Published May 04, 2025 • 4 minute readConservative leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to a crowd of hundreds at a campaign rally in Borden-Carleton on April 1, 2025. The GuardianA choice. Is that really so difficult?Clearly, Pierre Poilievre’s view of the world resonates with a sizeable portion of the people who cast votes in federal elections in this country.Fair enough.Read More RICK MacLEAN: Great nations lead. Our neighbour isn’t RICK MACLEAN: You would have called the election too And a lot of them appear be in Alberta, although certainly they are not alone. I wish the father of the last prime minister – Pierre Trudeau, dad of Justin – didn’t steal your oil and sell it to Ontario and Quebec at a discount to win an election. I really do. And you’re right to be angry about that.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentBut it’s time to get over at least some of it.Yes, you’re out-numbered by voters in Ontario and Quebec, and that sucks. But you have oil and jobs and lots more young people than, say we do here in the Maritimes, so good on you.And yes, every party needs to refresh its political leadership every eight to 10 years. A life running this country is counted in dog years. Every year feels like seven.A leadership voteSo, as much as we appreciate their service, the top dogs of any political party start to wear out by the end of their second term. Every wonder why they look so fresh and hopeful and happy when they start, and why there are bags under their eyes and grey in their hair after doing the job for a while?That’s why.I’ve voted for both major political parties, and some less than major parties, over the many years I’ve been eligible to vote.Sometimes I vote for the local candidate. Sometimes I vote because of the leadership. Normally, if I’m voting because of the leadership, it’s because the leadership is either worn out, or they just don’t seem to like us.Article contentThis week’s election looked, for all the world, as if it was going to be a leadership vote kind of day. Then the Liberal leader – finally – read the writing on the wall and walked. Thank you for the years you gave us Justin Trudeau, honestly, but dude, it was SO time to go.His leaving should not have mattered. The Liberals should have been turfed. That’s what we do in Canada, two and out. Mostly.‘Progressive’ ConservativesBut Poilievre? Especially now. When the American version of him is a deadly dangerous dictator on steroids exploiting a frightened Congress that was supposed to be the wall protecting its people from just that thing.The natural alternative to the Liberals should be the Conservatives. No. That’s wrong. The natural alternative to the Liberals should be the ‘Progressive’ Conservatives. That’s who they were until Stephen Harper, in a burst of political honesty, cut the word from the name.That was a shame.We need a second party that doesn’t, for instance, want to kill the CBC – who else is going to help us talk to one another across a nation that reaches from sea to sea to sea? Where different regions barely understand what other regions are going through. Where a premier of Alberta would actually tell those Eastern so-and-so’s to “freeze in the dark” – and mean Ontario.Article contentMr. Premier Ralph Klein, WE’RE the east. Atlantic Canada. Ontario is part of the big middle. Or it’s just Ontario. But try driving across this country and you’ll soon discover you have a couple of days of steady driving just to get through the ‘east’ – and that’s if you stick to the Trans-Canada Highway. You really should get off that and wander some of the side roads. It’s gorgeous here.Appealing to the baseSure, the extreme anger, “Canada is broken” rhetoric apparently sells to the Conservative party base. But the rest of Canada is looking for an alternative party that actually likes us. That likes it here. That understands, while it’s not perfect here and there are valid reasons for different parts of the country to see some things different ways, we like it here.We don’t need a dolt from south of the border – who thinks threats and insults can mask his fundamental lack of understanding of what it means to be human – to remind us we’re not ever going to be willing to be its 51st state. Duh.We just want a prime minister that represents our values.Why can’t the Conservatives – please put “progressive” in front of it again, if for no other reason than to remind you what we liked about you – get that? And give us an electoral choice we can be proud to vote for.And soon.Rick MacLean is retired as an instructor in the journalism program at Holland College.Article content
RICK MacLEAN: Please, give us a Canadian alternative
