How to save a country, approximately

Pierre Poilievre speaks for Canadian unity. Quite well, actually

The Conservative leader in Calgary, Monday

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I’ve seen some online snark about Pierre Poilievre skipping the installation of Governor General Louise Arbour. I’m for not worrying about it. I do think the Conservative leader has made a conspicuous point of not endorsing Arbour’s rise to the viceroyalty. He maintained radio silence when Mark Carney announced her nomination a month ago, for instance. But that silence makes Poilievre measurably less critical of Arbour’s rise than this columnist and this one and this one.

Meanwhile the King had no objection, and apparently that’s what settles it, so Arbour gets the job. I think she’ll be a fine governor general, but then again, I liked the astronaut at first. What I don’t need is for anyone to be shamed into joining some enforced chorus of praise.

While Arbour was settling into her new role, Poilievre was speaking up for a united Canada in Calgary, as he had promised to do. Again, this is better than speaking up against a united Canada. Ezra Levant, with whom Poilievre has had many adventures over the years, is campaigning for independence. I’m not aware that the two have spent much time on opposite sides of any question. This can’t be easy for them. I prefer Poilievre’s stance to Levant’s.

On the matter of timing, Poilievre even argued that he’s way ahead of Mark Carney. “When is Prime Minister Mark Carney going to make his speech to Albertans? When will the jet-setting prime minister touch down here and make his pitch to Albertans?” Wait — I’m not actually quoting Poilievre here, or not yet. I’m quoting Rick Bell, a Calgary Sun columnist who is even better than I am at serving up beautiful lobs to whoever he happens to be interviewing.

And Poilievre knocked this one out of the park! “He should have been here a long time ago to denounce his own personal policies the Trudeau government implemented on his advice,” the Conservative leader told Bell. “Mark Carney founded a banking alliance to defund oil and gas. He said we should keep half our oil and gas in the ground. He advised Justin Trudeau against approving the pipeline to the Pacific.”

I think it’s reasonable to predict that if Albertans vote in October against a referendum on secession, as seems likely, Poilievre will say it’s because he was out there fighting for Canada while Carney was in Ottawa attending fancy ceremonies. And who would I be to argue otherwise?

What kind of argument did Poilievre make? Here’s a transcript, here’s a video. The speech can be divided into three parts that make two arguments, verse-chorus-verse: Canada is great, Liberals are terrible, Canada is great.

This wasn’t the speech I’d have given, but then, nobody asked me. Was it a useful contribution from Poilievre? Absolutely.