‘Affordability’ Is the New ‘Middle Class’

Pierre Poilievre is perfecting his populist pitch. Recent history shows it could work.

“Want to see a $5 million house here in Vancouver?” Canadian Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre asks at the start of a recent video. “Feast your eyes on the home of your dreams,” he says as the camera pans and he stands in front of a small, slightly dilapidated bungalow. His point, which he makes over the next five minutes — albeit with some questionable math — is pretty simple and obvious: no house that looks like this should cost this much. More to the point: if he ends up as Prime Minister one day, it won’t.

It’s a message delivered surprisingly well. I say surprisingly because up until the point that he announced his intention to run for leadership of the federal Conservatives, Poilievre’s communication style was abrasive and off-putting. It was sneering and simplistic, often borderline juvenile — endless trolling and dunking. This behaviour matched the rest of his personal aesthetic, which is that of a smirking, know-it-all dweeb. While he was never to be wholly dismissed because, let’s face it, that kind of internet-addled brain-worm vibe gets a lot of attention these days, it still relegated him to the level of your average aggrieved newsletter writer — with probably a similar sized audience.