Premierminister Carney und Kanadas wichtigster Oppositionsführer halten sich während der Mahnwache in einer Schule an den Händen

I listened Poilievre’s remarks he made during the ceremony…heartfelt and solemn. Respectful, thoughtful, and calm. I respected what he said. Carney’s was just as heartfelt. Genuine compassion and emotion.

It is such as a sad tragedy. What is reassuring to me is that humans can be civil and come together.

Politics is a performance. A measure of a person’s soul is how they behave in circumstances such as this. I would like to think that this is a defining moment for us. There are things that are so much bigger and important than whatever petty disagreements we have.

While I appreciate that Poillievre was respectful at this event, let us not pretend that he hasn’t spent much of his time engaging in the exact kind of divisive rhetoric that makes such a gesture stand out. I’m genuinely surprised that he hasn’t tried to blame this tragedy on the perpetrator being trans, like many of his contemporaries, supporters, and right wing media has. I’m surprised that he hasn’t blamed this tragedy on the „lost liberal decade“ as he calls it at every opportunity. I’m surprised that he hasn’t tried to call the perpetrator a crazy violent leftist as many are baselessly trying to paint her as.

One can hope that this is a turning point for Poillievre and that he’ll tone down the hate and faux-outrage that he’s importing from our southern neighbors, but I’ll need to see more of this to believe that it’s anything but a momentary reprieve, a calculated move that weighed the optics carefully before deciding that just this once, keeping his mouth shut and holding hands with Carney was better for his brand.