Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks as Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre listens during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sept. 18, 2023.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters

There’s no immediate federal election on the horizon in Canada, but it feels like a mean-spirited campaign is already in progress. Last week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Kitchener, Ont., where he spent nearly 30 minutes attacking the Prime Minister on issues ranging from the ArriveCan app scandal to the carbon tax to “screwing over the middle class.”

Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau was in Edmonton to deliver a housing announcement and a narrower, more defensive criticism of federal (and provincial) Conservatives. He reiterated his long-time charge that Conservatives in the country are instrumentalizing rage and stoking anger without offering any real solutions.

Mr. Poilievre, who just as easily could have sparks flying out of his mouth rather than actual words, is certainly stoking anger, and he hasn’t laid out much in the way of actual, workable policies. But he’s also harnessing the fury that is already there – flourishing, one might say – without much........

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