On Monday, Canada’s current and next Prime Ministers, Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre, gave consecutive speeches at a Jewish community commemoration of the October 7 atrocities.
Trudeau gave a perfunctory speech, designed not to offend anyone and clearly mindful of the Muslim vote outside the synagogue. He wasted much of it praising his ministers and MPs who deigned to grace the occasion, implying how wonderful they all were. Mild, polite applause.
But not Poilievre. Canada’s Conservative Opposition Leader gave a full-throated defence of Israel, called out the anti-Semitism that has infected Canada’s streets, universities, and public discourse. But he didn’t blame the Canadian people: he said that this cancer comes from the top down, from the words and attitudes of those who have the authority to speak for good, but don’t. ‘You don’t change the people, you change the government,’ he said.
And he said, unequivocally, that he would say these things in a mosque, not just in a synagogue. There would be no saying one thing in one place and another thing in another. Having previously said that Israel’s going after Iran’s nuclear facilities would be a gift to humanity, he sent one strong, principled message for all. When he finished, Poilievre won rapturous applause, cheers and a standing ovation, and deservedly so.
Poilievre not only destroyed Trudeau in front of Trudeau. His words effectively condemn the have-it-both-ways false moral equivalence being practised by Australia’s Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong, and those Labor ministers in Muslim-heavy seats who can’t bring themselves to unequivocally condemn Hamas as the sadists of October 7 who triggered all that has followed, as the Albanese government’s endless calls for Israeli restraint and effectively unilateral ceasefires highlight. As for Poilievre’s powerful, soaring, yet apt rhetoric, Peter Dutton’s sentiments are the same as Poilievre’s, but his pedantic speechwriters could take note too.
Until now, I’ve not been convinced that Pierre Poilievre has been worth the hype around him, including the high praise he’s been given from our Canadian writers Jim Allen and Geoff Russ. A highly effective politician and Opposition Leader yes, but a good national leader? But after watching this speech, I take back my skepticism. Canada not only needs this man of conviction and moral backbone to lead: so does the rest of the West.
Poilievre’s speech starts at 8:45. But please don’t skip Trudeau’s, as the contrast between Trudeau’s passionless performance art, and Poilievre’s power and conviction, highlights not just the great difference between the two, but the great difference between wrong and right.
