, 04.18.2023 05:28 PM

My latest: take a permanent vacation, for the love of God

As Andrew Coyne memorably said: they‘re just trolling us, now.

The Trudeau Liberals, that is. “Trolling,” generally, is Internet slang for a person who intentionally tries to instigate conflict, hostility, or arguments with someone else. In this case, specifically, it’s Justin Trudeau signalling – once and for all, beyond any reasonable doubt – that he doesn’t give a rat’s ass what you, his employers, think.

That’s the bad news.

The good news – and Lord knows we could use some, as you will shortly see – is that the CBC still knows how to publish stories that are highly, highly damaging to Justin Trudeau.

Just a day after Elon Musk’s Twitter labelled the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation “government-funded media,” thereby implying that the CBC is effectively on Trudeau’s political payroll, the Mother Corp. struck back.

First thing Tuesday morning, CBC’s French language news team broke a pretty big story:
Trudeau and his family spent the Christmas holidays at something called Prospect, an uber-rich seaside estate owned by the Green family in Jamaica.

Who, CBC reported, had previously made a huge donation to the Trudeau Foundation.

Which, as we all know, is now at the very epicentre of the metastasizing Chinese election and influence-peddling scandal.

Well done, CBC. Take note, Elon Musk.

The trip cost taxpayers – you and me – some $160,000 because of security and personnel costs. Trudeau’s staff, CBC noted, had been billeted at a nearby resort. All-inclusive, natch.

Trudeau’s fart-catchers will claim, and have, that the trip was cleared by the Ethics Commissioner. Said office now being led by the sister-in-law of one of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers, who also happens to be one of his best friends.

But nobody outside of Ottawa cares what the “Ethics Commissioner” says, anymore. From Whitehorse to Windsor, regular Canadians don’t need an “Ethics Commissioner” to tell them what is right and what is wrong.

Morally wrong, ethically wrong. Regular folks know Trudeau’s latest vacation on the public dime is wrong – and profoundly, deeply disgusting – for two big reasons.

One, it’s Trudeau – a multi-millionaire, remember – spending other people’s money recklessly. At a time when the vast majority of them can’t afford a trip to the grocery store, let alone an exclusive retreat in Jamaica.

Two, it’s wrong because it shows the Liberal Prime Minister’s utter disregard for the seriousness of the Chinese election and influence-peddling scandal. When the foundation that bears his family name has been used as a vehicle by Chinese agents to influence Trudeau, is it wise to spend the holidays at the Caribbean mansion of a known Trudeau Foundation donor?

No, it isn’t. And that much is obvious to everyone else – the leaders of the Conservative, New Democratic and Bloc Quebecois parties, included. They, like the rest of us, were shocked and appalled by what CBC reported. Even unnamed Liberals were disgusted. “We wonder why he goes to places like that,” a source told Radio-Canada.

Said another: “I can’t explain why he provides [the Opposition] with ammunition and feeds these kinds of attacks.”

I can tell you why. And it’s the bad news, mentioned right off the top.

It’s this: Justin Trudeau just doesn’t care. He doesn’t care what any of us think, anymore. He doesn’t give a sweet damn. And he’s going to keep doing things like this until he can’t anymore.

Which is up to us. Because, at the earliest opportunity, we need to vote the jerk out.

Enough is enough.

44 Comments

  1. Peter Williams says:

    “I’m entitled to my entitlements, and while Jagmeet might chirp a lot, he supports me.”

    “Canadians must cut back on their travel, but I’m entitled so I’ll travel.”

    My travel has been cleared by the ethics commissioner. She’s a woman, but I pay her $100k less than the last man to occupy that position.

  2. Warren,

    “One, it’s Trudeau – a multi-millionaire, remember – spending other people’s money recklessly. At a time when the vast majority of them can’t afford a trip to the grocery store, let alone an exclusive retreat in Jamaica.”

    It’s writing like this that makes you a star. Absolutely golden. Chapeau!

  3. I hope that Pierre also recognizes the significance of this: God is giving him more breathing room not to put his verbal foot in it going forward. He will get only so many more chances before the election. A wise man would at least temper certain verbal and written instincts in the future. Otherwise, a Trudeau revival becomes more statistically predictable, thanks to our own past pattern of unforced errors.

    • Douglas W says:

      Ronald, you nailed it: “a Trudeau revival becomes more statistically predictable, thanks to our own past pattern of unforced errors.”

      I have visions of Double P, eking out a minority government; then stumbling hard and … the country clamouring for JT.

      You know, shades of Joe Clark in 1979 and the Return of the Jedi in 1980.
      Yup: history can repeat itself.

    • Jason says:

      That would be great, but the arrogant little pissant doesn’t know how to zip it. Nor is he capable of coming up with a coherent strategy for literally anything, aside from election scheming.

      We are screwed either way.

  4. Gilbert says:

    I agree. He doesn’t care. A person with integrity and values would have definitely resigned by now.

  5. western view says:

    Well, at least the security personnel who sacrificed their own Christmas holidays got their share of the sunshine and opulence too.

  6. Sean says:

    Had a good chat with a staunch Tru-Anon friend a few nights ago. He was willing to put up with it all until the China stuff. “You were right all along, this guy is a disaster” was the jist of the conversation. There are more and more conversations like that happening with natural, long time Liberals.

    If he packed it in now, there would be time for a good leadership contest. The timing would fit nicely to end in early 2024. The new Leader could immediately introduce the 2024 budget as the campaign platform. Surely this is being discussed by some sane organizers of LPC, if any are left. They must know its over. Any other plan is just madness heaped upon madness.

    • Martin Dixon says:

      Good for your friend. The trouble is that there are still a lot of people including some that post on this site that will STILL support him. They are no different than the MAGA types. They will say the alternative is worse. Nonsense, of course, plus they have lots of other options. As John Mraz said on the podcast, there really is no difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives. It was a derogatory statement but people can also take comfort in it. It has been true for decades. Why people didn’t used to get so apoplectic when their side didn’t win. We only argue about stuff on the fringes, most of the big issues are settled and about 90% of the country would naturally support most democratic Senators based on policy positions. It is silly to compare our hard right to theirs.

  7. Sean says:

    I feel like every political career has these stages:

    1. No one thinks they can win.
    2. Oops, they won! BUT: most of their promises weren’t possible and fall apart very quickly.
    3. Usually about 2 terms of faking it by pretending that some of their promises are (sigh) sort of possible. The sentiment is still there and that’s really all that voters care about these days. Long time supporters keep faking it along with them as long as the polls sort of look good and the wedge issues stay relevant.
    4. This is the trickiest part of any political career… usually around the end of term two or early term three… About half the politician’s supporters (those of sound mind and judgement) quietly want the person to move on. These people know that the magic act must have a smooth finale… the band is sneaking out for smoke breaks and the music is slowly grinding to a halt. The other half of the supporters want the f#%ker gone immediately no matter what because they imagine more personal opportunity with someone else. At this moment… as Warren says…. the politician has a choice to either leave on their own two feet or in a casket. Very… very… rarely can a politician figure out this most challenging last stage of their career… Indeed it has eluded most….and they always seem more inclined towards risking personal destruction than listening to reason. JT is at stage four right now.
    5. Tired old guest panelist on Election night.

    • western view says:

      The sad part of this train wreck is that Trudeau has embraced image making of his Prime Ministership to be priority one. It must be nice to cruise along with nice hair, sometimes a beard and charisma to burn. This focus on optics has turned a political machine into a cult and cult leaders can’t stand competitors.
      The capital spent on DEI wokeness is a smokescreen to keep the real talent that would normally be groomed for a leadership race in the future on the outer edges of the action. Can anyone name a star leadership candidate currently sitting in Cabinet?
      To a cult leader this becomes a self fulfilling achievement. In their fantasy world of personal greatness, they must continue on because the next election could be a wipe out for a rookie.
      I’m hoping that the upcoming Liberal gabfest will bring some sane minds together to do better than to hint at a retirement plan in the next few months.

      • Curious V says:

        If there’s a political leader in Canada leading a cult-like following, that would be Pierre Poison. There obsession with conspiracy theory, and constant pandering to the base – that’s a cult.

    • Martin Dixon says:

      That’s very good. Bob Rae is a classic example of 1 and 2. Ditto T although he did fulfill his biggest promise about the SC more successfully than any president in history. Ditto Robert Redford in The Candidate. He pretty well knew what fate would befall him. I have posted before but this scene is a classic.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myEpap3TxVs

      Must find that movie and watch it again:

      https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2016/09/40-years-later-is-the-candidate-still-satire/623148/

  8. Douglas W says:

    JT will never have it so good as he does, right now. And he’s not leaving, anytime soon.

    He does whatever he pleases.
    He mocks us.
    He defies us.
    And he laughs at us.

    When he does exit, stage right, he’ll leave a party and a country in complete shambles, which is the way he wants it because … he does not want his successor to be better than him.

    He is the emperor.

  9. Pipes says:

    On behalf of we mere mortals and members of the under class, I wish to inform you we are numb and spent. We have acquiesced to the rapture of the unaccountable noxious orgy of freedoms and insatiable appetites of our elected leaders. The Sword of Democles hangs by a slender thread over their heads. They have selected the 7 sins and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. One will fall and another will be waiting in the perpetual cycle of politics and its illusions.

    I my heart breaks for the kind of future my grandsons may have. Living on a dead planet while their leaders fiddle their way to Mars.

    Anywho ( big breath and sigh ) have a good day. Just saying……..

  10. Robert White says:

    The last vacation I can recall was in 1969 at Balsam Lake north of Toronto. I watch the moon landing on a black & white rented TV and caught Sunfish and Bass when we went fishing.

    Why can’t Trudeau just vacation at Harrington Lake instead of spending gobs of taxpayer money on winter visits to the equator?

    P.S. He paid a commercial flight fee for his entire family. The real costs have more to do with his security detail & staff. And the $10k top up on his excessive salary likely paid for the airfare outright.

    RW

    • Martin Dixon says:

      Been trying to duplicate the summer of 1969 for my whole life. I was that same kid watching that moon landing with my mom on a little black and white TV. I was 11 with 7 younger siblings at the time and my dad was between jobs and we spent the entire summer at Sauble Beach renting a cottage. It’s where my love of cottaging came from.

      • Robert White says:

        I have fond memories of my old cottage days at Balsam Lake, but I’ll keep them as memories given that the Balsam Lake region has been gentrified by multi-millionaires and destroyed as a quaint rural cottage community that it once was when I vacationed there back in the 60s.

        P.S. I cannot imagine having seven siblings to fight with. I only have three siblings, but one is a fraternal twin so the fights were constant.

        RW

        • Martin Dixon says:

          Another one popped out a little less than 2 years later. To be fair, my dad really didn’t know what was causing it until he had 3 or 4.

        • Robert,

          My twin is also fraternal.

          • Martin Dixon says:

            No twins in our family but pretty close to a few sets of Irish twins.

          • Robert White says:

            Cool, man. Now you fully get why I’m a fighter too. If you read _Born to Rebel_ by Frank Sulloway we find birth order as a predictor of rebellion and conservativism vis-a-vis voting behaviour. First born are most likely to be rule following in contradistinction to siblings born later. Last born are most rebellious of most families. I’m second last in birth order with and older sister and an older brother.

          • Martin Dixon says:

            There is no question that the younger they are in our family, the more liberal they are but I think it was because there was more money around as kids moved out. I was pretty well on my own at age 17. No matter how liberal anyone in our family is though, none of us have any time for JT. One thing we can agree on.

    • western view says:

      You ask a valid question about taking vacations to the equator when something more modest in reach and expense would suffice.
      My notion is that these extravagant holidays are a quid pro quo for a wife and children who aren’t in the main political fishbowl but certainly swimming in one close by. The evening and weekend demands on a Prime Minister leaves a spouse as a defacto single parent. The glamorous side of being part of Justin Trudeau’s family has probably evaporated ages ago.

      I don’t begrudge a Dad setting time aside to holiday with his family. I just wish Trudeau would dial it down to appreciate some basic frugality that ordinary Canadians see as normal living.

      • Robert White says:

        I couldn’t afford to get married when the opportunity to get married manifested. I had no contracts lined up and only had $45 bucks in my pocket to manage.

        I couldn’t afford to procreate either.

        P.S. I don’t feel sorry for wealth extractionists.

        :-)’

        RW

  11. Doug says:

    When Trudeau stated that Pollievre “struggles with the concept of friendship”, the rebuttal should have been “do you have any friends who aren’t celebrities, wealthy, developed through family connections or combinations of the above?”

  12. Lyndon Dunkley says:

    As long as Trudeau believes he can get at least one in five eligible voters to cast their ballot for him and less than one in four, will vote blue, he will continue to be our Prime Minister.

    • Curious V says:

      The conservatives would have had a better chance if they stuck with O’Tool, but Pierre is so toxic he’ll turn off enough people to elect Trudeau.

  13. Peter Williams says:

    Who paid for the accommodations?
    a) Justin?
    b) tax payers?
    c) or did his billionaire friend provide it gratis? In which case does Justin have to file a gift notice?

  14. Curious V says:

    I think a whole lot of NDP, and PC’s are going to look at the alternative to Trudeau and say “no thanks”. Pierre Poison doesn’t offer much of an alternative – had they stuck with O’Tool, or gone with Charest or Brown – different story. But, they elected an ideologue, so I think Trudeau will win again.

  15. Ted says:

    The opposition is ineffectual and amateur. PP is neither a snowboard instructor or a drama teacher. Just a career hack. Jenni Byrne is worse than Katie Telford. It’s a bloody mess. God save us all.

    • Martin Dixon says:

      That is actually quite funny. POINTING to his experience as a snowboard instructor as a reason to vote for him but given the support JT gets even on this site(no one is asking you to support PP but surely there should be no dispute about whether JT should continue as PM), not a surprise and just further evidence of his cult like following. Odd that very few seem to proudly sign their real name behind these statements though.

      As far as their relative experience goes, I have said before PP passes and JT fails the have you ever been a paper boy test. That is a pretty good test for a whole pile of reasons although the Laurentian Elite types use it as a knock. Because they would never understand nor appreciate what getting newsprint on their hands involves.

      • Martin,

        SNOWboarding as in snowing all of us in the wake of SNC. He would fit in just perfectly there. Such a natural fit. I’ll leave it at that.

      • Curious V says:

        PP doesn’t have any meaningful real world working experience. I worked on the farm, in the family store, for the family auction business as a runner before I was old enough to take a part time job at a grocery store. His paper boy stint isn’t exactly impressive. Did he work in university ? No. I worked 3-4 nights a week as a doorman with a full course load. So many people I know had to work 20 plus hrs a week to fund their education while doing a full course load – he didn’t work at all. When he graduated he had a short stint working for a phone company – wow!!! How are people swinging hammers supposed to take this guy seriously.

        • Martin Dixon says:

          You are missing the main point and actually reinforcing a couple. You people are the ones making the relative comparisons about work experience.

          • Curious V says:

            Neither of them have impressive work experience, or real world experience, but Trudeau has more. Trudeau’s resume isn’t impressive, it’s just better than PP’s.

          • Martin Dixon says:

            Hardly-JT has never lived in the real world so how can he possibly have any experience about same. He has been spoiled and coddled his whole life. PP had your standard middle class upbringing. No comparison whatsoever.

  16. Peter Williams says:

    Martine Richards steps down as interim ethics commissioner. Was the real reason Justin was paying her much less than the last man to hold the job?

    Who will Justin appoint now?

    Perhaps Gerry Butts? He knows all about ethics!!!

  17. Martin Dixon says:

    Martine Richard must have been paying attention when Coyne said the Libs were just trolling us now. The comment was about her. Good for her. Now Johnston needs to salvage his reputation and do the same thing. His situation is arguably worse.

  18. Warren,

    Oh Great. Joe is going to announce next week…great idea when at least a plurality, if not a majority of Democrats want someone else. They can call it the Funeral Home war room and operations effort.

  19. Warren,

    Good on the SCOTUS justices: I was expecting Gorsuch and Coney Barrett to dissent (along with Thomas and Alito) so those two were a real surprise for me.

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