So @acoyne and Warren Kinsella wrote essentially the same column suggesting the re-election of Legault in Quebec and the elevation of Smith to the Premiership in Alberta were direct challenges to the legitimacy of the federal government. 1/
They may well be, but the real problem for the supporters of the federal government is that @PierrePoilievre and much of the @CPC_HQ are not nearly as wedded to the "Canadian" consensus as the LPC/NDP/legacy media is. 2/
If Scheer or, especially, O'Toole had become PM the Canadian consensus on abortion, gay rights, climate change, immigration and the primacy of the federal gov't would not have changed a bit. The blob would continue to ooze into provincial jurisdictions. 3/
It's early days with Poillievre but what Coyne and Kinsella instinctively recognize is that a Poillievre gov't would not immediately jump to the defence of Ottawa's primacy. The CPC is certain to bow to climate change or increased immigration. 4/
(I don't think there will be any attempt to limit abortion and I suspect gay, as distinct from transgender, rights are not high on @PierrePoilievre's priority list.) And the CPC under PP is not impressed with restrictions on Charter Rights. 5/
I have yet to hear CPC people use the infernal language of censorship wrapped in the guise of suppressing "hate speech", "misinformation" and "disinformation". Internet censorship is not on the CPC's "to do" list. 6/
What really worries Coyne and Kinsella is that a PP gov't might be quite open to Smith's ideas on restructuring the Alberta/Ottawa relationship and willing to say, "That's Quebec's business" for most of Legault's ideas. 7/
The idea of a federal gov't which sought to reduce its overall role in the Canadian state is anathema to people who grew up in a world where the "progressive" federal gov't lead the often backward provinces towards a Canadian, enlightened, utopia. 8/
From Trudeau senior forward, every Canadian PM could be counted on to, if not expand the federal presence, at least not diminish it. A PM who made room for provincial aspirations and policy goals would be a departure from 50 years of "federalism". 9/
While I don't think @PierrePoilievre is a huge fan of provincial rights or a less caveated view of individual Charter rights, he and the CPC don't dismiss such views as traitorous or "American". For Kinsella and Coyne this is heresy. 10/
In worried tones they talk about a challenge to the legitimacy of the federal government as if that challenge is solely external. In fact, the fed's own incompetence, has already shaken the thin support Ottawa enjoyed. 11/
Passport delays, the lunacy of CanArrive, the overt authoritarianism of the Emergencies Act, the anti-scientific federal COVID response, the lame response to the Fiona disaster, the failure to build pipelines, the useless carbon tax...the federal gov't is flailing. 12/
An alternative model is offered by the Quebec/Ottawa relationship which has evolved over the last few decades and serves as a model for Alberta. Quebec sets and collects its own taxes, runs its own pension fund, has its own immigration policy and police force. 13/
Points that Smith can use to argue that Alberta should have the same powers. (So, frankly, should all the provinces.) For centralists, Quebec is a "special case" and its powers are required to preserve its French identity or some such. 14/
Coyne and Kisella and their pals in legacy media know just how weak this argument is. It might sound right in sight of the Peace Tower but it is a non-starter in the rest of the country. Which is why a @PierrePoilievre led CPC terrifies them. 15/
The #PPC and the #Convoy were a huge wakeup call. @CPC_HQ dumpstered O'Toole and @PierrePoilievre won in a walk on what was essentially the #PPC platform. Indeed, PP has actually said he might #DefundTheCBC. Andy's iron rice bowl. Horrors! 16/
The Canadian Consensus is tottering. The ideological incompetence of the Trudeau regime has rotted the fed gov't from within, legacy media know that a gentle breeze from the West could break it. 17/
Throw @PierrePoilievre and a re-energized CPC into the mix and the possibility of a less intrusive, significantly smaller, cheaper, Constitutionally less ambitious, federal government could become a reality. Then what will the Lib/NDP/legacy media coalition do? 18/
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