Chris Selley: Even in downtown Toronto, Pierre Poilievre's 'freedom' message resonates

At some point relatively late on Tuesday, the Steam Whistle brewery felt it necessary to disassociate itself from Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre, to whom it had rented an event space at the historic railway roundhouse in downtown Toronto for a meet-and-greet event. The brewery “is in no way affiliated with Pierre Poilievre (and) does not endorse his political views,” a letter distributed to media explained. It was weird. The only apparent reason for the letter was one of local website BlogTO’s patented “people are angry on the internet” pieces. The aggrieved parties in this case: a grand total of seven Twitter users, at least four pseudonymous and with fewer than 100 followers, who had denounced the company for daring to associate with the perceived front-runner in the leadership race — a man who has been portrayed in some mainstream media, and certainly on social media, as a terribly dangerous new kind of populist who might well lead Canada to ruin.-- More...