National Post: Carson Jerema: 'Conservative leadership hopeful Pierre Poilievre deserves credit, not opprobrium, for his willingness to speak and listen to those who are feeling angry and alienated, rather than immediately dismissing their concerns as illegitimate. This sometimes leads him down a path where he risks turning himself into a populist caricature, but providing a mainstream avenue to channel this anger is undoubtedly better than letting it fester.
'For Poilievre’s most unhinged critics, this is too much of a deviation. His opposition to vaccine mandates and empathy for vaccine refusers somehow disqualifies him for high office, despite it being the identical position held by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a year ago. Rather than question why a certain segment of the population is so untrusting of political institutions, Poilievre’s detractors cast him and his supporters as grave threats to Canada itself.
'Take Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason, who blamed Poilievre for the swarming of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in Peterborough, Ont., last week by angry protesters shouting what appeared to be conspiracy theory-driven accusations and insults.
'For Mason, this aggressive mob, some of whom claimed to have been a part of the Freedom Convoy, were “fuelled” by the “discordant rhetoric of people like federal Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate, Pierre Poilievre.”'