You Had An Option, Canada. And You Settled For This?

John Turner: “I had no option.”

Brian Mulroney: ”You had an option, sir, to say 'no' and you chose to say 'yes' to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal party.” Federal Leaders Debate 1984

It is Weasel Time in the urban salons of the 416/ 514/ 613/ 604. With the growing realization that everyone outside Canada—and more specifically Eastern Canada— sees Justin Trudeau as a punch line the guilty who repeatedly voted for him are suddenly trying to cover their tracks.

“I didn’t want to vote for him,” they explain. “But I had no option.” 

Let’s pause to consider that. Since he was elected in 2015 which Justin Trudeau did you miss? RCMP Obstructor? Captain Blackface? The Kielburger Kid? Ethics Offender? Be My Teddy Bear? “She Perceived It Differently”? Mr. Dressup? The Chinese Vaccine Swindler? Race Baiter? Cucumber Pants? Bollywood Justin? The Wizard of Winnipeg Labs? I’ve Got Your Credit Rating?

Now let’s consider CPC leader Erin O’Toole. Okay, there wasn’t a lot there. But there wasn't a moral deficiency a mile wide that embarrassed the nation as when Skippy goes swanning about the G7 or G20. 

The ethics commissioner wasn’t repeatedly finding him guilty for taking free stuff. His policies could charitably called Liberal Lite. He was trying hard to make the 416/ 514/ 613 like him by abandoning conservative policies. The worst thing his enemies could throw at O’Toole was his wife serving him a beer after he had a jog.

So please, Trudeau deniers, you had an option. Don’t put the blame for prolonging this long national embarrassment on anyone but yourself. And the NDP. 

But if you still need a reason to think JTPM is the worst prime minister of the post-war era— perhaps ever— consider his execrable performance during the Truckers Convoy. Convinced only Nazis could disagree with his godlike status, Trudeau— and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland— insisted that the only way the convoy could have quickly raised nearly $10 million on two crowdfunding platforms was if nefarious foreign actors were funding the protest.

Taking their leader’s cue, clueless Liberal jackanapes promoted the same libel of foreign funding interference in the debate over emergency measures. Adding to the chorus were the PM’s poodles at CBC who doubled down on the myth of foreign interference, reporting that thousands of suspicious donations came from foreigners. The CBC lap dogs added, “The donations identified by CBC News are likely only a fraction of all the donations made by people outside of Canada.” (CBC has now withdrawn the story.) 

Trudeau used the scare to justify freezing the finances of people he disagreed with, jeopardizing their livelihoods and threatening them with criminal charges. “If you've joined the protest because you're tired of COVID, you now need to understand you are breaking laws,” he said, conflating mischief with treason. “The consequences are becoming more and more severe”. 

In a move criticized by many Western democracies Trudeau suspended Canada’s cherished traditions of free speech and dissent to silence his blue-collar critics. And invented a coup by people who had no weapons, never interrupted the running of government, never kidnapped a politician and never even darkened the door of the House of Commons. But honked horns a lot.

It was all bullshit, as we learned last week with the visit to Parliament by FINTRAC official Barry MacKillop. McKillop said there was not a hint of foreign threat to Canada’s democracy in the donations.  “It was their own money. It wasn’t cash that funded terrorism or was in any way money laundering,” he told a Parliamentary committee. “I believe they just wanted to support the cause.”

This supported an earlier report from the funding platforms that also contradicted the PM’s paranoid ranting. The truckers weren’t feeding at the trough of outside actors. They were just “fed up”. But Skippy attacked them with all the weapons in a PM’s arsenal. According to Department of Finance officials, as little as $20 in donations was enough to trigger a bank account freeze and an investigation under the act.” 

So, to recap for our friends who thought there was no better option than Trudeau. The PM hid from protesters, slandered them as Nazis and women haters. When that didn’t work he fabricated a story that evil outsiders were helping the people in the Bouncy Castles to mount a coup against his government. Using CBC (and other accommodating media) he created a national panic to suspend civil liberties in Canada. One hapless Corp bingo caller suggested they were Putin stooges.

When the enormity of this disgrace emerged, Trudeau fired up the public-owned jet, took his deputy PM, foreign affairs minister  and a battery of cameras with him for a Cook’s Tour of war-torn Ukraine. The only danger he faced was overexposure as he lined up photo ops with embarrassed soldiers and politicians.

Trudeau took his glazed smile and stuck it into the lens so Canadians could see him rally NATO for Ukraine. Well, rally is a little strong. Trudeau is a go-cart while the other G-& leaders are F1 cars. The only person Trudeau rallied was his pilot.

The closest he or his coterie got to real fire was from a lonely CBC reporter who was under the impression his job was to ask questions to which Canadians wanted answers. Finance minister Freeland, grand-daughter of a Ukrainian Nazi sympathizer (she also bossed the financial freeze of the truckers and their donors), harrumphed, “No one is asking why we are here!” Oh yes there are, replied the intrepid reporter.

Reminded that U.S. president Joe Biden was running America’s Ukraine effort from the White House while they were ignoring Canada’s soaring gas prices and inflation numbers, minister Joly said the plebes could never understand the intricate minds of luminaries such as her. Later Joly showed her grasp on Canada’ history: “ "Canada is not a nuclear power, it is not a military power, we're a middle-size power”. Canada is "good at convening” she said. When tone deafness is an Olympic sport this crew will win the gold medal hands-down. 

So when you hear the GTA chorus retreating from its Liberal crush, remember, “You had an option” last fall. Just ask the late John Turner. 

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com). The best-selling author was nominated for the BBN Business Book award of 2020 for Personal Account with Tony Comper. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, he’s also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. His new book with his son Evan Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History is now available on http://brucedowbigginbooks.ca/book-personalaccount.aspx