, 01.15.2019 11:53 AM

From next week’s column: I’m pissed off

And this is the part where I’m actually calm.

Justin Trudeau said he’d support indigenous leaders. 

He didn’t. 

Justin Trudeau said he’s a feminist. 

He isn’t. 

Justin Trudeau is a terrific actor, however. There he was, after his latest cabinet shuffle, and butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He almost sounded offended. 

Demoting a competent, smart, inspiring indigenous woman like Jody Wilson-Raybould – as the Liberal leader had literally done, just minutes before inside Rideau Hall – wasn’t a demotion at all, he huffed. There can be no greater honour than working with Canada’s veterans, he insisted. 

And if some other Prime Minister had said it, it’d be partly true: it is an honour assisting the men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces. But under Trudeau, it was a lie. Under him, Veteran’s Affairs has become a political landfill. Under him, veterans have been disregarded, disrespected, and litigated against in the courts. 

So, everyone recognized Trudeau’s claim for what it was, which was unadulterated bullshit. 

27 Comments

  1. cynical says:

    My reasons for voting for Mr. Trudeau were as follows:
    -proposal to end first-past-the-post or at least look at alternatives
    -work on a fair deal for indigenous persons who live in Canada
    -his local nominee was pretty good.
    I’m still OK with my MP, but I’ve had the biscuit with the Trudeau Government.
    I’m so tired of voting for a least-bad option in this country.

    • Clint says:

      Don’t worry you definitely didn’t vote for the least bad last election. You voted for the worst government we have ever had in this country. Inept, thieving arrogant asshats.
      But who would have expected less from silver spoon elitist.

      • Terence Quinn says:

        Sounds like it came from a yellow jacket site that gives idiots like him dumb things to say about Trudeau.

        • Ronald O'Dowd says:

          Terence,

          I don’t like any more than you the way the yellow jackets are going about things but one thing remains clear: Macron is failing the French people. These are deep societal ills and it’s his job to move heaven and earth to successfully address them. The French don’t want virtue signalling or lectures. They want results. And if Macron can’t provide them, he deserves to be out on his ass at the end of his term.

  2. Luke says:

    Is it possible ge wants Veterans’ Affairs better run, hence the switch? Also, I recall from the Harper years plenty of unhappy veterans and litigations and whatnot. Is it particularly worse this time around? I have found ot discouraging and disappointing but thought of it as same old same old pretty much.

  3. J.H. says:

    Paul Wells had hinted at it before on CBC’s Power & Politics panel, this time he has made it even clearer.
    https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/in-the-trudeau-government-whats-a-cabinet-shuffle-for
    Jody wouldn’t take Butts’s BS and paid the price.
    According to all reports though David Lametti won’t be too amiable to Trudeau’s buddy bullying him either.
    Word is Lib mps are getting nervous about PMO stifling & their top down management style as the election approaches.

  4. Gord Tulk says:

    1. The cartoon is bizarre. If it was a Black guy outside the HUD office on MLK day would that be “ironic”?

    2. You say Ms. Wilson- Raybould was competent. What evidence can you cite?

    3. If she – as you seem to be asserting – was demoted because she was a pre-columbian female, then you are accusing Justin and the cabinet and the LPC caucus of being either misogynist or racist or both.

  5. Steve T says:

    Agree that some of the ministers got shuffled to portfolios that were clearly a demotion – and an undeserved demotion at that.

    Disagree that demoting women or Indigenous people, in isolation, is somehow racist or sexist. Qualified people should be promoted; less qualified people should not. Skin colour or gender should be irrelevant. That is true equality.

    • Steve,

      What I want to know is did she fuck up files or not? I haven’t heard anything major. Am I missing something?

      • Steve T says:

        I think that was WK’s point. She didn’t screw anything up, yet was demoted. I agree; I hadn’t heard anything.

        • Terence Quinn says:

          She is not a team player and that may hurt her further after the next election.

          • Ronald O'Dowd says:

            Terence,

            Are you old enough to remember Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s strong cabinets? If not, you may want to visit the National Archives to scrutinize the several instances where the PM did not get his way with cabinet. Can the current PM also claim that same badge of honour? I disliked his father but the man respected the sacred principle of cabinet government.

  6. For those of you in constitutional law, I was under the impression that in Equitas that the Trudeau government essentially defended with the same legal arguments as Harper? (SCOC declined to hear an appeal.)

    Sure, they injected more money but in the end they were not prepared to pay up to the level demanded by veterans’ groups.

  7. Pedant says:

    Is the supremely incompetent Carolyn Bennett still in Cabinet?

    • Walter says:

      Yes.
      Carolyn Bennett is maybe one of the most disappointing Ministers in cabinet. Most of the Cabinet are unqualified, immature and incompetent. I actually expected some degree of skill from her.

  8. Roger T. says:

    Let’s spell it out. The Inner Party of Liberal Party of Canada is the Council of Economic Advisors, a 14-member group chaired by Dominic Barton of McKinsey & Company. The prime directive of CoEA is McKinsey’s “Century Initiative – 100 Million Canadians in 2100”. As such, Aboriginal and Heirloom Canadians are not even on the radar. As Karen Wang proved, not all is sweetness and light among Liberal’s hand-picked, foreign-born candidates. Enron was the creation of Jeff Skilling – McKinsey consultant for 21 years and subsequently jailed after Enron collapsed – suggesting Century Initiative could end in tears. Sadly, I think it will as Aboriginals and “nativists” turn to so-called populism.

  9. Gilbert says:

    PM Trudeau is undoubtedly the least qualified PM ever. China has no respect for him. I was no fan of his father, but at least he was qualified.

  10. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Art,

    I’m partly with you: the extreme right, populist, nationalist or otherwise are not only dangerous to our national security but also to world peace.

    However you are beyond generous when you say that most countries envy a humming-along Canada. Cause we ain’t: this government’s spending is irresponsible. You can’t buy your way to re-election. Why has this Prime Minister still not brokered a pipeline deal? Isn’t that his job, his responsibility, as the federal honest broker? Why are so many small-c conservatives and blue liberals pissed about marijuana?

    Maybe now you get why the holy trinity in the PMO need to be gone yesterday. Otherwise, just kiss off the next election and prepare for a Conservative minority because it’s coming if his friends in the PMO don’t disappear. Plain and simple.

    • doconnor says:

      “this government’s spending is irresponsible”

      Out deficit it middle of the road for OECD countries: https://data.oecd.org/gga/general-government-deficit.htm

      “Why has this Prime Minister still not brokered a pipeline deal?”

      The pipeline problems are pretty small compared to endless Frence pretests, Brexit or the US government shutdown.

      “Why are so many small-c conservatives and blue liberals pissed about marijuana?”

      Because of supply problems, I assume?

    • Terence Quinn says:

      Mr. O’Dowd, with all due respect your comments seem to indicate you are in a panic about the Libs chances. I am see ing some new candidates who are very qualified/electable people and they have recruited star candidates to run against Tory stars like Lisa Raitt who now has an olympic hero from the area to run against her in Milton (905 area). They had about 1500 people show up today on a very cold Sunday to vote in the nomination process. So I don’t see your panic going anywhere.

      • Ronald O'Dowd says:

        Terence,

        First off, please call me Ron. And thank you for your good manners. I hope I always reply in kind.

        I wouldn’t necessarily describe my views as panic based. Our host has an impressive readership both in numbers and quality. I just wonder how many of them will come forward to agree with you that I am nothing more than Chicken Little? We shall see.

  11. Doug Brown says:

    Despite the haughty rhetoric on social issues, Trudeau has more or less followed Harper, who at least never over promised. This has needlessly stirred up division in a country still scarred from the regional and constitutional disputes of the 80’s and 90’s. On the economic front, Trudeau inherited a balanced budget and the best global economic growth in a decade and still managed to run a deficit about nothing and send capital fleeing. In foreign affairs, the “Canada’s Back” claim rings hollow against the Bollywood Affair, friction with Saudi and naively getting involved in the ongoing US-China escalation. So why is this government still polling so well?

    • Ian says:

      Look at the alternatives.

      The Cons have a leader even less charismatic than Harper, and much more of a captive creature of that party’s right wing.

      The NDP have an imitation Trudeau who is foundering badly and has alienated traditional NDP constituencies.

      The Bloc are in a state of collapse, with separatist support in Quebec completely fragmented into several provincial parties with very very different views on issues.

      The Greens are a vanity party run by everyone’s favourite autocrat, which functions to put a ceiling on their ability to do anything but return May to Parliament. Any other centers of strength and organization routinely enter into conflict with the leader’s office, and go do something else. Deputy leaders have about a three year half life.

    • Fred from BC says:

      “And China is is country to exemplify? You need to study up a bit more on foreign relations.”

      You need to study up a bit more on basic English.

      The word ‘exemplify’ means ” be characteristic of” or “clarify by giving an example of” (of exactly what, Art? Your sentence above makes no sense, sorry). The word you were looking for was probably ’emulate’…and yes, Trudeau *does* have a “basic admiration” for China’s dictatorship (or so he said, right?).

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