The Establishment is Panicking: Why Conservatives Must Stop Taking the Liberal Bait
Wall Street is shorting Canada’s economy— and the Ottawa establishment is desperate to keep you distracted
Everyone sees Mark Carney failing. You can see it. I can see it. Canadian businesses and manufacturers are feeling it every single day. Even those moderate voters who once pinned their hopes on Mark Carney are finally starting to see the writing on the wall.
The data is spelling out a harsh reality: there has been a massive drop in public confidence that Carney can secure any kind of beneficial deal with Donald Trump. If you want proof that the ground is shifting, just look at the markets. Wall Street hedge funds are currently placing the largest negative bets they’ve made in over two years against the Canadian economy. Leveraged funds now hold over 99,000 contracts tied to wagers on a weaker loonie. This is the largest spike in negative sentiment going all the way back to August 2024— the absolute peak of Justin Trudeau’s polling free-fall.
Because of this catastrophic economic mismanagement under the Trudeau-Carney banner, the Liberal establishment is throwing out desperate distractions. It is all by design. They want to throw you off the scent of the core issues actually destroying our country. Today, we are attempting to cut through that noise.
The Distraction Game: Refusing to Take the Bait
Recently, an article by Andrew Coyne made the rounds, provocatively titled to suggest that Canadian Conservatives have a “patriotism problem.” Let’s be crystal clear about what that piece was: it was bait.
It was a calculated attempt to create noise and to distract Canadians from Mark Carney’s horrendous leadership record. Need a quick reminder? He lied to the public about the Gordie Howe Bridge deal, and simultaneously allowed for devastating tariffs to be threatened against our economy, purely because of his lack of action. But instead of focusing on that, and the further implications, the establishment threw out this so-called “patriotism” article to see if Conservatives would bite.
And quite frankly, many did.
People within the party, around the party, and establishment commentators fell right into the trap by reacting defensively to Coyne’s accusations. Personally, when I saw it, I chose to ignore it. Why? Because participating in that debate means choosing to live and operate within a framework the Liberal Party has fabricated for us. The entire premise of that article was rooted in the ‘Liberal’ framing of what it means to be a patriot— what it means to be Canadian, and what it means to love your country. If you don’t agree with them, they brand you a traitor.
Barbara Ball, the Conservative candidate of record for Nepean, saw this for exactly what it was. She perfectly summarized how we should handle these tactics:
“It’s such a tired old play... It’s the same tactic cops are trained for. The driver says, ‘You only stopped me because of [blank].’ The officer says, ‘No, sir. I stopped you because you ran the red light.’ Don’t take the bait. Don’t defend. Don’t explain. Redirect.”
She is spot on. When they say “Conservatives are [blank],”— take, negative or obstructionist, for example— our only response should be blunt: “No, we want to know why Canada sent absolutely no one to the tariff discussion in Washington.” Stick to the actual issues. Our Prime Minister is failing us before our very eyes, and we quite literally cannot afford to let them change the subject.
The Power of Proactive Conservatism
For far too long, the conservative movement in Canada has been reactionary rather than proactive. We haven’t been eager to set the tone, establish the framing, or lead the conversation. We’ve been content to play defence against leftist narratives, which is exactly why we so often find ourselves behind the eight ball.
But when we choose to lead, we win.
Take the carbon tax. Speaking out against the carbon tax used to be considered political suicide. Former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole was so terrified of the media machine that he actually supported a version of it. But then Pierre Poilievre came in, unapologetically campaigned on “Axe the Tax,” and completely won over public opinion. It became so overwhelmingly popular that when Mark Carney swooped onto the scene, even he had to adopt the stance of scrapping it. That is what happens when you lead on an issue.
We saw another brilliant example of proactive conservatism just this week. Conservative MP Jamil Jivani published a gutsy piece asking if Mark Carney actually wants to lead the U.S. Democratic Party— given that he seems infinitely more interested in courting the favour of American Democrats than getting a fair trade deal for Canadian industries.
This piece put the Liberals entirely on their back foot. It frustrated them so much, that Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen felt compelled to film one of his infamous ‘walking videos’ just to respond to it. In his panic to cry “character assassination,” Gerretsen inadvertently had to concede what the actual role of the Official Opposition is: to challenge the government and highlight inefficient policy. Jivani forced the Liberals into a corner simply by being bold enough to say what we are all thinking.
The Real Root of the Tariff Crisis
If we want to fix our economy, we have to start having honest conversations about why we are being threatened with U.S. tariffs in the first place. This isn’t about Donald Trump having a personal or political vendetta against Canada. It is about our weak leadership, and the fact that the Liberals have completely dropped the ball on national security.
Plainly, we have not done our job with China. We have not done the job of rooting out CCP interference in our institutions. We have fundamentally failed to be a reliable national security partner to the United States. These tariffs are a blunt-force wake-up call aimed squarely at the pandering leadership residing in Ottawa.
Yet, instead of recognizing this reality, the consultant class and establishment Conservatives in Toronto and Ottawa— figures like Jason Kenney— are using this as a launching pad to push an anti-American agenda. They argue that, to show Canadians we are “fighting for Canada,” we must actively antagonize the United States and push back against Donald Trump.
Let’s be honest: it’s all fugazi. It is entirely fake. Unrealistic at best.
Our economy depends on a strong relationship with the United States. Pretending we don’t need them, or trying to act tough for cheap domestic political points, will only result in the utter economic ruin of our country. Conservatives are never going to out-anti-American the political left, so why are establishment Conservatives even trying?
The Grassroots Rebellion
When I first spoke out about prioritizing Western Hemisphere security, and the urgent need to kick out the CCP over rising tensions with the U.S. Administration, I was called a traitor by some in these establishment circles. I heard the exact same baseless accusations from the consultant class that I normally get from the radical left.
But I stood on my morals. I believed wholeheartedly that fixing our relationship with the U.S. and addressing the China threat was the only logical path forward. And the numbers prove that the grassroots agree.
If you look at the social media analytics from Jason Kenney’s recent anti-American media tour, the engagement is abysmal. They are racking up tens of thousands of views, but their engagement rate is well under 1%. When people do interact with their clips, it’s mostly to ‘ratio’ the post with disagreements in the comments.
Compare that to the message we are pushing here on The Elevate Report. When I posted my speech advocating for a strong Canada-U.S. security partnership, and a tough stance on China, it hit an engagement rate of roughly 5.5%—far surpassing standard marketing benchmarks. The full videos from our network are pulling in tens of thousands of views and thousands of likes.
What does this tell us? The grassroots are fully rejecting the establishment narrative. They see that doubling down on an anti-American, anti-Trump strategy is a losing game. The moderates are seeing it too.
Setting the Rules for Our Future
To be clear, I am not bringing this up just to take shots at Jason Kenney or the consultant class. I am bringing this up to prove that setting the narrative matters.
I could have cowered in fear at the accusations flung at me. I could have backed down when they questioned my definition of patriotism. But I refused. I used my voice, and I quickly realized that thousands of Canadians see exactly what I see.
Grassroots Conservatives know that what is true, remains true. Having a strong diplomatic and security relationship with the United States, while aggressively pushing the CCP out of our midst, is our fast pass to getting our country back. It is how we restore our economic sovereignty, bring order back to our nation, and secure Western values for generations to come.
We cannot afford to be reactionary anymore. We must set the framing. We must set the rules of the debate. Do not cower in the face of criticism from the establishment, because the very future of our nation depends on us standing firm.
Full episode here: