(Ottawa) Now that Pierre Poilievre has won his party’s leadership race with a strong majority of votes, the hardest part is yet to come: convincing Canadians to trust him to lead the country after the next general election.
Posted at 8:55 a.m.
The first challenge for the new leader will be to convince activists that the internal struggle is over and that everyone must come together to fight against Justin Trudeau, believe several ex-conservative strategists interviewed by The Canadian Press.
With parliamentarians set to resume work in the House of Commons in just nine days – the opening of the session having been postponed by a day due to the Queen’s funeral – Mr Poilievre will have to hurry to fill vacancies. keys, what we call his close guard. In particular, he will have to appoint a chief of staff and a director of communications.
He must appoint a whip, a parliamentary leader – a crucial position, particularly in a minority government – and decide whether he will surround himself with a deputy leader and maintain the role of political lieutenant for Quebec.
Mr. Poilievre will also have to determine if he makes changes to the shadow cabinet and especially when. And in the face of a possible recession, Rodolphe Husny, a former adviser to Stephen Harper’s government, goes so far as to call the person he appoints as finance spokesman a “dolphin”.
He will have to ensure that the electoral machinery is in place. This involves appointing a new director of the Conservative Party who will be responsible for setting up the operational side of the campaign, explains Mr. Husny.
Define yourself or be defined
This race against time will also face voters while “the little new” will have to try to define himself against opponents who will try to do the same, explains Yan Plante, a former adviser to the former -Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “It’s a very important moment in politics because once these perceptions are crystallized, they are very difficult to undo,” he notes.
But there is “substance and form,” adds Marc-André Leclerc, a former chief of staff to Andrew Scheer, when asked whether Mr. Poilievre’s style and policies are attractive to Quebecers. The new leader will inevitably have to take a stand on very Quebec issues such as Law 21 on secularism and Law 96 on the official and common language of Quebec, French.
“Whether we like him or not, he’s someone who, when he says ‘white’, it’s white, [et] when he says black, it’s black, he credits. That, in a world where people are looking for authenticity in relation to their politician, is something that can still appeal to a certain portion of the electorate. »
According to Mr. Plante, Mr. Poilievre seems to want to replicate the populist approach he had during the leadership race in the next general election, a recipe that the ex-strategist considers different and interesting. Populism has no “jurisdiction, region, language”, he illustrates, which is easy from an operational point of view.
“You don’t need to come up with a specific strategy for Quebec or for Ontario or for the Maritimes,” says Mr. Plante. If you are angry with the system or are having trouble with the cost of living, whether you are from Quebec or Alberta, these events will affect you, no matter where you are. »
However, it must arouse a desire for change among the Canadian electorate. “It is not the Leader of the Opposition who wins the government. It is the government that loses”, explains Rodolphe Husny.
And the unstable economic climate is favorable to the conservatives, he believes, the party having acquired its credentials by selling economic rigor.
What unity challenges?
In addition, the curators will all have to “water down their wine” to show themselves united behind their new leader, believes Mr. Plante. And those who are not comfortable will have to make their decision: rally or leave.
“A political party is a living institution,” he said. Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party has nothing to do with that of [Brian] Mulroney. […] There is always a base that remains through the decades in a political formation, but much like a house, the color of the walls changes, the divisions in the house evolve. »
Both Mr. Husny and Mr. Plante mention that Mr. Poilievre obtained a “strong mandate” given that approximately 400,000 Conservative members voted in this election.
Indeed, this represents nearly two to four times as many Conservative members having voted as in the two previous races.