The article criticizes the recent exchange between Conservative strategist Jenni Byrne and former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole, highlighting the toxic nature of partisan attacks even towards seemingly innocuous gestures of respect. It warns against the dangers of this trend for Canadian politics, arguing that it discourages capable individuals from entering public service and hinders effective governance.
Chief of staff to former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, Jenni Byrne waits to appear as a witness before the Procedure and House Affairs committee meeting in Ottawa, on May 11, 2023.Last week, Transport Minister Anita Anand announced that she would not contend for the Liberal leadership and would also not run in the next federal election.
That’s nice, right? Gracious, mature, a welcome moment of cross-partisan respect contained in the basic decency of thanking a colleague for their service.In marched Jenni Byrne, a political strategist with her own eponymous firm and – more relevant to this conversation – one of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s closest advisers. She reposted Mr. O’Toole’s comments and then took an axe to him.
“To all the young people involved in @CPC_HQ, and politics in Canada generally, this is exactly how not to behave in those inevitable fleeting moments when you feel you are on top,” he wrote on social media. “Be humble in leadership. Jenni, as one of our party’s current leaders, you should take this down.”
Who would run for public office, for any party, if this is what it means? The best and the brightest will stay far, far away from such an asinine thunderdome. Eventually, the only people who volunteer would be spineless toadies, hyperpartisan whack jobs or anger addicts, left to run the country like a ‘roided-out island of misfit toys.
What would make that difficult balancing act impossible is creating a whole other to-do list of fights to pick. Kicking people in the shins eats up a lot of bandwidth, and running the country – as Mr. Poilievre with Ms. Byrne at his side seems well on his way to doing – doesn’t leave you with a lot of disposable income in that regard.
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