Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rises during question period, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, in Ottawa. Poilievre has been busy trying to leverage his massive social media following as the Conservatives battle with the Liberals over who's best positioned to address the country's housing crisis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
OTTAWA – Every week now for more than a month, cabinet ministers have been appearing in front of cameras on Parliament Hill in an effort to convince Canadians that the Liberal government has the housing crisis in hand.
Ever since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s summer cabinet shuffle, they’ve been scrambling to be seen making the cost of living a top priority, hoping to catch up to the runaway Conservatives on the issue of affordability.
Like clockwork, Housing Minister Sean Fraser appeared Tuesday alongside Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, this time to announce millions in spending to build or upgrade thousands of co-operative homes.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, have been racking up the clicks, views and shares with a slick 15-minute explainer video, complete with graphs, news segments and narration from none other than leader Pierre Poilievre.
Welcome to the main event of Canadian politics: the battle to become the party voters can trust to confront one of the country’s most pressing issues.
Poilievre’s video, in which he lays blame for the housing shortage squarely on Trudeau’s shoulders, is only his latest effort to use his massive social media following to speak directly to potential voters – particularly younger ones.
The two strategies also illustrate opposing outlooks on the mainstream media, a group Poilievre and his Conservative party – to say nothing of their supporters – have long cultivated as a useful political punching bag.
“It shows what modern political communications is like,” said Mobilize Media Group president Jeff Ballingall. “It’s great to see that Pierre’s team is reflecting modern communications in media consumption.”
Poilievre’s latest video lays out the Conservative case “in a way that’s compelling,” said Ballingall, the social media architect behind Ontario Proud and Canada Proud, two accounts dedicated to attacking Trudeau and the Liberals.
Social media’s other advantage is that it provides detailed intelligence on who is watching on which platform and from where, he added.
“From there you can distil a lot of your messaging later on.”
While Conservatives are lauding Poilievre’s latest endeavour as a success, Fraser and other Liberals accuse him of exploiting the anxieties of Canadians without offering much in the way of practical solutions.
Poilievre is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who is “pretending to understand the challenges that people are living with, but insisting that he’s not going to advance the solutions that are actually going to help them, “Fraser said.
“Comparing one plan to another, it’s clear: we’re going to build more homes and more homes that people can actually afford.”
Near the end of the video – Poilievre calls a documentary – he outlines a four-point housing plan that includes familiar pledges, like selling off federal lands and making the construction of more homes a condition of funding for cities.
Conservative strategist Jamie Ellerton said Poilievre’s video is “building his credibility and building a sense of trust himself and Canadians more broadly.”
Catching up to the Liberals in the digital realm has been a problem for the party since before Trudeau was even elected eight years ago, he added.
“It’s undeniable that in 2015, the Liberal party had an advantage in the digital realm and were much further ahead,” Ellerton said.
“But the Conservatives, under Pierre Poilievre’s leadership, have started to close that gap.”
The Liberals aren’t worried, said spokesman Parker Lund.
“Innovative digital campaigns in the lead-up to and during the 2015, 2019, and 2021 elections” were an important part of how Trudeau connected with Canadians, Lund said in a statement.
“The same will be the case for the next election, whenever it may arise.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2023.
