may.
Nevertheless, it was nothing more than a circus in the House of Commons last week. Accusations and insults flew back and forth. At times, the Speaker lost control of the House. The Prime Minister, who knew he was going to win, did nothing to calm the situation but instead jumped in with invective, insinuations and hateful rants that simply inflamed the situation.
The Tories and the NDP were just as bad, if not worse, and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May came across like she had had a very liquid lunch before speaking in Parliament.
To top it all off, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre came alarmingly close to getting into a fistfight on the floor of the House of Commons. That is something one usually only sees in developing countries. It was all a dance of the clowns. The whole thing was embarrassing to watch.
I had lunch last week with a good friend whom I have known and respected for over half a century. When it comes to politics, we have similar views, although not always exactly the same. We were both lamenting the current political reality that will make it hard for us to cast a ballot in the next federal election whenever that occurs.
Current polling shows the Conservatives 22 points ahead of the governing Liberals. The reality is that much of that divide is not so much support for Poilievre as it is a wish for Justin Trudeau to take his walk in the snow. There is possibly a year to go before an election and there can be, as they say, many a slip between cup and lip.
Under current circumstances, I would prefer to support the Conservatives, but some things would have to change before I could do that. I believe in basic and traditional Conservative values. But if Pierre Poilievre wants support from Conservatives like me (and I believe there are a great many of them), then he needs to demonstrate that he will govern more from the centre-right rather than the far right. Maxime Bernier has tried the far right and failed miserably.
I am far less interested in fancy Trump-like slogans such as “Axe the Tax,” “Carbon Tax Carney,” or “Sell-out Singh” than I am in finding out Mr. Poilievre’s actual policies.
If he gets rid of the carbon tax, what will he replace it with? What is his plan for dealing with the real issue of climate change? When will we see his economic plan for Canada? How, specifically, will he improve the lives and prospects of Canadians? What will he do between now and an election to assure people he is not a Canadian version of Donald Trump, as many of his opponents would like us to believe?
I do not believe that Canada is broken. I am proud to be a Canadian. Instead, I want to hear how Pierre Poilievre will make Canada even better. Enough with the negativity.
What we need to see in our next Prime Minister, and Pierre Poilievre seems to be the odds-on favourite for that, is a true statesman with a positive and optimistic outlook for Canada rather than an antagonistic one.
Reform the CBC but don’t defund them, and blacklisting CTV won’t do you any good. My late father, years before the internet, was fond of saying to me, “Don’t get into a dogfight (not exactly his words) with those who buy ink by the barrel.” There is nothing to be gained by declaring war on the media.
There is much to be gained, however, by being positive and convincing Canadians that Conservatives have a better plan for Canada that will be a benefit to all people and not just a chosen few.
Polling numbers can change quickly, and Conservatives should not be over-confident. In my view, Pierre Poilievre still has work to do to prove that he is the right person to lead Canada into a brighter future and not just the best of several evils.
It will be interesting to see if he can do it.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler and South Muskoka Doppler.
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The Real Person!
The Real Person!
There is a need for decorum and optimism in Canada.
And far less lying and complaining.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/a-need-for-optimism/
Poilievre keeps saying Canada is broken but fails to mention most premiers are Conservative who are mostly responsible for health care, education and housing.
Everything Poilievre and other Conservatives say about the carbon tax and the energy future are “alternative facts.”
Trump would be proud.
The future is not a fossil fueled dystopia Conservatives would have you believe.
They are unaware or choose to ignore what is happening around the world.
https://southmuskoka.doppleronline.ca/global-energy-update-a-policy-shift-coming-commentary/
The future is a rapid transition away from fossil fuels which means far more disposable income in your pocket. Along with fewer power outages.
Watch the videos: “Texas beats California: How oil country became the renewable energy leader”
and “Batteries save Texas after coal plant fails during worst heatwave in decades”
Grid batteries not only make power from wind and solar available 24/7 but they also can prevent outages due to unreliable fossil fuel and even nuclear plant failures.
Bonus.
Conservative Dani Smith in Alberta will tell you that’s impossible and grid batteries are too expensive.
While the power went out in Alberta April 5 due to their fossil fuel plants failing.
Do Conservative politicians wear asbestos pants/skirts?
Since they are on fire all the time?
The multiple non-confidence motions are more time wasting stunts by Poilievre, always doomed to fail.
Just like Dec 2023 “Canada’s opposition filibusters overnight against PM Trudeau’s carbon tax”
This time pointless non-confidence motions where he would need Singh’s or the Bloc’s support.
Both already said no.
Trudeau can ignore the Bloc’s demands since the NDP already said they would vote to stop Poilievre.
Poilievre is the official opposition which, he thinks, means lying and complaining about everything is his thing.
Good idea or bad.
Complaints are easy.
And worthless.
Solutions are hard.
And very valuable.
Nothing of any value has ever come out of PP’s mouth.
He has no policies or platform.
Just complaints.
His Majesty’s Loyal Complainer.
If elected he will spend the next 4 years complaining about Trudeau.
Just like Ford still complains about Wynne in Ontario.
Since 2018.
Ford’s primary election platform was “Not Wynne.”
Ontario has gone backwards ever since.
We are not better off.
By any measure.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/are-we-better-off-now/
Poilievre’s primary election platform is “Not Trudeau.”
Be careful what you wish for.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
The three major parties seem to have set aside the interests of the country as they make deals and compromise principles to hang onto or gain power. They’ve forgotten that their job is to work together to solve the issues of the day … to serve our country, not their self-interest.
Ironically, the only party that’s putting their constituents’ interests first is the Bloc, but those interests aren’t Canada’s.
What a sh*tshow!
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Hugh, like you I have always voted for moderate conservatives, but this time I cant do it. So, I will vote Liberal. I don’t see anything far-left on this list of accomplishments. Do you?
Accomplishments of the Trudeau Liberals 2015 – 2025
• Safety and Security
o NATO funding up from 1% to 1.5% of GDP
Plus, F85 jets, submarines, arctic coast guard ships ordered to hit 2%
o Restrictions on assault weapons
o Financial and military assistance to cope with conflicts in Ukraine, Haiti, Middle East
o Accept and assist 230,000 refugees from conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine.
• Compliance with internationally committed climate goals
o Funding to help provinces and producers to meet clean energy and climate goals
e.g. wind and solar power, geothermal and SMRs for melting bitumen instead of gas. CCUS
o Mandates for clean and energy-efficient electric vehicles and heat pumps
o Carbon tax and refund program to help small business and private consumers meet goals without adding to the national debt.
• Economy
o Fair trade agreements with US-Mexico, Pacific Rim, Europe
o Built Trans Mountain and Coastal Gas Link pipelines (adds $25 billion per year to GDP)
o Investments to secure green industries of the future
o Financial assistance to get business and citizens through a massive global Covid pandemic
o Managed through critical period of global inflation caused mainly by wars and pandemic
o OAS and CPP payments kept up with inflation
o $10 a day childcare to allow single parents to work
• Health Care
o Increased funding at request of the provinces
o Improved dental coverage
• Social Stability
o Gender equality
o Indigenous reconciliation
o Legalized marijuana to treat it as a health problem rather than a prison sentence
Able to work with others parties nationally and internationally
o Maintained Canada’s respectable ranking in all international comparisons
PP forgets that like all of us, governments have to deal with all sorts of other problems that pop up.
His simple slogan of axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, and stop the crime will often take a back seat to dealing with the emergencies of the day.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
It is sad to see our country so divided and struggling on many fronts. Blaming global factors as Trudeau and his ministers do, simply doesn’t cut it. The blame is falling at the feet of the government. Rightly so.
It’s not hard to see why the vast majority of Canadians are done with Trudeau and his government. The accomplishments are few, and the issues that Canadians care more about far outweigh them. After 9 years in power:
a housing crisis, cost of living way up, a healthcare crisis, crime rising, drug overdoses up, wealth per capita unchanged, weak/lagging productivity growth and business investment, debt doubled, military in crisis, foreign policy adrift, and of course the many scandals.
It’s unlikely to improve and as the economy slows, the political pressure to topple the government mounts. Trying to paint Poilievre and the Conservatives as scary and ‘Trump-like’, the old Liberal playbook, won’t work.
I hope the conservatives pivot quickly and focus on the real issues and policies that will actually work for Canadians broadly, not narrowly focused on special interests, as the current Government has done far too often, to cling to power.
Sybil Jackson says
I’m a few years older than you Hugh but I well remember June 11th, 1957. I was supposed to be studying for exams but was frantically scribbling down election results from across Canada.
I agree with most of what you said in your commentary and I see some excellent comments, however, what I really miss is that politics used to be fun. You and I were both involved long before we were old enough to vote and it was fun. Most of my friends thought I was daft spending my holidays at political meetings and leadership conventions.
Sybil Jackson
Bracebridge
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Thank you Hugh Mackenzie for sharing your memories of the smiling thirteen year old celebrating a historic election win by Diefenbaker Conservatives in 1957. The place we call Canada has changed a lot as the world is ever changing too. I agree that we are not broken.This place is a continuing experiment and we are trying different solutions and recipes. There is no single “winning” recipe for living. We must learn from each other and from every experiment done with caring, honesty and wisdom. Slogans that the current Conservative leadership repeats and has our own MP parrot are only reflections on their
shallow understanding of complex needs like poverty, housing, crime, distribution of wealth and other responsibilities of governance. They do not even mention health care. There is no likelihood of Pierre Poilievre actually personally building homes for ordinary people who need housing now, just as there is no likelihood that he will ”stop the crime.” The Conservative focus on “winning” the next election is just like another 30 second advert trying to sell a mostly useless, shiny plastic gadget, poorly designed and possibly harmful with normal consumer use. No wisdom or honesty or caring there.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
According to Trudeau’s ventriloquist Gerry Butts, we could well be looking at a December election. I wonder where the Liberals are going to parachute their candidate in from this time? Don Valley East may end up being too close to Muskoka, they’re probably going to have to go farther afield to find somebody who wants to do it.
I’m looking forward to planting those Scotty A signs in the snow, every one planted will help assure Trudeau’s very well deserved demise and descent into obscurity
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Hugh I wish we had a Bill Davis kind of Conservative leader..I agree that PM Trudeau is finished. However, in my wildest dreams, I just can’t even consider PP. It’s a real quandary ..I keep hoping our PM will finally take a powder and move along. Sigh. My dream candidate would be Mark Carney but, of course, that probably can’t and won’t happen. Or could it?
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I would just like to say I don’t really listen to politics and all of that stuff. Because growing up I’ve just realized that all they do is lie they’re all a bunch of lying jerks you don’t do s*** for us anyway. However Justin Trudeau and the Liberals in this woke retarded movement needs to go. And whoever is leading the conservative is all I know is we need Trump that’s what I know. I’m 39 years old I’ve worked my butt off my whole freaking life and I’m homeless because I cannot afford to live in this town like I said I grew up here absolutely unacceptable and I’m scared and because I don’t have kids because I couldn’t afford to have kids I don’t get any help from the government which I would literally never take unless I absolutely needed it. Which right now I do. Even still I do not want to don’t want to take it and. It’s it’s absolutely ridiculous we just hand money over to the immigrants who just hand it over hand it over but they can’t even take care of their own people. it’s enough and they all need to be shipped back and they need to start taking care of their own country their own people and housing and affordableness and like I said this is going to be the first year in my entire life I will vote. Enough is enough Justin needs to go. As well as that sing Javi whatever the hell his name is he’s got to go to he’s an idiot I’ve watched him on real news like actual real news guys not see TV news and he’s called on like a few people outside of the House of Commons like literally trying to fight them it’s absolutely ridiculous. And this is the s*** that represents our country. That doesn’t exist anymore. We have no balls we don’t stick up for our own beliefs and enough enough if you don’t like what we believe in you don’t like our you don’t values then don’t come here they can leave their s*** at the door or don’t come here at all and that’s enough like I can can’t say that I can’t say that enough thanks for listening thanks thanks.
Allen Markle says
Hugh Mackenzie: I do appreciate the piece. You sound just like a conservative. If so then you must feel somewhat as I do. I can find no noteworthy, national substance as being a part of any of todays parties or their policies. Where are the orators of the past? Speakers who caused you to reassess you opinion as they presented content with eloquence. Maybe they even voiced plans for the future? ‘Though they say that if you want both the devils and the gods to laugh, tell them you made plans.
Our elected representatives don’t speak for us anymore. They mouth only what is approved by back room wallahs that we never elected. There isn’t much to lead so, ergo, a lack of leadership? The performance of those elected seems to indicate they have no appreciation or respect for where they are, ‘nor their purpose.
Today, it seems all the facets that made one a conservative or liberal or…….other, have been grated away ’til politicians are all the same and interchangeable. An NDPer and then… omigosh!.. a Liberal. Or realising that all these years they have really been someone who belongs on the other side of the aisle.
For most of us, to find that someone we have supported has turned on you would be disheartening. And with the Bloc now issuing a deadline to the Liberals, Trudeau et al must feel somewhat chilled. But this is today’s politics. Stab whenever a target is presented. The blow is inevitable because there is no dialogue or loyalty.
Let’s hope that the example for expansion provided by our provincial government isn’t adopted by the Feds after the next election. Who knew that the only place that needed culling out was Toronto city hall? Everything else has ballooned. More and more people to be struck dumb, but remain capable of nodding. Bobbleheads.
But here’s to the next ‘election’. What percentage of the populace even cares anymore? The results will likely be unspectacular and won’t change anything really. The name of the party in charge will change, but other than that, who knows.
I’m still a Canadian and a Conservative. And I really believe our politics and politicians suck! I’m sure there are good people elected, but they are stifled by the incompetent.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Mr. Mackenzie, a thoughtful commentary.
Thank you Bob Braan and Hugh Holland.
Ruby Truax, making compromises does mean working together.
Jade Forth- it’s time to recognize not only Trump’s mental health problems, his malignant narcissism but his serious cognitive decline. He requires not only a full, complete mental health assessment but also treatment. He will not seek that help, his condition seems to preclude such action. His leadership would herald corruption and lies on a grand scale. I’m hoping for conviction for his past and ongoing crimes.
Stephen Harper has been the worst PM during my lifetime. No to Conservative Party Provincially or Federally. Very tired on populism on display by catch slogans, hats, etc.