BLAME AMERICA — A backbench Liberal MP apologized Tuesday for making a controversial link between hard-right rhetoric and Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE to a shooting that left four people dead in Winnipeg.
Making that connection wasn’t appropriate, KEN HARDIE told Playbook outside a Wellington Building committee room before doubling down on the point he says he was trying to make — that people should pay closer attention to the changing tone of Canadian politics. “There are unintended consequences of the actions that the Conservatives have been taking: to tear down the confidence in our institutions; to attack the media; to just basically say anything that disagrees with their narrative is fake news — and to unleash the trolls.” — Trump card: Fear-mongering over hard-right rhetoric has picked up in recent months as a potential DONALD TRUMP comeback looms large. — Like nailing jelly: The terms “far right” and “right wing” are nebulous and have become partisan shorthand for actions deemed antithetical to democracy in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. The same can be said with “far left” and “extreme left” — terms Conservatives have used eight times in the House and in committee since MPs returned to Hill in September. — Where Hardie comes from: Elected into office as part of the 2015 Liberal wave, Hardie represents the Lower Mainland riding of Fleetwood–Port Kells. He pointed to Freedom Convoy supporters as an example of what he considers “far-right” activity. “What you see is a gap between those who strongly believe in personal rights, and those who believe in the common good,” he said. — How the Conservatives see it: Liberal MPs are “desperate to make disgusting and outlandish claims to distract from their government’s own disastrous record,” said SEBASTIAN SKAMSKI, Poilievre’s director of media relations. Skamski told Playbook the strategy to link Conservatives to hard-right political rhetoric in the United States, as Hardie did, is symptomatic of the Liberals’ “divisive gutter politics.” — J’accuse: While Government House Leader KARINA GOULD called Hardie’s comments “absolutely inappropriate,” Skamski said it’s “frankly appalling, although not shocking” that the prime minister hasn’t denounced the original comment. “Deranged comments like these aren’t one-off exceptions but rather JUSTIN TRUDEAU’s entire game plan,” wrote Skamski in an email. — Code switch: The Liberal party has embraced a more vocal, hardline position on “far-right American-style politics” since the start of the fall sitting, coinciding with Poilievre’s one-year anniversary as Conservative leader — and to curb the Liberals’ freefall in poll numbers. — Check the record: The Liberals’ new open season on criticizing “far-right American-style politics” has been a slow evolution. For example: → In January 2017, Trudeau stopped short of denouncing then-president Trump’s travel ban against five majority Muslim countries, saying only it was not his place to lecture the U.S. → In June 2020, Trudeau famously paused for 21 seconds to search for words during a live broadcast from outside Rideau Cottage after being asked to respond to Trump’s call for military action in response to U.S. protests over the killing of GEORGE FLOYD. He broke the silence by saying, “We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States.” Trudeau refused to criticize Trump by name. — New normal: Last week, Gould and other Liberals accused Poilievre of pantomiming “right-wing American politicians” when they voted against a bill to implement a free-trade agreement with Ukraine over an untrue climate tax provision. Trudeau picked up where Gould left off on Friday and blamed a “MAGA influence” for shaping the Conservatives’ surprise opposition to the bill. The government is still hammering the Conservatives on the topic, but stopped short of evoking “far-right American-style politics” in question period Tuesday — a strategy that could require a hard rethink if Trump returns to power. — Calendar check: There are 342 days until the U.S. election. | 
