AGAR: More pain in store if Canadians vote on emotion

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How much of this federal election, only weeks away, will be decided on emotion?

This question comes to mind for me after conversations with Canadians who admit that Prime Minister Mark Carney is likely playing political games with them. And they don’t care.

Here is how it has gone.

Many people who voted Liberal in the past were more than done with Justin Trudeau. It was that antipathy to him, rather than love for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, that gave the Conservatives a massive lead in the polls until Trudeau, the last Canadian to see the writing on the wall, stepped down.

At the same time, the newly re-elected president of the United States decided to attack Canada with tariffs and an outrageous threat to its sovereignty.

Suddenly the economy, housing prices, grocery costs and what Poilievre had successfully run as an ‘axe the carbon tax’ election seems less important than taking on Donald Trump.

On top of that, Carney and the Liberals, after insisting Poilievre had no plan, began to adopt his plan.

Suddenly, Carney, who has spent years pushing a carbon tax while saying Canada’s carbon tax was not high enough, cancelled the consumer carbon tax.

Suddenly, the Liberals, who drove up immigration numbers to the point of creating a housing crisis, are saying they believe immigration has not been handled correctly.

Suddenly, they say they believe in Canadian pipelines and an elimination of inter-provincial trade barriers.

The question I asked on my Newstalk1010 radio show was:  “If those policies are attractive to you, why not vote for the party and leader that advocated for them the past eighteen months? Isn’t it likely the originators of the policies are the ones most likely to carry through with them?”

But, no.

Callers and texters to my show revealed that they dislike Pierre Poilievre so much, personally, that they will roll the dice with Carney.

I have spoken with people who admit they know the Liberals are likely to revert to form as Liberals after winning an election. They know Carney is not suddenly against carbon taxes and that a different, higher tax is most likely to come.

Isn’t it then counter-productive to vote for the same party that got us into this economic mess?

No, they buy into the idea that Poilievre is somehow likely to sell us out to Trump and that he is just not likable.

What’s likable got to do with it, I ask? You don’t have to have dinner with him.

“I just don’t like him.”

It’s an emotional response so strong that it overcomes admitted logic.

Other than Carney, the same people who brought us carbon taxes, unsustainable immigration, EV mandates, a ban on pipelines and inflation-driving growth in the size of government are still there.

It is beyond imagination that a tiger changes its stripes so dramatically, unless temporarily for camouflage.

But, it is even more mind-boggling that a significant number of Canadian voters will act like teenagers in their first fumbling attempts at dating, knowing that the attractive, popular kid will let them down, but date them anyway because, well, the other person just isn’t nice during debate club.

He’s icky.

Reason, facts and political history are defeated by emotion.

Such is an election.