Being a right-wing Canadian means being a loser. Canada is a paragon of left-wing madness, and it is about to get worse: newly-tabled legislation allows Canadians to be jailed for crimes which they have yet to commit. That is, if the government merely fears that you will post something nasty online about blacks or Hindus, then you can face house arrest.
There is, also, an upcoming bill which cracks down on ‘anti-Semitism’; if a person, in “good faith” or based on a “religious text,” expresses views which hurt Jews, then he can be imprisoned. The logical end of this is to ban The New Testament, Quran, and The Synaxarion. We might as well censor Dostoevsky, Ezra Pound, and Agatha Christie while we’re at it.
All of this is clearly aimed at right-wing Canadians. And what are establishment conservatives like Pierre Poilievre doing about it?
Absolutely nothing.
The typical response from a Canadian right-winger is to whine, complain, and then support The Conservative Party, since ‘we just need to get rid of Trudeau.’ I understand this sentiment to an extent, but it also betrays a poor understanding of politics. Pierre Poilievre is cunning, and once in power he will govern like a leftist.
Indeed, no Western country has a mainstream party which is truly conservative.
The People’s Party of Canada (PPC), the only prominent right-wing party in the country, has failed to get a single seat in Parliament. Its leader, Maxime Bernier, is the victim of slander from elite conservatives and the Canadian media. Yet, the PPC is also its own worst victim, with its poor public relations output, weak candidates, and sloppy political strategy.
However, there is hope. The mother country, Great Britain, provides inspiration in the person of George Galloway, newly-elected MP for Rochdale. Galloway, an anti-globalist and brash Scot, won a by-election last week. His campaign included a flurry of populist talking points: opposition to mass migration, anti-net zero carbon, traditional family values, and tough-on-crime policies.
How did Galloway pull off a landslide victory?
Writer
tackles this question in his latest article. Essentially, Galloway appeals to both the white working class and Muslim voters. His Workers Party of Britain not only promises to end South Asian grooming gangs, but also supports Palestine. In a word, Galloway understands that identity politics is now entrenched in The West, and the only way to win is to play it.Herein lies a lesson for the PPC, which appeals solely to Canada’s white working class. Riling up disgruntled whites may work in Trump’s America, but it won’t work in Canada, where white people recoil at identitarian politics. The PPC will only win elections when it broadens its base of support.
The way to do that is to attract other groups which feel alienated from Canadian politics, like the indigenous and Muslims. The current PPC platform is excellent on indigenous issues, but I see no People’s Party outreach to tribal chiefs or native elders. Furthermore, there is zero interest in engaging with Muslims, who rightly feel betrayed by both Trudeau and Poilievre over the ongoing Gaza war.
Bernier has not taken a side in the Gaza conflict, but maybe he should; 5 percent of Canada is Muslim, and in some ridings, Muslims determine electoral victory. Bernier also likes to style himself as a libertarian, and there is a strong libertarian case in favour of Palestine. He might lose some Zionist support, but I doubt that Jews and evangelicals are voting en masse for the People’s Party anyway.
The People’s Party achieved its greatest electoral success precisely when it played identity politics: that is, when it was the anti-vaxx party. In the 2021 election, the PPC tripled its share of the vote by attracting those opposed to vaccine mandates and Covid lockdowns. Bernier was himself jailed in Manitoba for attending an anti-lockdown protest. It yielded him tremendous success.
Of course, advocating on behalf of Palestinians will get Bernier in trouble with Canada’s media, but it will also turn the spotlight on the PPC — in other words, free advertising. Bernier won’t have to spend much money in appealing to Muslims. He can also ally with Islamic groups over LGBT ideology in public schools — an issue which Muslims organized against last year. This would be a win-win.
I am not advocating this as a long-term strategy, nor should the PPC abandon its values. For example, Canadian Muslims tend to favour mass migration, which is Canada’s biggest problem at present. Ultimately, however, it costs almost nothing for Bernier to support Palestine, and I suspect that Muslims would tolerate his anti-immigration views in light of such support.
In order to succeed with this strategy, the PPC should immediately implement the following steps:
Overturn its social media approach. Hire a proper public relations team, like Pierre Poilievre has. Harness the anti-Trudeau rage sweeping Canada, while identifying Poilievre more clearly with Trudeau.
Start an alternative media company. Canada’s alt media is dominated by pro-Zionist voices like Rebel News, TrueNorth, and The Counter Signal. The PPC currently just echoes these organizations’ talking points, instead of crafting its own narrative.
Focus resources on ridings where the PPC can win, instead of adopting a Canada-wide approach. The prairies, rural Ontario, and interior B.C. should be priorities.
Properly vet PPC candidates. No more feds or conspiracy nuts.
Entice the Muslim vote through strong pro-Palestine messaging.
Attract the indigenous vote by amplifying the PPC’s platform on indigenous issues.
The PPC is welcome to retain its current strategy and messaging, but then it will continue to be a party of losers, marginalized to the fringes of Canadian politics.
At this juncture, some despondent souls may ask, “why does it matter whether the PPC wins a few seats — Canada is a uniparty woke dictatorship anyway!”
This is true, but that is not the point. If the PPC wins a few seats, then it would send a strong signal to the Canadian elite that populism is rising across the country — and they will be forced to reveal their hand. Witness the (over)reaction of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after George Galloway’s by-election:
(The irony of an unelected Indian Prime Minister claiming that an indigenous Briton’s election is a ‘threat’ to British democracy!)
Canada has always been an outgrowth of England. We have never shaken off our existence as subjects of The Crown. In some ways, this has hindered the rise of a uniquely Canadian identity. In other ways, it is not so bad: we have mimicked the better parts of our cousins across the pond.
Thus can Maxime Bernier and his People’s Party mirror George Galloway’s campaign strategy in England. By appealing to the white working class, indigenous voters, and Muslims, the PPC would boost its support. If the party were to win a seat in Ottawa, then it could forge a path towards accelerating populism in Canada. This in turn could halt years of leftist damage.
More importantly, perhaps, it would mean a much-needed win for Canadian conservatives, who desperately need a victory.
> I am not advocating this as a long-term strategy, nor should the PPC abandon its values. For example, Canadian Muslims tend to favour mass migration, which is Canada’s biggest problem at present.
Doesn't work that way. If your strategy works, the PPC will find it much harder to "put the Muslims away" once they're actually in the party.
As a native Englishman, all I can say is that Galloway doesn't care about the WHITE working class only the working class, he's a shroud political animal that has used identity politicis very well in the recent election.
He will not push for a better treatment for the native English on an ethnic, spiritual or racial ground because he is a Hardcore Marxist.