BONOKOSKI: Charest and Poilievre as hospitable as oil and water

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Jean Charest has seen the enemy of the Canadian people, and it is obviously none other than Pierre Poilievre, his main rival.

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Hence the nastiness.

In a recent campaign mail-out, Charest has bold-faced type all over the face of the envelope. It reads, “I am on the side of law-abiding Canadians. Pierre Poilievre is on the side of lawbreakers and illegal blockaders!!”

The words “lawbreakers” and “illegal blockaders” are underlined for even greater emphasis.

Then, in the bottom right-hand corner of the envelope, he writes, “Time for you to decide which side you’re on ….“

Inside the envelope, are four pages of Charest pummelling Pierre Poilievre. No other candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada is even mentioned.

There are apparently only two dogs in this fight — Charest and Poilievre, and they’re the only ones who matter.

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Poilievre is fresh-faced, cocky and quick of controversial quip. Charest looks like a tired old man but, beneath the years of political dust, one can almost see a prime minister.

Poilievre has no subtleties. He may win the leadership but his odds of being elected PM are very long because he comes across as dangerous.

Charest begins by saying there is something different about Canada right now, as well as the world around us.

“It’s not safe anymore,” he says, ominously.

“War rages on in Europe as a bloodthirsty dictator wages a lawless campaign to build an empire,” he writes.

“Out-of-control inflation and runaway budget deficits here at home have jacked up the price of virtually everything and brought our economy to the brink.

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“Deaths from drug overdoses continue to hit record highs and claims the lives of loved one,” he writes.

“Our country is being purposefully divided by political extremists (on the left and the right) who seek to exploit regional grievances, attitudes about vaccinations, and legitimate anxieties about the pandemic for their own gain.”

And …

“In Ottawa it was only a few months ago when illegal blockaders laid siege to our downtown core, terrorizing residents, closing shops and businesses, and disrupting daily commutes.”

That paragraph was in boldface because, right below it, we had “these lawbreakers were cheered on by one high profile, but recklessly irresponsible local Member of Parliament, Pierre Poilievre, who now says he wants to be Prime Minister!”

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Charest says he is running for the party’s leadership for three key reasons:

• “To restore law and order in this country so Canadians don’t have to worry when they take public transit or walk down their street at night — and to those who participate in illegal blockades and shutdowns know there will be consequences for their actions;

• “To get Canada’s economy back on track by drawing on my experiences leading a small-c conservative government that balanced budgets, cut taxes, created jobs and built pipelines;

• “And because I am the only candidate who can beat Justin Trudeau by providing the serious Conservative leadership our country needs and by leading our party to break though in urban Canada and Quebec.”

Charest’s description for Poilievre?

“Pierre Poilievre is the Justin Trudeau of the right, a celebrity who appeals to the fringe minority and is more focused on building his social media following than building an electable, mainstream Conservative Party.”

Charest want us to believe that we’re not safe anymore. Is he running a fear campaign?

It would seem so.

Poilievre, to him, would lay waste to our world — bring in cryptocurrency to fight inflation, fire the governor of the Bank of Canada, and that’s just for starters.

Think mushroom cloud.

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