At such a fraught time, Poilievre should appeal to Canadians’ better natures, not further drive them into suspicion and division.
In politics, it is never too early or too late for a winning team to blow its lead. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre appears to have decided that now is the time to risk squandering his political good fortune.
In the hours after an explosion killed two people at the Rainbow Bridge this week, some early reportage relied heavily on unconfirmed, unnamed sources. Networks put so-called “security experts” on air to speculate about “terror cells” and “self-radicalization.” In the end, there was no evidence of terrorism.
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As Official Opposition leader enjoying a 14-point advantage, and knowing he’s being evaluated as a potential prime minister, Poilievre should also know the weight and influence of his words. But things started to unravel during Wednesday’s question period when he specifically referred to terror. “Mr. Speaker,” he asked, “we’ve just heard media reports, a terrorist attack, an explosion at the Niagara crossing of the Canada-U.S. border… Can the prime minister give us an update on what he knows and what action plan he will immediately implement to bring security for our people?”
Here’s the problem: Terror, or the spectre of it, is by definition terrifying for all of us. Those who have been personally devastated by terror-related violence. Those who have loved ones victimized by terrorism elsewhere. Those who live in fear of it.
For innocent, law-abiding Muslims, South Asians and Arabs in Canada, reports of terror attacks in North America conjure a special kind of dread, reminding them of the way their communities were targeted domestically for the actions of terrorists abroad after 9/11. The racial profiling. The “extra document checks” at airports. The stress of being “othered.” Every time something like the Rainbow Bridge crash happens, a significant segment of Canadians say a silent prayer. “Please don’t let it be terrorism. Please don’t let it be Brown people.”
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There was nothing wrong with Poilievre asking for an update about a serious and fluid situation near an important border crossing. There was something very wrong with using the “T-word” without knowing for sure it was, indeed, that. The phrasing of the question was, at best, a careless but damaging mistake; at worst, calculated use of dog-whistle language to spark fear and finger-pointing.
Poilievre knew to attribute his use of “terror” to “media reports.” His verbal swipe at the Canadian Press and CTV in a scrum the next day, blaming journalists for their reporting, was his “out.” If they got the story “wrong,” how could it be his fault?
Regardless, his behaviour lacked both propriety and necessity. Especially when society’s nerves are already scraped raw. Especially when Poilievre had an opportunity to show leadership.
The actual terror attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages has left Canadian Jews in shock, grief and, yes, terrorized. The response by the Israeli Defence Force that killed more than 14,000 according to authorities in Gaza has left Canadian Palestinians in shock, grief and, yes, terrorized.
The last six weeks have brought out the worst in us. Bomb threats and shootings at Jewish schools. Calls for doxxing, censure and harassment of students and faculty who sympathize with Palestinians and ceasefire calls. In Toronto alone, police are reporting 17 incidents of Islamophobic or anti-Palestinian hate crimes since Oct. 7 (compared to just one in the same period in 2022). Antisemitic hate crimes numbered 38 (last year it was 13 in the same period) and now comprise half of all hate crimes reported to Toronto police since Oct. 7.
At such a fraught time, leadership from Poilievre would see his words about these highly sensitive issues focused on appealing to Canadians’ better natures, not further driving them into suspicion and division.
But will the opposition leader and his strategists do this? We are not so far removed from the failed Conservative campaign of 2015, notorious for its “barbaric cultural practices” tip line. The director of that disastrous campaign is reportedly tipped to direct the upcoming one.
Poilievre and the Conservatives for now, anyway, have the support of a plurality of Canadians. They need to start acting like it means something to them.
Shachi Kurl is President of the Angus Reid Institute, a national, not-for-profit, non-partisan public opinion research foundation.
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