nearing the end (of an error)…
It had to come to this.
As his policy and politics drift, Trudeau, the ‘boy wonder’ and his merry band of pranksters in Ottawa are staring reality in the face: a Canadian electorate that’s caught on to the prime minister’s bafflegab and pretentious Liberal bullshit. Mindless crap that preached, finger-wagged, and legislated poorly-framed laws that are now falling flat on their arse like dominoes thanks to the Courts.
That it took so long to unwind the feral Liberal ( yes, feral ) nonsense, well…that’s another story. But it’s gobsmacking, nevertheless, to review just how much garbage legislation has hit the fan: A plastics ban that aims to turn all things toxic; a carbon ‘charge’ (as it’s being called now) that overshoots federal jurisdiction by a country-mile (and then boomerangs in the opposite direction, with exemptions for home heating oil); the nearly-impossible-to-get-anything-approved regulatory process that vaporizes any whiff of a new pipeline. And then there’s the heavy-handed and out-of-sync rules to police online platforms that punish our country’s internet users instead. Oh, and pushes nascent local journalism that depends on social media into bankruptcy! Who would have thunk?
More foo foo in the Liberal’s fairy dust: An “independent” in name only Senate can’t slow Trudeau’s gang down for a nano-second. So-called legislative review committees (in Parliament and in the Senate committees) can’t see or won’t fix glaring problems. And the Supreme Court is left to try and course-correct, after the fact.
And beyond the ill-conceived legislation, there are the staggering diplomatic gaffes that diminish our place in the world. The over-the-top sanctimonious “thou shalt” scoldings by the sock boy to world leaders. Most recently, telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to exercise “maximum restraint” as “the world was watching.”
Admittedly, we’re no fans of Trudeau (the younger). He sure as hell ain’t his daddy! In December 2018, we posted a blog that got us into a lot of hot water with liberal Liberals. But quite honestly, this isn’t personal. There’s just so much at stake, we couldn’t and will not remain silent.
Ordinary Canadians are watching this tragic movie play out — The Great Unravelling — in agonizingly slow-motion. Our ‘boy wonder’ was at one time the disco queen, and now the mirror-ball has crashed through the floor.
WHO’S DIRECTING THE SHIT SHOW?
Ever wonder who’s directing Ottawa’s dog & pony ensemble? Wouldn’t you like to talk to someone in the know and get the inside track on how all these Liberal misjudgements and miscalculations stack up, one after another after another and another one after that?
Of course, no one — nobody in Trudeau’s government — has the temerity to talk outside the bubble (Donna has been chasing Minister of Jobs Randy Bossa Nova for weeks to chat for her National Post column. He’s yet to put her on his dance card). So, we find ourselves imagining what these conversations could sound like; in our heads, thinking out loud, unvarnished blather, yet scripted something like this:
ACT ONE: 2016
Trudeau Brain Trust Actor 1: So, ummm, we have to do something to retard the export of that gawd-awful oil & natural gas. It’s killing the planet. How can we slow things down? There must be a way to do it, right?
Government Lackey: Yah, sure. I get your point but the Americans want our oil & gas. We should expect even the Democrats to make a fuss if we don’t keep sending the filth their way. Why don’t we blow up the regulatory process for approving new pipeline builds? That will gum up the works.
Trudeau Brain Trust Actor 2: Hell of an idea! The boss will talk up an ‘environmentally responsible’ carbon tax that rakes in money across the country. And then, he’ll change socks and issue generous rebates to millions of Canadians who will embrace the idea of getting free money from their government!
Trudeau Brain Trust Actor 1: Damn, you’re good. Diabolically brilliant. We’ll look pristine on the climate change stage and buy votes at the same time.
ACT TWO: 2019
Trudeau Brain Trust Actor 1: Okay, so here we go with Bill 69. Yipeee! It’s approved. We’ve up-ended the oil & gas business!
Government Lackey: It’s possible the Supreme Court may not be entirely onside with this new regulatory policy, and the federal carbon tax. But it will take years for the provinces to catch up.
Trudeau Brain Trust Actor 2: No worries. By the time the Supreme Court weighs in, we’ll have figured out other strategies.
Government Lackey: Maybe Justin could offer up exemptions on the carbon tax in selected regions of the country?
Trudeau Brain Trust Actor 1: Tricky. Catherine McKenna would have have a hissy-fit over carbon tax exceptions. Good thing she’s not in government anymore, eh.
ACT THREE: 2023
Trudeau Brain Trust Actor 2: I feel like a pest today. Why don’t we give those hydrocarbon-sucking-dinosaurs a real jolt and completely ban plastics too!!
Government Lackey: I’ll add it to the to-do doo-doo. Consider it done.
Trudeau Brain Trust Actor 1: My turn. This will piss them off. Let’s make CBC the only media of size & scale and put private media out of the business of telling Canadians our story. What else can we do?
Government Lackey: Yah, that’s a tough one. Okay, let’s lambast social media platforms — and their evil multi-national owners — make them out to be the bad guys. If they refuse to post Canadian media on Facebook or Instagram or whatever we don’t own, it’ll force Canadians to CBC as their sole source of true and truthful news (wink, wink)!
Trudeau Brain Trust Actor 2: You’re on to something there. Point the finger at the greedy tech giants. I’ve never really understood what they’re going on about or how the internet does what it does, but damn it all to hell if this strategy won’t work, eh.
BULLSHIT BAFFLES BRAINS
“Because it’s 2015,” was at the time, a retort that put a freshly-minted prime minister on the map with fellow travellers who thought “this time it’s gonna be different.” Yet what’s happened in Ottawa since then hasn’t been all that different. The over-reach. The hubris. The delusion. It can’t just be written off as poorly-crafted laws and regulations. It’s beyond redemption. Everything the boy wonder has promised or touched has turned to shite. And while the crap piled up around the fan, the Liberals never calculated that one day the fan might turn on. And it has.
Canadians have been un-electing governments across the country. But we get it: federally, the choices may not appeal to everyone. If you can’t bring yourself to ever consider voting Conservative or NDP…please, please, please…do everyone a favour and get involved in rebuilding a Liberal party that’s presently drunk on cheap plonk and pissed itself; a disgrace to the memory of Lester Pearson, and, yes, Trudeau (the elder).
Canadian Club works wonders this time of year…
This column is the consensus opinion of the writers Donna Kennedy-Glans & Don Hill. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to BEYOND POLARITY — scroll down on your phone or tablet, or look to the right in the panel beside this post. Enter your email to FOLLOW, a wheel spins, hamsters get fed.