i think most people would concede that it was just a matter of time before peter mackay took a serious run at the prime minister's office, and, unlike scheer, he's an opponent that trudeau needs to take seriously.

just winning a dozen seats in the maritimes alone could shift the balance of power, and mackay will do better in urban canada than scheer did. it's very far out, but i'd have to give them equal chances, at a great distance.

what is peter mackay? well, the irony is that he's in many ways the mirror reflection of justin trudeau - he's a spoiled rich kid from an old money lineage that doesn't really deserve anything he has, and would have never gotten to where he is in life had he not been born into it. he's an aristocrat. and, he's not very bright.

the difference is just that mackay has been around for twice as long, so he gives off the impression of having worked his way up. and, he has held a few cabinet positions, sure.

he would be indiscernible from justin trudeau, in the sense that he'd be doing what he's told, and that's a new normal that's sunk in that should really be resisted. say what you will about harper, but at least he was his own man. he was a Strong Leader, after all. going back from harper, canada actually has a tradition of independent-minded leaders. if there's one thing we should avoid, it's replacing trudeau with another pawn....

is trudeau a failed experiment? see, i'd argue he is. his puppet masters might have a different argument. perspective is key.

but, my single request to the conservative party is to pick somebody who is in charge of their own itinerary, so to speak, because it's not clear that the country can survive another government full of corporate puppets that just do what they're told.

so, you'll no doubt hear all kinds of terrible things about peter mackay from the usual partisan sources, and it's less that it's not true, and more that it's largely the same thing we have now. there will be some minor differences on the margins regarding social issues, but he's not a rabid social conservative (and trudeau's not really all that liberal, either). they're basically the same on economics and basically the same on foreign policy, because they're basically told the same things by what are basically the same people.

the more important question may be whether trudeau wants to move on. if he does, peter mackay will be a perfectly acceptable establishment replacement, and they'll be happy to ease him in.

but, i hope the conservative party picks somebody that demonstrates a deeper level of independent thinking and, frankly, has a deeper level of intellect.