, 08.12.2020 07:00 AM

My latest: when you become what you came to change

There’s even a name for it. 

It’s in the dictionary and everything. The Merriam-Webster people define it as “government by those who seek chiefly status and personal gain at the expense of the governed.”

That’s what we’ve got in Canada, now. Our national government, the Justin Trudeau-led government, is that. 

It’s arrival was heralded in Friday night. The National Post’s Christopher Nardi story was headlined thus: “Trudeau government paying $84M to firm employing Katie Telford’s husband to manage rent assistance aid program.”

Katie Telford is the Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The sub-headline read: “The PMO says Telford had nothing to do with the contract between Robert Silver’s firm and a federal crown corporation.”

When the story landed, you could practically picture Trudeau’s factotums congratulating themselves: the story had come out on a Friday evening, when no one would really notice it. One-day wonder, they’d tell themselves, then go back to Googling their names and posting selfies. 

But then the Globe and Mail published, too. 

“Spouse of PM’s chief of staff had meeting on Liberals’ rent-relief program,” read the headline on the Globe story, written by Marieke Walsh. 

The lede paragraph expanded on it: “The spouse of the Prime Minister’s chief of staff took part in a meeting with the Crown corporation responsible for the government’s commercial rent-relief program after the company where he works was awarded the contract to administer the program, and before the contract was extended.”

Both stories were atop their respective web sites. And, at that point, Trudeau’s insular little clan may have fretted, a bit. But then they reminded themselves: the boss had been found guilty of taking gifts from lobbyists, and he got through it. 

And he – and his staff – had conspired, 22 separate times, to stop the criminal prosecution of a corrupt Quebec-based corporate donor. And they’d driven out two brilliant women – one Indigenous – who tried to stop them from doing it. 

And there was the time the boss had been caught wearing racist blackface – not once, not twice, but three times! 

And they’d gotten re-elected anyway. 

So this latest controversy – wherein Trudeau and his cronies had again been caught prospering in the middle of a pandemic that has seen millions of Canadians lose their jobs – wasn’t such a big deal, to them. They all gave a Trudeauesque shrug, and went back to seeing how many likes they were getting on Instagram. 

But they should care. They should. 

It’s true that voters hear the “scandal” allegation too often. The media, and politicos, allege wrongdoing all the time, and thereby become the boys and girls who cry wolf. 

It’s also true that no one has been outfitted with an orange pantsuit and handcuffs, and trotted off to Millhaven yet. That is true, as Nixonian as it sounds: no one has gone to jail yet. 

And it’s true that the coronavirus pandemic should be the biggest concern of every one of us. The virus has infected tens of thousands of Canadians, and killed 9,000 of us. It has shattered our economy, and changed the way we live our lives. All true. 

But the reason why all of Justin Trudeau’s latest scandals are so profoundly, irretrievably scandalous is just that: the pandemic. Because the allegation is that Trudeau’s cabal sought to enrich themselves during a pandemic that is impoverishing millions of Canadians. 

What’s the problem, the dwindling number of Liberal partisans ask? The problem is this: the governed were losing their homes, losing their jobs, losing their futures. While Trudeau’s gang were apparently making out like bandits.

That is not merely wrong, it is actually evil. It is beyond the pale. Beyond words. 

The Prime Minister’s mother, being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by a “charity” to give two-minute talks? His brother, too? His wife and his Finance Minister getting free trips? The children of cabinet ministers getting jobs when they shouldn’t?

Those aren’t allegations. They are facts. They are things that have happened – provided by a vile, wicked “charity” that hired detectives to spy on Canadian reporters and their families. Was some of the public monies Justin Trudeau earmarked for his friends to be used to tail journalists? Isn’t that against the law?

It goes on and on and on. It never stops, this fetid, foul stew of corruption and moral blindness. Even during a pandemic, the Trudeau government’s descent into the muck continues unabated. 

So, there’s a name for what we’ve now got. There’s a name for a government like Justin Trudeau’s – a government run by those who seek status and personal gain at the expense of the rest of us.

It’s a kleptocracy. 

22 Comments

  1. joe long says:

    Has WE paid back the $30 odd million the Trudeau government advanced for the canceled program? It shouldn’t be that hard!

    Or has WE transferred the funds to various WE related entities so that the organization Trudeau gave the money to is broke?

    Are WE, and Team Trudeau, hoping we (the tax payers) will forget about this so that WE can keep the money?

  2. Douglas W says:

    Eventually, the Trudeau Liberals will defeat themselves.

    Looking like it’s still a few years away.

  3. the real Sean says:

    Mark Carney would have to be out of his GD mind to befoul his reputation by even peeking at the flaming dumpster fire this group has made of the Liberal Party.

  4. In six words:

    Just the tip of the iceberg.

  5. Steve says:

    Too many times, when speaking to people about the unconscionable behavior, attitude and actions of this government, I hear the refrain “The Conservatives did it”, or “The other guys are just as bad” or “What does it matter? They’re all the same.”
    They most assured are NOT the same. More to the point, governments of all stripes will be encouraged to do even more of these types of behaviors if they think there is no consequence to their actions.
    The surest way to get rid of these bad apples is to vote them out the first time they cross the line. If the next guys do the same, vote them out too. Repeat until the message is clear as day: governments that are revealed to have breached ethics rules to enrich themselves or their families and friends will lose their jobs via the ballot box.
    This issue crosses partisan lines, regions, languages, income status and voting blocs. As citizens we must stand united: kleptocracies will NOT be tolerated!

  6. Lynn says:

    I have always found Mr. Silver to be a smirking toady and now we know why; it pays handsomely.

    I have abandoned this bunch and have sent my local, long term Liberal MP a scathing letter telling him why they will never get my support or money again. I know a few others who have done the same. People who first cast a vote for the Liberals in the 60s and 70s and consistently since are done with the party.

    Corrupt, inept and mendacious; I have had it.

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      Lynn,

      Clearly SNC was the watershed moment where a lot of Liberals started seriously grumbling internally without expressing it. Some left the party in its wake like I did. I’m just glad I was back in the CPC before WE hit. Nice to have seen the light before it became glaringly obvious thanks to this Prime Minister and his nearest and dearest. One wonders what his father would think…

  7. Tommy says:

    Absolutely rock solid right on!

  8. Yet Another Calgarian says:

    They should have listened to Mobotu Sese Seko

    “If you want to steal, steal a little in a nice way. But if you steal too much to become rich overnight, you’ll be caught.”

    They are as good at grifting as they are at governing which is to say not at all.

  9. Joseph says:

    It’s also been referred to as the laurentian elite.
    Way back, if you refer to pre-confederation history, Upper Canada has its Family Compact, made up of the “betters” of society that knew how to do nepotism like no one else.

    Did someone not say back in 2015 that Canada was back?

  10. Dave says:

    http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/blanchet-will-push-for-election-if-trudeau-morneau-telford-wont-resign/ar-BB17SyRI?li=AAggNb9&ocid=iehp The Block leader just stated, when we and the Conservatives are in agreement, the Prime Minister should be worried.

  11. Ted says:

    I can’t stand this bunch.

    but but but

    I still fail to understand what the big deal was with the Aga Khan. If Justin had gone to see the Pope?

    And as much as I am no fan of Rob Silver or Katie Telford, I feel they are being unfairly smeared here.
    Hurry up and get the money out the door. Wait, do proper due diligence. C’mon.

    That being said Mark Norman, SNC Lavalin, the Kielburgers. Trudeaus and Morneaus on the take. Yuck.

    Someone needs to focus on what is important.

    Hopefully the new leader of the Conservatives surprises.

    • Steve Teller says:

      Expedient programs and avoiding conflict of interest are not mutually exclusive. It is easy to enact programs and not shovel money to your family or friends. It doesn’t slow the process one iota.

      As for the leader of the CPC, I actually think Leslyn Lewis might be the best person to tackle this scandal. She doesn’t have government baggage, nor is she as extreme as Derek Sloan. We will see!

  12. Joseph says:

    So if I understand the theme of this post, there is a presumption that originally they didn’t get corrupted until after they got in a position of power and before that moment they where all without sin?

  13. Paul G. MacLeod says:

    Aided and abetted by the taxpayer-supported media which coddles and provides a forum for the ethically questionable.
    Prime example: CBC’s Power and Politics. On its Power Panel page readers are invited to “scroll down the page to learn more about our panelists.”
    Who do we find snugly ensconced alphabetically between Tim Powers and Andrew Thomson? Sporting his usual smug smile – Rob Silver, former lawyer, entrepreneur and “a founding partner at Crestview strategies a leading Canadian public affairs agency “…and a political pundit for over a decade appearing on CBC’s Power and Politics as a regular panelist for most of that time.”
    The blurb unabashedly recognizes his spousal relationship with “Katie Telford, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada.” The CBC says the listing of panelists was “last updated: January 6” shortly before Mr. Silver accepted the post as Sr. VP, Strategy, Policy, Risk at MCAP later that month. Mr. Silver left the government relations firm Crestview following the October 2015 election, giving the reason for his wife’s new job as chief of staff to the PM as the reason. Unfortunately he failed to recuse himself from appearing on the Power and Politics as an occasional pundit, though the host did inform viewers of his compromised position. This failure was not his alone; CBC/Power & Politics management share blame. I suppose his appearances were no more inappropriate than those of other panelists regularly appearing on that show.
    Paul G. MacLeod – NL.

  14. Gilbert says:

    What was the big deal with the Aga Khan? A billionaire doesn’t need $50 million from the Canadian government.

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      Gilbert,

      Let’s just say that the Aga Khan Foundation has a far better reputation than those other guys. I doubt they will ever earn honorary citizenship from any country.

  15. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    When The Toronto Sun reports that Campaign Research has the leaderless CPC ahead of the Trudeau Liberals, not to mention the CPC ahead in ATLANTIC CANADA, watch out cause the Liberal rout is coming. Poor Freeland. There goes the big job after the déluge.

    • Nick M. says:

      I do recall the previous Campaign research data showed Trudeau polling oddly high among youth male population. Extremely high.

      That has all changed, and that demographic will continue to plummet during a recession.

      SNC affair killed Trudeau’s numbers in BC, and Further cemented disdain in the Prairies.

      Seems like male youth and Atlantic Canada is where he is being hurt the most this time around.

  16. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Well, well, this Prime Minister and Morneau get to have The Talk on Monday. Will Morneau accept a demotion or will he walk? Course there always the golden consolation prize of giving him Telford’s “job” in D.C.

    But then what do you do with an incoming Carney? Do you dare byelection him before the great Liberal fall? Decisions, decisions.

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