On August 13, many Canadian tax-subsidized media outlets all ran the same story (excerpted below), attacking federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for spreading "mainstream conspiracy theories" about the World Economic Forum.
Poilievre's Conservative Party embracing language of mainstream conspiracy theories | CBC News | Mickey Djuric, Canadian Press:
August 13, 2023 - "Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been hitting the summer barbecue circuit with ramped-up rhetoric around debunked claims that the World Economic Forum is attempting to impose its agenda on sovereign governments. It is, some experts suggest, another sign that some conspiracy theories are moving from the fringes of the internet to mainstream thinking, as people's distrust of government grows.
"In speeches to Conservative supporters across Canada, Poilievre has promised that none of his ministers will attend the international organization's conferences, including the annual meeting typically held in Davos, Switzerland. 'It's far past time we rejected the globalist Davos elites and bring home the common sense of the common people,' said a Saturday fundraising email.
"The Conservative Party also recently sent out mailers with a poll asking people to tell Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who they think the prime minister should stand with: working Canadians or the World Economic Forum. The wording implies Trudeau's cabinet is beholden to the latter.... Poilievre did not agree to an interview on the matter....
"Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said some people have long embraced conspiracies, but now they have moved into mainstream politics.... Poilievre peddled the WEF control claims during the Conservative leadership race in 2022, and it has emerged again as a regular talking point following the federal byelection in southern Manitoba, said Bratt. In that contest in Portage–Lisgar, the Conservatives were looking to beat back a growing challenge from the People's Party of Canada. Maxime Bernier, the leader of that party who has long accused the WEF of having a globalist agenda, ran in the byelection. The Conservatives attacked him for having attended the Davos summit when he was Harper's foreign affairs minister in 2008....
"Kawser Ahmed, a politics professor at the University of Winnipeg with a research specialty in conspiracy theories, said the number and uptake of conspiracy theories began to grow after the 2016 presidential election in the United States, aided by social media and encrypted messaging apps. But Ahmed said the biggest trigger was the COVID-19 pandemic.
"'At that time, whatever decisions government took, it was explained to some corner of our citizens — in line with conspiracy theories — that the government is controlling you, the government has asked to give you a vaccine, the government has asked not to go out and so forth," said Ahmed."
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-world-economic-forum-rhetoric-1.6935294
The mainstream media repeats the story that Poilievre 'embraces conspiracy theories' — without proof | Rebel News | August 16, 2023:
- Barrie 360, August 13
- Barrie Today, August 13
- Brandon Sun, Autust 13
- Canada News Media, August 13 (bylined Harry Miller)
- iPolitics, August 14
- Nanaimo News Now, August 13
- National Observer, August 14
- Winnipeg Free Press, August 13
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