LILLEY: Poilievre brings hope while Carney counters with fear

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Pierre Poilievre showed up to Thursday’s debate offering voters hope and change. Mark Carney showed up offering safety and security. The value proposition to voters from the two leaders and their respective parties couldn’t be more stark.

Poilievre is speaking to voters concerned with the cost of living, affordability, the housing crisis and crime and saying there is a better way. From beginning to end, Carney’s pitch was all about Donald Trump, about protecting from the bad man in Washington.

In some ways, Poilievre is rallying those who want a better country while Carney is attracting those scared of the future.

A Leger poll released this week showed that 51% of voters say that they are voting primarily for “a hope for a better future in Canada” and among that group, 76% are voting Conservative. But at the same time, 39% say their vote is primarily driven by “a fear of what the future holds for Canada” in the era of Trump and 60% of those voters are backing the Liberals.

The debate opened with Carney speaking about dealing with Trump and he ended his final pitch to voters on that note.

“We are facing the biggest crisis of our lifetimes. Donald Trump is trying to fundamentally change the world economy, the trading system. But really what he’s trying to do to Canada, he’s trying to break us so the U.S. can own us,” Carney said.

“They want our land, they want our resources, they want our water, they want our country.”

He went on to say that he will stand up to Trump and that he’s good at managing crises. That’s Carney’s sales pitch: Trump is bad, you need me to protect you and if not, bad things will happen to Canada.

We are a country that has rising crime, a broken immigration system, an economy that is performing well for those living off stocks and investments but not those living off of their daily work. Carney doesn’t really have a sales pitch to those who feel the country isn’t working for them anymore, he’s just pitching to the comfortable saying he’ll ensure they stay comfortable while the rest see depressed wages and give up on the dream of home ownership.

Poilievre began his closing pitch to voters with his own personal story. He was born to a teenage mother, adopted by two school teachers, grew up with a modest background but was on the stage vying to be the next Prime Minister of Canada.

“Only in Canada could someone start where I began and get to this stage,” Poilievre said.

He called it the Canadian promise that hard work would pay off, but that the promise isn’t being delivered these days.

“That promise feels broken today. Many of you worry about paying your bills, feeding your families or ever even owning a home. You’re worried your kids are in danger. But I’m here to say that it doesn’t have to be this way. With change, we can restore the Canadian promise so that hard work gets you a beautiful house, on a safe street, under a proud flag,” Poilievre said.

“We can do it with hope, for a change.”

The leaders talked about other issues, there were interruptions from NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, but they are irrelevant to the last story.

This election is about whether Canadians embrace fear of the future and vote for Carney and the Liberals, or whether they choose hope and change for a brighter Canadian future by voting for Poilievre and the Conservatives. Both leaders say they will stand up to American aggression. Only one of them, Poilievre, has an optimistic plan to do so by making Canada stronger and more resilient.

I’m choosing hope and change over fear and loathing.

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