No bars, just bad vibes

OTTAWA—Is Pierre Poilievre the Drake of Canadian politics? It’s 2024 and we are being treated to what will go down in history for being one of the greatest rap beefs of all time. Rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar are trading barbs, verses, auditory punches, and just pure shade and lyrical demolition. This beef has crowned Lamar as adding scholarship to the game through his use of literary devices such as euphemisms, double entendre, metaphors and similes, alliteration, and just plain insults layered one on top of the another. It’s been a treat, much like the one that preceded it between Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj. Unfortunately, that was not the case on April 30 in the House of Commons. There was no lyrical flow, no beat, just insults. Last week, the prime minister and the leader of the opposition got into a verbal sparring match over British Columbia’s government asking Health Canada to backtrack on its pilot program to decriminalize hard drugs in public spaces in an effort to counter the opioid crisis. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended the program, but Poilievre advocated for abstinence and criminalization of users, as though the war on drugs never happened. Talk about having no new ideas. Instead, the Conservatives just recycle policies that have proved to be harmful to constituencies that don’t necessarily vote for them. It’s the "me, myself, and I" brand of politics. A reminder that these are the same people who demand decorum from others—notably racialized people—that they can’t show to each other. The prime minister’s response to the leader of the opposition was to accuse him of linking up with—and failing to denounce—white nationalists. I mean … he’s not wrong. The ties between Diagolon—the far-right, Canadian-born and -raised white nationalists—and the “anti-carbon tax convoy” stationed on the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are tighter than at first glance. For example, as reported by CBC, “Poilievre … is seen leaving a RV with a drawing of the black-and-white Diagolon flag on the door.” And this is not his first offence. Poilievre has been courting People's Party of Canada voters, which requires him to take certain stances, such as his transphobia—radical gender ideology, as he calls it. Then there’s his use of the thin blue line symbol that’s increasingly co-opted by and associated with the far right; his use of the n-word in the House; and members of his caucus meeting with Christine Anderson, who is a member of a German nationalist party. Although he condemned the Anderson meeting, as I wrote last year, “Poilievre has substantiated the claim that he can be sympathetic to bigots.” Poilievre may be cosplaying extremism like Drake cosplays blackness, but the results will be catastrophic for marginalized communities. However, let’s continue with our story. House Speaker Greg Fergus had the unfortunate position of herding dingoes. Not to be outdone by her leader’s idiocy, MP Rachael Thomas heckled the Speaker by telling him he acted in a disgraceful manner. She was thrown out of the Chamber. She sounded as uncouth and pubescent as Marjorie Taylor Greene when MTG heckled United States President Joe Biden at his State of the Union address two years in a row. At this point, Poilievre was vexed and lashed out at the prime minister like an emotionally immature 16-year-old boy by calling him and his policy “wacko.” No Pierre, the policy is not wacko, you’re just wack. Much like Drake. Fergus ejected the opposition leader for not rescinding his adolescent outburst. And like a whiny Drake, he took to social media to claim persecution. A white man in a position of power claiming persecution is not only wack, but also unserious. As I wrote previously in this paper: “Unfortunately, in these serious times we are besieged by unserious people who have been instrumental in the memeification of politics and political discourse.” The Conservatives’ response to Poilievre getting kicked out of the Chamber? They followed Regina George’s lead like tin soldiers. Another wack move for The Plastics. Erica Ifill is a co-host of the Bad+Bitchy podcast. The Hill Times