Today's News: It's FAFO time!

I think we're reaching "Fuck Around and Find Out" time: 

In Canada, Poilievre's blithe "Of course I'm going to cancel programs to fund a GST reduction on new houses" and his equally-blithe "of course I'm not going to get a security clearance" is starting to tank his favourables. 

Today's Ekos study found a drop of 12 points in Conservative voting intentions. They are still ahead of the Liberals, but not by as much as they used to be:

Combine this with Skippy's HORRIBLE favourability numbers we're seeing from other pollsters and... ruh roh.

So much for that big saccharine ad blitz, Pierre.

— David Brown (@OrbitStudios) November 1, 2024

No wonder Poilievre is desperate to get a non-confidence motion passed right away. 

Poilievre likely thought his bright idea to eliminate the GST on middle-class new houses would be a big winner and everybody would start talking about how much money the Cons would save them.

But then the media started asking PP how he would pay for the GST cut and he fumbled out something about how easy-peasy it would be to just cut some Liberal programs.

In a rare press conference, Pierre Poilievre was cornered on his cuts plan.

His answer?

"We're going to cut two programs for sure, and more beyond that."

Here’s what Conservatives will take away from your family:

Affordable childcare that saves a family in Pierre’s riding… pic.twitter.com/p3Kl0RlHxd

— MP Ryan Turnbull 🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@TurnbullWhitby) October 28, 2024

So instead of getting lots of publicity about his GST cut, Poilievre got complaints that he was threatening popular Liberal programs:

Canadian economist Mike Moffatt explains why Poilievre’s new housing GST tax cut on certain homes misses the mark; it cuts new Liberal programs that make those homes possible in the first place. Again, Cons miss the mark and fail.

WATCH ▶️ https://t.co/lAjMO6BcEZ

— Stephano Barberis (@HelloStephano) October 28, 2024

Would Mr. Poilievre's plan to cut the GST on new homes apply to the 1st $million of a house worth more? Would investors buying up houses get the GST cut? Would builders and sellers simply absorb the value of the tax cut? Would Big Money get all the benefits? Looks like it.

— Ken Hardie (@KenHardie) November 1, 2024

Seems clear that Minister Fraser is asking the mayors of Canada how many new homes would not get built if Poilievre axes the Housing Accelertor funds that they all applied for. The answer will easily be in the tens of thousands. Just under 5 thousand homes in Kingston, Ont. alone

— Unbranded (@Unbranded63) November 1, 2024

WOW. Multiple Con MPs go behind their leader Poilievre’s back to ask to use the Lib housing program that Poilievre just vowed to cut should we have the misfortune of him becoming PM. Tax cuts are not enough. Housing involves so many land/petmit/etc levers at the municipal level. https://t.co/VvIICCRqT8

— Stephano Barberis (@HelloStephano) October 30, 2024

The Conservatives' problem with prime minister, Justin Trudeau isn't that he's done a terrible job; it's that he's been too successful at being transformational.

Four-more years will cement in many programs, so they really feel the need to throw everything at stopping him now.

— True North Eager Beaver Podcast (he/him/Mr Beaver) (@TrueEager) November 1, 2024

The Liberals have finally come up with an advertisement. It's not an embrace-the-wood & love-the-flag extravaganza, but it does the job:

🟥This next election will be the FIGHT of our lives.
What KIND of Canada do we want??

Anarchy, CONVOYS, HATE, misogyny? 👀😔
IS that really Canada? 🤷🏻‍♂️

The foreign-sponsored DISINFORMATION campaign, designed to MANIPULATE Canadians and turn us against our Govt, has been MASSIVE.… pic.twitter.com/hTOQQABssZ

— Fun Tom 🇨🇦 💂 (@funtomvids) November 1, 2024

The security clearance issue isn't going away for Poilievre either:

Excerpt from Green Party Media Release, Oct 30 2024:https://t.co/lvX7GCGg2n pic.twitter.com/zVwU5HupgO

— Alison Creekside (@CreeksideAlison) October 31, 2024

What is sorta hilarious is that now Trudeau is stepping forward with an offer to help Poilievre do his job without a full security clearance. He may actually be sincere, too:

The leader of the opposition @PierrePoilievre has failed to keep his MP's safe from foreign interference.

PM @JustinTrudeau: "I have asked the security services to figure out a way to give some information to the leader of the Opposition so that he can actually fulfil his… pic.twitter.com/HgVuHPhxvw

— Jaro Giesbrecht (@JaroGiesbrecht) October 31, 2024

Because it makes me wonder -- what if Poilievre had applied already for a security clearance, but then he failed it for some reason? Would the Canadian public ever be told about that?

I doubt it. Failing to obtain a clearance would just maintain the status quo, and Poilievre would just continue to not get security briefings, so what would the RCMP have to announce? But in that case, I also suspect Trudeau would be told about it.

So I wonder if perhaps Trudeau is trying - asked or unasked - to find a way for Poilievre to be briefed on the secret information he needs to manage his caucus. Hmmmm... 

Anyway, here's an interesting thread from Jeff Jedras about this weeks' Public Safety Committee hearings:

CSIS Director Daniel Rogers said a top secret briefing would allow a leader to make decisions in the best interests of the party and would allow for a broader conversation. pic.twitter.com/WJL7cNsH4Y

— Jeff Jedras (@jeffjedras) November 1, 2024

CSIS' Rogers added a TRM allows for a subset of information to be released but a TS clearance is required for a more fulsome conversation. pic.twitter.com/o2GDHYYuDO

— Jeff Jedras (@jeffjedras) November 1, 2024

Moninder Singh of the BC Gurdwaras Council said all party leaders should get clearance and people in the Sikh community are wondering if refusing to get one is an attempt to claim ignorance -- an excuse he says he community won't accept. pic.twitter.com/gm8uz37mZ3

— Jeff Jedras (@jeffjedras) November 1, 2024

Moninder Singh of the BC Gurdwaras Council added the Indian media is using Polievre's refusal to get top secret clearance for propaganda purposes. He says others have been able to speak to the issues despite Conservative claims a TS clearance would "muzzle" their leader pic.twitter.com/RPDozWXFEX

— Jeff Jedras (@jeffjedras) November 1, 2024

Meanwhile, in America: 

Here's an interesting chain of events -- earlier this week we saw this awful ad, calling Kamala Harris "the c-word"  - the ad finally says the c-word is 'communist' but we all know what they really mean is 'cunt':

Before he deleted it, we grabbed the ad Elon Musk produced with money from Betsy DeVos. Elon, Donald and their pals think denigrating women is funny. Let's make sure we show up at the polls and show them how we feel about their tired, divisive behavior. (Sound on) https://t.co/AC4UsMaPYs pic.twitter.com/pBhlAnuff7

— Michigan Democrats (@MichiganDems) October 28, 2024

This ad just confirmed that women are absolutely triggering to MAGA and to Trump.  So then the Democrats produced this ad:

In the voting booth, women still have the right to choose.

Thank you to Julia Roberts for helping us make the choice clear - November 5th, let’s all choose a new path forward.#progressive #progressivechristianity #voteblue #harris2024 #prowomen #evangelicalsforharris pic.twitter.com/fchO3yj1na

— Vote Common Good (@VoteCommon) October 28, 2024

The MAGA outrage meter went to 11, how dare that Harris woman tell wives to LIE to their husbands? Finally Trump just had to start talking about firing squads:

Hey, American media—is this enough for you?pic.twitter.com/RqQPOhUILV

— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) November 1, 2024

The Harris campaign knows quite well how to trigger both MAGA and Trump.