05.19.2016 08:33 AM

Three points from my ten-point column on last night’s idiocy, plus the video

The three points:


The video:



70 Comments

  1. Cory says:

    Very good clear points. I’m looking forward to reading the rest.

    Supposedly ABC news in their reporting described the PM as “former bouncer and boxer”…when put that way doesn’t sound good.

  2. Art says:

    I don’t agree that the woman was hurt. Histrionics at its finest. I also noticed the Conservative members applauding Trudeau’s action, up until it became politically expedient to condemn it.

    • chris says:

      I’m pretty sure she was hurt, judging by here reaction. However, and attempts to make this intentional are ridiculous.

    • ottawacon says:

      Complete nonsense – the Conservatives were reacting to Brown’s refusal to be guided to his seat.

    • Nicole says:

      While it wasn’t great for Trudeau to step out and move Brown, it was the NDP’s overreaction to the elbow incident, which the video clearly shows is accidental, suddenly claiming it must be viewed through a gendered lens and now Parliament is unsafe for women, which was embarrassing. There is more contact on a TTC streetcar that happens on a daily commute than there was here.
      Many women do in fact face serious workplace harassment issues and to equate this incident to what they face is inappropriate. Even Elizabeth May got yelled at by the NDP when she tried to tell them to keep things in perspective.

      The winner here is Harper, shown watching from a distance with a smile, happy to not have to deal with any of this mess.

      • Art says:

        Agree, meant to mention the histrionics were shared by the NDP as a whole.

      • godot10 says:

        It is NOT accidental when you walk halfway across the Commons floor and recklessly barge into a crowd. There was nothing accidental at all about the Prime Minister’s actions. He assaulted two people, one with intent, and a second collaterally.

        • bluegreenblogger says:

          ROFL. Amazing! What do you see in an ink blot test? ‘Cause I just watched a video that showed nothing you claimed to see.

    • Peter says:

      Are you saying that elbowing a female M.P. on the floor of the House is only an issue if she was really hurt? Perhaps you’d be in favour of turning over the enforcement of parliamentary privilege to the NHL Department of Player Safety.

      The other disturbing thing was when he went up to Mulcair and went eye-ball to eye-ball with him, which was when the benches emptied. I have to admit, that family sure does have a knack for keeping Canada in the international spotlight.

    • Matt says:

      Whether she was actually hurt or Trudeau’s intended to elbow her, which for the record I believe was a complete accident, isn’t the point.

      He should have NEVER put himself in the position he did. David Akin reported Brown was delayed a whole 42 seconds before Trudeau got up, stormed across the floor, screamed “Get the fuck out of my way” and grabbed Brown by the arm.

      It’s behavior unbecoming a Prime Minister.

      As for Ruth Ellen, If I felt Trudeau’s elbow in my chest, I’d have hit the ground like a Brazilian soccer player.

    • Matt says:

      If you’re talking about the cheering from the left side of the HOC, those are Liberals.

  3. DarrenH says:

    Wow. What a petulant little child. He really showed how badly he needs to be the star of the show as he felt Brown was getting too much attention I guess. I love all the liberal defenders saying he didn’t shove her aside too hard as if to imply that somehow made it OK. Mr. Trudeau is lucky the Sergeant-at-Arms didn’t haul him out of there by the scruff of the neck. The Liberals have now lost any moral high ground over the previous government with this weeks shenanigans. #notready

  4. Yukon Cornelius says:

    I’m astonished that anyone, no matter how partisan, is trying to defend Trudeau’s actions.

    • Tim Sullivan says:

      I don’t see many defending his actions. Who’s defending his actions?

      Now, let’s hear about how Christopherson was blocking Brown, Angry Tom’s compliance and Ruth Ellen Brosseau’s constitution having to miss a vote without any pain indication on the video.

      Has she accepted the PM’s apology?

  5. Matt says:

    http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/liberals-threaten-to-take-full-control-of-the-house-as-deadline-looms-1.2907468

    Liberals threaten to take full control of the House as deadline looms

    The opposition parties are pushing back after Liberal House Leader Dominc LeBlanc gave notice the government could seize control of the House of Commons.

    LeBlanc has given notice of a motion that would let the Liberals force overnight debates and adjourn the House for the summer without any notice and with no debate. The motion would also restrict the opposition parties’ ability to slow down proceedings.

    The NDP and Conservatives are protesting the Liberal motion, arguing the Speaker should find it out of order. But MPs said they wanted to debate C-14, the assisted dying bill, so they put off much of the discussion for another day.

    “This is a sad day for our democracy,” NDP House Leader Peter Julian told the House. The Liberal motion would rewrite the House rules in 17 different ways “so that they, the executive, have unilateral control over all the procedural tools in the House.”

    Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer called the proposed Liberal motion unprecedented and said it came out of left field.

    “The motion that they put on notice is something that I’ve never seen or even heard of. It’s one thing for the government to use the tools available to it to implement its agenda. It’s another thing to take away tools from the opposition, and that’s what we’re seeing. This is a very undemocratic proposal by the government,” Scheer said.

    LeBlanc and Trudeau say they’re trying to extend House sitting hours to give more time for debate, ignoring questions about the other measures that would allow them the ability to shut down the House for the summer with no notice.

    So, Mr. Restore Faith in our democracy is doing everything he can to stifle democracy and debate. The Liberals by the way screamed bloody murder every time the Conservatives moved to end debate on a bill, now here they are taking the stifling of debate 17 steps further.

    Pathetic.

    • ottawacon says:

      In a perverse way, the physical confrontation is actually playing in the Liberals’ favour, because this is the real issue, and instead everyone and their dog is studying video.

      • Vancouverois says:

        Don’t count on it.

        The video may be a temporary distraction, but in the longer term it reinforces the narrative that Trudeau is a temperamental bully who has no patience for the usual restraints of Parliamentary democracy.

        • Ridiculosity says:

          A temperamental bully? Where the hell did that come from – he’s been called many things but a bully certainly isn’t one of them.

          • Maps Onburt says:

            Tell that to Patrick Brazeau!

            Obviously Sonny’s Dazed forgot he wasn’t fighting Patrick and took out his frustration on the similarly named Ruth Ellen Brosseau instead!

          • Vancouverois says:

            Perhaps he hasn’t directly been called a “bully”, but he definitely has been accused of having dictatorial tendencies (admiring “China’s basic dictatorship”, unilaterally disbanding the Liberal Senate caucus without consulting them, etc). Rushing over to the Tory whip in an effort to drag him back to his seat (while telling other opposition members to “get the f*ck out of my way!”) doesn’t exactly dispel that impression.

  6. David York says:

    Out of line to lay his hands on Brown. I don’t know what/if he was thinking. But the ‘elbow’ … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pmMR-IOp9c

  7. JH says:

    Elbowgate! Good Lord. And yes it was obviously an accident, part of which lays the blame at the feet of the NDP.
    Still, it is fun to watch the usual media suspects twist themselves into knots defending PMJT and finding ways to spin positively what they were so assiduously condemning last year. I love the hypocrisy. Had this been Harper’s doing, trees would die by the millions, the airwaves cluttered beyond all hope of meaning and the net would have blown up.
    I guess there’s something to be said for exercising self-control and a modicum of personal discipline.

  8. Peter says:

    Well, an entirely new turn of phrase enters the Canadian political lexicon today: “Get out of my fucking sunny way.”

  9. billg says:

    Headline: Canadian PM Uses Verbal and Physical abuse during vote to limit Oppositions Democratic Ability’s
    That’s some red meat irony right there.
    Funny thing is, Stephen Harper was in the House yesterday.
    He must have been thinking to himself in his best Al Pacino voice….” and I’m the bad guy..?”

  10. Eric Weiss says:

    Oh my! Enid, get me my clutching pearls and my fainting couch! I have the vapours!

    I’m no fan of the Boy King, but the histrionics over this are over the top. It was stupid of JT to do what he did. The optics are bad and the opposition are doing what the opposition does, making a big deal and embarrassing the PM for doing something stupid. In a week. It will be forgotten by every non-partisan Canadian.

    A few random thoughts…

    The NDP were farting around, playing their little games and intentionally block the CPC MP from getting to his seat. You can clearly see the grey haired guy in the dark suit, block him 3 times. Is this what MPs stoop to? I know the place acts like a kindergarten class most days, but this seems even more childish than usual.

    I find it repulsive how the NDP are playing up the “ZOMG he hit a woman” angle. It was at worse incidental contact. Funny how women in politics are as tough and resilient as men, unless it’s beneficial to bring about the patriarchal attitudes that women are delicate flowers that need special protection.

    The Tories are smart to let the LPC and NDP fling poop at each other over this.

    It was stupid. JT apologized. Get over the feigned outrage and get the fuck back to work.

    • Michael Bluth says:

      Complaining about histrionics leading into the remainder of that post is brilliant satire.

      Well played sir. Well played. <>

  11. Greg Vezina says:

    So we get to see how ending Harper’s rule for sunny ways is really going to work out. Much like Kathleen Wynne
    keeping her promise to do politics differently by doing it worse that anyone in Ontario history we are seeing that the commitment sunny ways only lasted until the first opportunity our new PM had to show the storm clouds on the way to replace them. Democracy Eh?

  12. Brian says:

    Congratulations to all parties on Parliament Hill! You all; Liberal Con and NDP, acted like the name of one of Canada’s greatest punk bands: “Bunchoffuckinggoofs.”

  13. Rich says:

    It needs a “Spew Alert !” warning….hilarious.

  14. Greyapple says:

    That “peaceful protester” was an angry man who jumped in front of Chretien to accost him. Sure, he didn’t intend to harm the PM, but how was Chretien to know that. As ever, context is everything. This was only a few months after a mentally ill man broke in 24 Sussex Drive with the intent to kill the PM, and the assassination of Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin, so Chretien was on edge. He didn’t go out of his way to grab the protester, that “scrawny little dweeb” was asking for trouble and he got it.

    Trudeau, on the other hand, did go out of his way to “help” Gord Brown last night. His actions were unnecessary grandstanding, and now he’s paid a price for them.

  15. PJH says:

    He’s becoming the king of overexposure: http://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/smart-living/daily-show-asks-trudeau-why-hes-trying-to-destroy-north-america/ar-BBtfgNl?li=AAggFp5&ocid=SL5MDHP

    Chretien and many other politicians did spoofs on Canadian comedy programs…..but they were short bits…..

    M. Trudeau seems to revel in this kind of thing…..but maybe its what sells these days…..guess I’m just getting old…..

  16. Charlie K says:

    Motion 6 dropped;

    and its curtain call for the Opposition.

    That’s essentially Ottawa in a nutshell.

  17. Richard says:

    He forgot to take off the elbow pad, raise the Prime Minister’s eyebrow, throw the elbow pad to the Parliamentary Press Gallery, run across the aisle twice before dropping the Prime Minister’s Elbow.

  18. Glen says:

    As much as the sight and sound of Trudeau irritates me to no end & just solidifies my impression that he is nothing more than an entitled petulant man-child, I think the elbow aspect of this is a little overblown.

    Forcefully grabbing a member however, is not.

    Also, riddle me this people – had it been a female MP he forcefully grabbed and guided away and a male MP he “elbowed” – would today’s narrative been the same?

  19. BillBC says:

    Warren–Thank you for your measured and reasonable response. It’s good to see that a Liberal can say that just because Trudeau is a Liberal doesn’t mean everything he does is right. Appalling to see the fanboys trying to excuse this incident, which reinforces my doubts about his character…

  20. smelter rat says:

    Biggest loser: Niki Ashton.

  21. ottlib says:

    My wife has zero interest in politics. She wonders what appeal it has for me. (I often wonder the same thing.)

    She saw this video and the immediate aftermath of it on the news and she looked quizzically at me and asked me what all of the fuss was about.

    I thought that was an interesting reaction so we talked briefly about it.

    Her take on the video. Mr. Trudeau went into a group of people standing around for no apparent reason, grabbed a guy and lead him towards his seat. When I asked if she saw him contact the chest of any of the women in the group she said no. When I asked her if the encounter was a violent one, she said no. When I asked her if she thought the Prime Minister’s actions were appropriate, she said I don’t know, maybe no. I finally explained to her that we were just seeing politics as usual and her response was, “Oh, that’s stupid”.

    The Prime Minister’s actions were inappropriate but that has been lost in all of the histrionics of the Conservatives and the NDP. Her description of the video is accurate. His actions were largely innocuous.

    However, to hear the Conservatives and the NDP tell it you would think that Mr. Trudeau barreled into the group, elbowed the lady from the NDP in the chest, hard, choked out the Conservative whip and dragged his limp, unconscious body along the floor the House of Commons back to his seat.

    Canadians are much smarter than their politicians give them credit for. They know BS and fake outrage when they see it. The result is the legitimate beef that they have towards the PM will be completely drowned out by their overzealous desire to make a mountain out of an African anthill.

    So, in the end all of the partisans of the various parties will spin this according to their particular predispositions while the majority of Canadians will ignore it while looking forward to the long weekend that marks the unofficial beginning of summer in this country. (And some of them are probably much more concerned over the fact that the Jays have lost 5 in a row and that the Raptors looked completely over-matched the other night.)

  22. Steve T says:

    This is funny, and very on-point for the NDP. Never miss an opportunity to play the victim!

    http://www.thebeaverton.com/2690-entire-ndp-caucus-arrive-in-neck-braces-wheelchairs-to-house-of-commons-after-trudeau-s-assault.htm

  23. Matt says:

    Did Trudeau seriously just try to blame the “pressures of the job” for his behavior Wednesday night??

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/canada-pm-trudeau-says-am-human-fracas-cites-234222138.html

  24. Maps Onburt says:

    Nice to see you have come around Warren. This post is bang on.

  25. Wayland says:

    If you look closely, when Mulcair goes to yell at Trudeau, he elbows one of his MPs (David Christopherson?) out of the way. Around 1:24 in the video.

  26. Francis says:

    In other news, Nikki Ashton just unofficially launched her leadership bid (campaign slogan expected to read: “As a women…”) while Mulcair has initiated his transition into his latter years as a senile old man yelling at teenagers across the street in addition to writing his memoirs, titled: “Dinner with Thatcher and Chomsky”.

    Expect GoFundMe pages to be set up for both endeavours very soon.

  27. Francis says:

    An excellent read, but I post this for you in particular, Warren, regarding one of your tweets:

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/elbowgate/article30101483/

  28. Luke says:

    I find this whole affair to be a bunch of noise blown way out of proportion.

    These points:
    1. The opposition parties are underestimating the amount and significance of public goodwill and associated benefit of the doubt Trudeau currently enjoys. They sound like a bunch of cry-babies complaining about someone around half of us like quite a bit, for doing something that really was not such a big deal.
    2. Even real scandals do not seem to resonate anymore, as per Warren’s observations and interpretations. I don’t think this is even a scandal.
    3. Do many people outside of Ottawa care one iota about these events?

    • Warren says:

      Cool! You get to use the CPC’s old talking points now!

      • Luke says:

        Ha!

        I’m serious though. I look at this video and my reaction is essentially one of indifference. I don’t see the big deal. The elbow thing was obviously inadvertent. I agree getting frustrated and guiding the Conservative whip was not appropriate, but the extent to which I care is rather limited.

        What I find sort of funny about it all is that the circus is entirely distracting from the issue at hand, which (I think) was the (seemingly Harper-style) rushing through of the assisted death legislation. On the surface, that makes me much more uncomfortable than this exchange.

    • Matt says:

      When even the Toronto Star has taken Trudeau “out behind the wood shed” in an editorial, I’d say yes, people outside Ottawa care.

      • Luke says:

        OK, perhaps I should have written the “Ottawa bubble,” which I presume extends to the Toronto Star’s offices.

        I do not not foresee this event making any serious impact upon the general public’s view of Trudeau. (Not that that would be a defence of any given action.)

    • Peter says:

      Do many people outside of Ottawa care one iota about these events?

      Apparently.

      • Luke says:

        Apparently indeed. It is beyond me.

        Does anyone think it will translate into a shift in public opinion? I have my doubts.

        • Cory says:

          It may not be the end of the honeymoon, but it may be the beginning of the end.

          I think a lot of people, especially in the media, have had their eyes opened.

          • The Doctor says:

            A very wise friend of mine once gave me this piece of advice: “Whenever someone shows you what they’re really like, believe it.”

  29. Paul O says:

    If only we had the “basic dictatorship” Trudeau so admires, this wouldn’t be such an issue. His defenders wouldn’t have to claim that (a) REB was in the wrong to be in the way of a charging PM, (b) it was a natural act for a former teacher to assault Members of Parliament, (c) it wasn’t really assault if the victim wasn’t seriously injured.

    How fitting that the larger issue of the day was whether Trudeau should be allowed to turn Parliament into more of a dictatorship, completely removing any authority from the Opposition to guide the agenda of the House.

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