After a landslide victory for Pierre Poilievre, the CBC and the Trudeau Liberals are in lockstep with their attacks that the new Conservative leader is “divisive.”
“You’re either with him or against him,” reads one headline by Aaron Wherry, a pollster for the state broadcaster.
Wherry framed Poilievre as being “resentment-driven” and divisive while citing the new leader’s criticism of mainstream media’s biased coverage favouring Justin Trudeau. Poilievre’s criticism of the legacy media extends to the CBC, which he promised to defund in campaign rallies across the country.
Poilievre won the Conservative Party leadership race on Saturday, earning 68% of voters’ support on the first ballot.
On Monday, CBC reporter Ashley Burke tweeted an interview with Liberal Minister Melanie Joly, who echoed the line of attacks on Poilievre as if in lockstep with the CBC’s messaging.
“If Pierre Poilievre wants to go into division, that’s his decision,” Joly said.
Burke once attacked Poilievre’s wife, Anaida, for working for Conservative MP Michael Cooper while her husband was a Conservative MP. Burke suggested it was a conflict of interest.
Anaida was a staffer on the hill for years before she and Poilievre married.
At the Conservative Party leadership announcement on Saturday night, CBC poster girl Rosemary Barton was triggered by a panellist who accused Trudeau of being the divisive one.
“Over the course of his time in office and especially during the pandemic, [Trudeau] became an incredibly divisive figure who was happy to basically call people who are against him the worst slurs imaginable.”
“Well, I don’t know if he’s so divisive . . .” Barton clapped back while laughing.
“Well, he’s very polarizing,” the panellist retorted.
On Monday, Trudeau dared to call for unity while playing the same divisive card against Poilievre.
“We all need to work together. Now is not the time for politicians to exploit fears and to pit people one against the other. As you all know, the Conservative Party picked a new leader over the weekend,” Trudeau said.
