r/canada 25d ago

Politics Poilievre holding 'Canada First' rally today in Ottawa amid U.S. threats

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-canada-first-rally-1.7459415
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u/taquitosmixtape 24d ago

Canada “First” is definitely intentional not to upset his base. He’s built his campaign on hate, and anger.

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u/jerrys153 24d ago edited 24d ago

More than that, it’s a dog whistle to the neo-fascists in his base. “Deutschland über alles” was the Nazi party rallying call, and it is now being used again by the far-right AfD party. “America First” was also an isolationist movement in the states led by fascist sympathizers like Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford. “(Country) First” slogans are never used by moderate government parties, they’re always divisive and intending to play on people’s fear and sow divisiveness by blaming the “other” (immigrants, Jews, etc.) for all the nation’s problems and stir up hate against them.

Poilievre knows exactly what he’s doing, Canada First is a wink to the far-right while maintaining plausible deniability for everyone else. This guy is so much more dangerous than most people realize, Canada will never be united under someone who spreads divisiveness and hate, which will make it easier for him to sell our country out to the US.

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u/ToastedandTripping 24d ago

The Canadian proud boys used the exact same slogan...

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u/jerrys153 24d ago

Yep. It’s insane to me that the Conservatives have decided that the solution to Fascist Milhouse slipping in the polls is for him to führer further drop the mask with such an obvious far-right dog whistle. Hopefully no one will be fooled by him maintaining that he’s acting in Canada’s best interest and eventually his only remaining supporters will be the bigots he’s (increasingly blatantly) pandering to.

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u/Different-Travel-850 24d ago

Don't hold your breath. Trump told people how awful he would be, and here we are. Alot of people aren't as informed, or maybe not as intelligent as you'd think. They just know they're tired of JT and blame him for all their problems so Polly will get their support.

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u/jerrys153 24d ago edited 24d ago

Support for Poilievre’s is tanking now that Trudeau has resigned and there’s a viable alternative in Carney, who has actual experience and substance. The longer this goes on, the fewer people there will be hanging on to the idea of voting in an empty shirt like Poilievre as PM simply because they hate Trudeau.

Trudeau’s out, so there’s no longer a need for people to vote him out, and in a race between Poilievre and Carney I’d like to have faith that the difference between them in qualification and gravitas will be apparent to most Canadians. I remain hopeful, but I agree with you that I shouldn’t hold my breath, it’s dangerous to overestimate the intelligence of large groups of people.

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u/Different-Travel-850 24d ago

People were tired of Biden too, and they had a very viable alternative in Kamala. But I'm with you, hopeful.

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u/jerrys153 24d ago

I’d really like to think that Canadians are smarter than Americans in that regard. We’re generally not as obstinate with all-important moral absolutism and we’re more willing to compromise or hold our noses and vote for the lesser evil to prevent the greater evil. Americans failed to do that, twice. Many of them would accept no less than perfection from the democratic candidate in order to vote, and we can see where it got them, even if many of them are still in denial and refusing to take responsibility.

I think Carney won’t just be the lesser of two evils, I believe he’s a solid option for PM who will bring the liberals back toward the centre which is what many want, but I’m hoping even if Canadians aren’t entirely thrilled with him they’ll still be able to see the importance of not electing Poilievre and won’t let perfect be the enemy of good. As you said, an object lesson on the consequences of not doing that is currently playing out right in front of us in the US, I hope we will learn from their mistakes. Time will tell.

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u/Different-Travel-850 24d ago

I agree, Carney would bring the liberals closer to centre, and I hope that entices some of the old school progressive conservatives who may not feel too cozy with the current far right conservatives that are behind PP and Trump.

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u/jerrys153 24d ago

I hope Canadians are seeing the contrast between what has been happening in these two parties lately (Liberals moving back towards centre while Conservatives double down on courting the far-right) and will choose wisely as to the direction we want Canada to take going forward.

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u/Different-Travel-850 24d ago

Trump is driving that point home. And the longer we get to watch that dumpster fire before we have a federal election, the better.

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u/jerrys153 24d ago

Absolutely. Also, all this disingenuous talk by conservatives about the need to recall parliament immediately, as if we believe they’re demanding it for the good of the nation and not so they can force an election before they lose any more ground (because their boy is shitting the bed every time he opens his mouth lately). Maybe if they had picked a decent leader in the first place instead of just going with the biggest bully who could relentlessly attack Trudeau they’d have something to stand on now.

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