Instead of simply and deftly twisting the knife, Poilievre spun a weird, nonsensical story about how affordable housing used to be. Noting that, nowadays, a house in the Greater Toronto Area might cost a million dollars—which was indeed true—Poilievre then seemed to slip into a waking dream. “You know, ten years ago, a million dollars would have got you a castle on a mountain overlooking a valley of gold,” Poilievre said for some reason. “It is almost hallucinogenic how badly the Liberals have destroyed our housing market.”
It’s difficult to classify this kind of thing. It’s fantastical, obviously. Yet, however much it seemed like a moment of genuine delusion, it wasn’t. This form of fanciful storytelling is a deliberate aspect of Poilievre’s rhetoric.
