The Abacus firm has just published a survey comparing the perceptions we have of Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre. It contains some good news for the Conservative leader.
Poilievre is perceived as more competent there than Justin Trudeau. He also has better judgment, according to the respondents.
The image issues that continue to plague him are a more extreme side and less kindness than Justin Trudeau.
The most surprising part of the survey concerns values. We want to know which leader represents Canadian values well. Justin Trudeau at 43%, Pierre Poilievre at 44%.
Yet the whole Liberal strategy is to sell Justin Trudeau as the modern standard-bearer of Canadian values. We were never sold as a seasoned administrator.
The Liberal Party itself appears to be the natural bearer of Canadian values. Even the Liberal logo uses the colors and imagery of the Canadian flag. The liberal understatement is that the party embodies these values in the face of adversaries who threaten them.
Wondering if this rhetoric works well in public? Go see the election results for 60 years! The Liberals have been in power almost three-quarters of the time.
There is therefore something worrying at this time for the Liberals to find themselves one point behind Pierre Poilievre on this question of values. Note that it is a very broad and very vague concept, “Canadian values”. Everyone can have their own definition.
Cartoon of himself
Behind these figures hides a major danger for Justin Trudeau: becoming a caricature of himself. He has already experienced a few boomerang situations that have come back to him.
Wanting too much to be open and ready to help the whole world, he created the Roxham Road crisis. Then he was forced to negotiate its closure with Joe Biden after years of crisis.
By wanting too much to become the giver of moral lessons to other heads of state, he has become a negligible value on the international scene. We are far from hisCanada is back“, when he wanted to mark his turn after the Harper era. Canada’s influence in the world is declining.
Wanting too much to be cool by wearing the traditional costumes of all cultures, he became a laughingstock. Ordinary mortals today speak of him using the expression “his disguises”.
Passport
Strategically, the Conservatives are playing a very good card by hammering the issue of symbols removed from the passport. Questions in the room, petition, video of the chief, they clearly exaggerate a subject which concerns some watermark drawings in the pages of the passport.
They do it because they feel they have something. Replacing the symbols of History or Veterans with squirrels and snowflakes to be more inclusive is an illustration of Trudeau’s wandering on values. A wandering that could become costly.