Politics in Canada has all the grace of a traveling carnival, complete with rigged games, blatant rip-offs, and people who will be carnies for the rest of their sad, greasy lives.

When Pierre Poilievre became the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, he brought with him a carnie attitude for anything related to prime minister Justin Trudeau, including making fun of his hair, his time as a snowboard instructor, and even a salacious rumour that people in conservative circles believe blindly, due to a very unhealthy preoccupation with our PM.

Pierre Poilievre on Trudeau's teaching career: "…he left right in the middle of the semester and I’m having trouble remembering why." pic.twitter.com/lc0jLuRxLO

— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) May 31, 2023

I get it. Politics is as messy as a handsy kid with cotton candy, and while we need to keep politicians in check, sometimes watching them dunk on each other is painful.

Enter NDP MP Charlie Angus.

Pierre Poilievre is living the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

Private Chefs. Multi-million dollar estates. Caviar dreams.

And @CharlieAngusNDP has some thoughts. pic.twitter.com/9nU6n3r7BJ

— NDP (@NDP) June 3, 2023

If there is one thing consistent about the NDP, it’s that they rarely find an opportunity to get in the mud with the Liberals and Conservatives, mostly because they never have enough seats for it to not fall flat. Angus, who probably feels he should have been elected as party leader years ago, stepped out of obscurity and delivered a Poilievre-style takedown of Poilievre in a video meant to spotlight PP’s hypocrisy for railing against Trudeau’s penchant for wasting taxpayer dollars.

Thanks for taking the Tin Cat ands its contents over there for me, Charlie.
On a more serious note, this is bullshit. Charlie said nothing about Jack Layton and Tom Mulcair living there.
One good thing about the next election: we won't have Charlie around after that. #douche https://t.co/qCtsXPpOHr

— Mark Bourrie (@MarkBourrie) June 4, 2023

The video features Angus spoofing the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous to explain how much taxpayer money Poilievre burns through as Leader of the Opposition. It comes off like a worse version of that old Russell Oliver commercial – the gold pawn shop guy from the 1990s whose commercials made him a household name, mostly for how awful they were.

Angus uses wacky sound effects – a cash register bell and hysterical laughter – to help punctuate Poilievre’s refusal to support dental coverage for seniors, a point he doesn’t even mention until the video is almost over.

My personal favourite part of the video is when Angus tries to hammer his point home by accusing Poilievre of eating eggs Benedict as Angus’ powerful example of something rich people do.

It’s eggs, Charlie. Relax.

Is Angus wrong about Poilievre? Probably not, given PP’s status as a career politician who has only made money from the public purse. But given Angus’s status as a leader-who-never-was, it feels off. At a time when the NDP could present themselves as the only statemen left in Canada, they headed for the carnival instead.

So step right up, Canada.