To be honest, I don’t see how the APP fiasco tells us anything about Poilievre, one way or the other. He’s likely to be our next PM based on polling, but that has nothing to do with Danielle Smith or the APP and everything to do with Justin Trudeau.
I give him credit for taking a stand on it, but in the end Poilievre made the only statement he ever could make about the APP, and in doing so he revealed what a terrible strategy pushing this agenda really is. It is so unpopular that even the UCP’s closest allies federally and in other provinces can’t and won’t support it. In trying to “stick it to the feds”, Smith has succeeded in isolating the Alberta government and the Alberta conservatives on the wrong side of an issue that everyone in Canada (including in Alberta) disagrees with her about.
This is basically political malpractice. Even if the real agenda is something different from the APP, Smith has gained no leverage with anyone and has made herself look weak and out of touch. She’s not even playing checkers here—it’s basically Ludo and she’s missing half the pieces.
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