In a little over a year at the latest, but possibly as soon as December if the Trudeau government collapses, Canada goes to a general election. While it is always risky to call results in advance, on present indications it is very likely that Pierre Poilievre will become prime minister.That's the good news. But disappointment could follow close behind. Canadians are apparently ready for change alright, but unfortunately for the Conservatives, the expectations are enormous and not all are reasonable. But they exist, and after nine years of Liberal mis-rule, who can blame them?It's just that there is no magic wand.The difficulty the Conservatives face is that rather, in the manner of the Hamas tunnel network, the Trudeau Liberal government — perhaps 'junta' would be a better word — has had nine years to dig its priorities deep into the fabric of the Canadian state. And it’s probably going to take more than a four-year term to dig out the legislative poison pills, booby traps and hidden defences the Liberals have left behind to protect what they regard as their signature achievements through which they turned a proud and confident country into their fantasy of a woke post-national state.So, difficult as strategic level sequencing of Conservative priorities will be, Canadians must hope the party is charting that minefield now and figuring out how to dig it out, root and branch, starting on Day Two of their new administration.Day One, after all, should be easy enough. The voters need to be rewarded. So, set the carbon tax rate to 0%. (Deal with the legislation later.) .There are other conservative rewards that could also be done by order-in-council and thus not requiring a parliamentary vote, could be done quickly to generate a steady buzz of good news for conservatives.Restoring Canada's military ethic for example, or returning to a points-based immigration system, cutting a civil service that the Trudeau Liberals grew by 40% — more than twice the rate of population growth.These things would be good, achievable announcements that would signal a change was happening.However, back to Day Two.... To truly effect the national restoration for which in this scenario Canadians are assumed to have voted, a much more comprehensive and difficult agenda will be needed.It would include the restoration of the western energy industry, an end to federal incursions into provincial jurisdictions and an end also to the propagation of a narrative of dismay regarding Canada’s indigenous peoples. Above all, the elaborate legislative cage the Trudeau Liberals built to confine constitutional freedoms, especially those regarding speech and expression, has to be cut up and discarded like an old car body at the auto wrecker..HANNAFORD: Speak up while you can, the Trudeau Liberals won't let you do it for long.So yes, it’s necessary to focus on winning the election. But this list is illustrative, not exhaustive. It says nothing for example, about the use made of Heritage Canada and other ministries operating grant programs as propaganda agencies in support of Trudeau Liberal attempts to divide Canadians against each other. Two examples from among many; first, the payment of six-figure rewards to people prepared to generate stories about 'hate' in their communities, second, the limitation of research grants to those prepared to tell the Trudeau Liberals what they want to hear. (Try and get research funded, that challenges the Liberal climate change narrative.).Federally-funded Anti-Hate Network blacklists Christian pro-life group, claims most hateful group ‘white boys, men’ .Normally, rot is something one does one' s best to prevent. In this case, it has been carefully nurtured over a nine-year period. It runs deep.I do not for a moment suppose the Conservative Party leadership is unaware of any of this. Pierre Poilievre is as cerebral and detail-focussed as Justin Trudeau is feckless and lazy. He has also surrounded himself with people of a like mind and his own keen sense of purpose remains undiminished after more than 20 years that I can speak to personally.Nevertheless, if a putative Poilievre administration is to actually justify the hope and confidence of its supporters, the party also must be ready to hit the ground running with legislation and executive action.This means that the party must be preparing now.Preparing what?First, two lists. One, of senior civil servants who need to be replaced. Two, the people who will replace them.The Politics 101 idea that the civil service is a lobotomized entity obediently expediting the changing priorities of successive governments is tommyrot. Anybody on the EX scale of compensation is probably there for a reason. If Harper's experience in January 2006 teaches anything, it is that a new mandate must begin with a review of who's not prepared to commit to your objectives.The second list therefore, is of people who are.A supplementary list should also include competent people prepared to accept appointments to government boards and agencies.At the top of this list should be someone to lead the Treasury Board, hammered and damaged as it has been over the years by a government that doesn't care to understand the nation's money. (Former Finance Minister Morneau's comments are instructive.).Beyond TB, there are several thousand Order-in-Council positions within the government's gift, ranging in scope and importance from the federal representative on the board of a commission tending a government dock in an outport, to the Senate and the Supreme Court of Canada.Many people regard these as payoffs — mere patronage. And certainly, the system has been abused. Nevertheless, a government that actually means to do something has a reasonable expectation that the boards controlling its many agencies will not work against it.And of course, in this Charter age, Canadians have become all too familiar with how much it matters who is chosen to interpret the law.The second preparation is draft legislation.There are many Trudeau-era laws that Conservatives will want to withdraw. (If the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63) passes, that would be the first, with Bill C-69 — the No Pipelines Bill — right behind it.) However, it takes time to draft legislation and left to a politicized civil service that strives to give the appearance of cooperation while quietly slowing down the process, there's no guarantee things will be done quickly. They will be the problem, the new government will get the blame. .‘WONDERFUL RANGE’: Justice minister pleased with sentencing options Bill C-63 allows judges .It is at this point that failure to deliver on election promises becomes an issue..The solution is to start now.There are people outside government who understand how to draft legislation. The Conservative leadership would be well advised to find them, put them to work and have draft legislation ready to feed into the process of review and introduction into Parliament.I daresay the party would not disagree, in principle.I also suspect that the sheer magnitude of the task will be an obstacle to getting done what everybody agrees is highly desirable. I have heard nothing to suggest that this effort is under way at the moment and scenarios involving the Liberals swapping leaders will only underscore the Conservative leadership’s hyper-focus on the near term.It seems too obvious that winning the election is the priority. Yet winning the election is just the means to national restoration. To focus exclusively upon that ignores that the purpose of winning is not merely to ride in the limousines, but to blow up the Liberal ‘tunnels.’Day One will be fun and easy.If Day Two is to be successful, this work needs to start now.
