One In Five Canadians Does Not Make A Trudeau Mandate

After GTA voters rejected every Conservative candidate in the ethnically diverse hub of Toronto the federally funded CBC hastens to crudely suggest that the party is hopelessly racist. "Althia Raj@althiaraj After Monday's vote, the federal Conservative caucus will be 95 per cent white | CBC News”

Meanwhile the Toronto-based Globe & Mail printed a story demanding that the criticism of CBC’s election anchor, Rosemary Barton, cease. Poor thing. With her lawsuit against Conservatives rejected she needs some sympathy.

Sigh. The Canadians Solitudes. Friends in the West ask us how urban Ontario can vote unanimously for someone with the moral and ethical failures of Justin Trudeau. They see the blackface, the sexual-assault allegations and Jody Wilson Raybould quotes about lying to RCMP and say, forget everything else, how is this not a disqualifi

In such moments we always say it’s the Family Compact, an Ontario tribal thing. Like the LCBO. Ontario’s government-run liquor retailer is an anachronism from the time when beer bottles were not allowed in beer TV ads. Though it’s allowed some retail opportunities for Ontario wines, the LCBO still big-foots everything in liquor retailing the province. 

It’s like ghost-leg syndrome. The Ontario government’s booze outlet  is a reminder of the Calvinist Orange province that wallowed in blue laws for generations, loyal to the Crown, righteous in its piety— on liquor, at least. Ontarians revere its green signs, its snappy wooden fixtures, its wine consultants, its alleged price advantage from its market size, its glossy circulars.

Would free marketing offer more choice and better customer experience? Of course. Yet it endures. Like the Liberal Party of Trudeau.

The LCBO came to mind Monday night as the GTA returned to its roots as a Family Compact… er., Liberal stronghold. With Erin O’Toole’s Ralph Goodale imitation falling flat, the NDP a tad too progressive and Max Bernier too close to the West, traditional Ontario fell back on its tribal roots.

True, there was no love for Trudeau. But there was naked self-interest in keeping Stephen Harper… er, O’Toole away from power. As soon as the Covid-19 scare campaign emerged from Alberta (hat tip to Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s health czar and future senator) there was cover to stay in the fold. “You can’t trust the Conservatives with out blessed Healthcare®” they sighed and got out the pencil for The Reset routine.

Trudeau has inherited much from his father.  Now, apparently, he’s adopted Pierre’s ruling coalition of Fortress East and no other support till the lower mainland of BC. As Lorrie Goldstein of the Toronto Sun observed, when Liberal flacks talked about a “mandate” for the PM "@JustinTrudeau got 32 percent of the 60 percent of Canadians who voted on Monday. Put another way, about 20 percent of registered/legal Canadians voted for him. That is 1 in 5. So Trudeau does not represent 4 out of 5 Canadians.”

If this were the U.S. Democrats we’d be screaming that CPC has 140 thousand more votes than do the Liberals who still managed to get 36 more seats (pending final mail-in votes). We’d suggest that electoral reform is urgently needed but, of course, Trudeau promised electoral reform in the 2019 election then dropped the issue like it was a justice minister. 

So what happened? The CPC brain trust did LCBO Liberals a favour, running a Liberal-in-slow-motion campaign for O’Toole. You don’t win elections fighting on the other guy’s turf. O’Toole best pitch was promising to baby-sit all the LPC pet issues— climate, gender, equity, The Reset— till the Libs could punt Skippy back to Papineau and bring in the sainted Mark Carney, formerly of The bank of Canada and Bank of England. 

Till then, the NDP will actually be running the government. By our reckoning, leaving their 24 MPs to make up a wish list of issues. In no particular order they are:

The Climate Reset

Massive inflation

Government control of social media

Tax on primary residence

Gender fluidity

Aggressive immigration levels

CBC

Indefinite Covid restrictions 

The question is what happens from now until the Liberals have a new leader and reach again for a majority in about two years to lessen the NDP’s influence on them? How will the West react if Trudeau goes ahead with plans to hem in the energy industry and expand the powers of a centralized government?

The first indication on what’s next may be the October 18 referendum in Alberta on the province’s concerns about equalization.  It’s likely to be volatile. As former journalist Gary Lamphier tweeted, “Canada is over. Actually, I'm kind of relieved. This pretend country is a country in name only. Now we can start the serious business of separation.”

Critics are quick to point out that, constitutionally,  Alberta cannot unilaterally change the terms of the scheme where, as Albertans see it, the province annually pays out billions while Quebec scoops up those billions. True. But Quebec’s sovereignty-association referenda in 1980 and 1995 likewise had no constitutional legal status to unilaterally change the country. 

But its emotional effect was enormous. And Alberta will not be alone in its demands for— at the very least— the kind of powers Ottawa has devolved to Quebec. Saskatchewan will also want to re-orient the power of Ottawa in its affairs. 

Yes, Jason Kenney, the man who will lead the debate on Oct. 18 is wounded, perhaps fatally. But there are many more who will gladly take up the issue of Alberta’s grieveance with centarlized power. So, advice to Ontarians: stock up at the LCBO. It’s about to get bumpy.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com). The best-selling author of Cap In Hand is also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, his new book with his son Evan is called InExact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History is now available on http://brucedowbigginbooks.ca/book-personalaccount.aspx