Peter MacKay's farcical leadership campaign lends some much needed levity to these trying times. Although that's far from his intention, MacKay’s almost uninterrupted campaign errors always offer a note of cheer to this pandemic fueled, protest mired, lockdown weary, dumpster fire of an endless news cycle.
In the early days of the pandemic, for instance, when Canadians were tortured by speculation of a deadly plague and accompanying economic immolation, MacKay's missteps allowed everyone to forget—if only for a few blissful minutes—the disaster that Canada was plummeting towards.
As you may remember, Mackay—inexplicably—told the country that he wanted to speed up the leadership contest, rather than suspend it as the other candidates had suggested. To stock footage of, erm, California (does he not have a video production team?), MacKay told us that democracy simply could not wait.
Despite the ridicule this position provoked, MacKay dug the grave deeper still—going live with CTV to further make his case. “Maybe you should ask [the other candidates] why they want to stop,” commanded MacKay.
“Because there’s a pandemic,” replied the bemused interviewer.
Continuing on with his mission to cheer up Canada’s fazed commentariat, MacKay then sent out an email that told Canadians to “overcome diversity.” The Nova Scotian meant to say adversity—one would hope—and Canadians were once again able to forget the pandemic through Mackay’s infallible blunders.
More recently, MacKay’s social media team uploaded a picture of the candidate donning a milk moustache, paired with a boyish grin, in celebration of “World Milk Day.” This, somehow, managed to unsettle nearly everyone: MacKay, some argued, was pandering to the 'dairy cartel'; while progressive Canadians believed he was ignoring the racial tension, economic devastation, and a plague that has engulfed the North American continent over recent weeks.
All of these errors can be happily classed into an ever-growing file of embarrassing, yet ultimately harmless mistakes. The same, however, cannot be said for MacKay’s most recent misstep, which reveals a dangerous ambition to regulate Canada’s media.
Speaking to an advocacy organization on the issues of free speech, MacKay promised he would ensure that “reputable news sources are giving Canadians accurate and helpful information regarding the current health and financial crises.”
MacKay suggested that the Conservative Party, under his leadership, would plagiarize the unsuccessful Liberal policy of regulating the press. This policy is not only unsuccessful, it is a detriment to the freedoms of all Canadians.
Who, exactly, is to determine which news sources are “reputable?” Let’s hope it isn't Peter MacKay who, throughout the campaign, has shown brazen contempt for Canada’s journalists. Take, for instance, his hostility towards tough questions; ending an interview with CTV News after they asked him about an unfortunate tweet regarding Justin Trudeau’s unhealthy passion for yoga.
“Hey, hey, you just went way over the line,” screeched the MacKay staffer who must’ve wanted nothing more than a single interview to end without catastrophic error. “I’m just doing my job, guys,” responded the justifiably irritated journalist.
Other Conservative-leaning news outlets like True North have written blistering editorials regarding MacKay’s fear of independent media. “MacKay is the only Conservative leadership candidate to not sit down with True North. In fact, his team has ignored our interview requests,” wrote the journalist.
These incidents, however, pale in comparison to another MacKay scandal, where he threatened to sue The Post Millennial after this outlet published an unfavourable polling article about his campaign that was later corroborated by other polls.
As a result of all this, MacKay can no more be trusted with the freedom of Canada’s media than Justin Trudeau’s Liberals can. His promise to ensure that news sources are giving Canadians accurate information should be treated with unreserved scorn.
At the start of the leadership contest, Ottawa’s commentators believed that MacKay would ramble happily to victory. This, as our polling article revealed, has all but been undone by MacKay’s inability to handle the pressure of a leadership campaign. If MacKay can’t handle a simple leadership election, how is he supposed to defeat Trudeau?
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