Michael Taube: Our long national Trudeau nightmare is almost over
RE-printed without permission. This must be saved.
PM reportedly considering his options before Parliament reconvenes
Author of the article:
Michael Taube
Published Dec 26, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 4 minute read
In 1974, the U.S. was consumed by the controversial matter of then-President Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. Pressure was coming from both sides of the political aisle for him to leave office, along with the media and many Americans. Nixon, facing the distinct possibility of becoming the first President to be impeached and removed from office, stepped down on Aug. 9. Gerald Ford, his Vice-President, included this famous line in his swearing-in speech, “Our long national nightmare is over.”
Fast forward to 2024. Canada is consumed by the controversial matter of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ineffective and mediocre leadership. Pressure is coming from both sides of the political aisle for him to leave office, along with fellow Liberals, the media and many Canadians. Trudeau, facing the distinct possibility of becoming the first prime minister to face a caucus revolt and be turfed from power, is reportedly considering his options before Parliament reconvenes on Jan. 27, 2025.
This means that our long national nightmare in Canada is almost over.
I’m obviously not comparing the gravity of Nixon’s decision to wiretap the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel and Office Building to Trudeau being a national and international embarrassment. Yet, it’s still remarkable how this PM has caused Canadians of different political stripes and walks of life to reach a similar conclusion: he needs to go now.
Trudeau has no one else to blame but himself for being in this position. The list of his political failures, missteps and blunders since becoming PM in 2015 is massive.
Here are some of Trudeau’s (ahem) greatest hits.
Three older instances of blackface that he tried desperately to hide from, but couldn’t outrun. Tensions with female Liberal cabinet ministers like Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, and his former parliamentary secretary Celina Caesar-Chavannes, that made a mockery of his ludicrous claim of being a liberal feminist. The massive carbon footprint the supposedly environmentally-conscious PM established with his two-planes controversy during the 2019 election campaign. Two violations from the Ethics Commissioner for accepting a trip to the Aga Khan’s private island and the SNC Lavalin controversy, and barely escaping a third one related to the WE Charity.
There’s a sizable number of foolish and moronic comments he’s made as an MP and PM. “There’s a level of admiration I actually have for China,” Trudeau told a women’s event in 2013. “Their basic dictatorship is actually allowing them to turn their economy around on a dime.” While he claimed this was a joke, the same can’t be said for his 2016 statement about the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro being a “larger than life leader” and “legendary revolutionary and orator.” Or his use of bizarre terms like “peoplekind,” “she-cession,” and “she-conomy.” Or his preposterous Feb. 2014 comment that the Canadian budget “will balance itself,” as well as his equally preposterous Aug. 2021 remark to reporters, “you’ll forgive me if I don’t think about monetary policy.”
You think that’s it? Not even close.
Trudeau’s attempt to persuade the U.S. and Mexico to include frivolous concepts like gender rights and Indigenous rights during NAFTA renegotiations. The crippling national carbon tax that’s angered Canadians from coast to coast, and the affordability crisis that’s hurt individuals and families. Spending taxpayer dollars like a drunken sailor. Skipping speaking engagements to go surfing with his family in Tofino, B.C. during the first National Truth and Reconciliation Day. The GST holiday that most Canadians correctly discerned was a wasteful measure to regain lost voter support, and promptly rejected it.
We also can’t forget allegations of Chinese election interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. The two Michaels and Meng Wanzhou affair. Taking a knee during the Black Lives Matter protests. The Freedom Convoy and disgraceful use of the Emergencies Act. The PM’s wild allegation of a link between India’s government agenda and the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which his own national security advisor, Nathalie Drouin, said in November was “speculative and inaccurate.” Allowing a Nazi to be honoured in Parliament. Speaking out of both sides of his mouth about Israel and the Middle East. Icy relations with two U.S. presidents, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
When you put everything together, Trudeau has systematically destroyed the Liberal political brand in Canada. Even if you’re opposed to his party (as I am), it’s still astonishing to consider the damage he’s caused. Michael Ignatieff’s failed leadership, which led to a mere 34 Liberal seats in the 2011 election, would be a better alternative at this point.
Yet, there were still Liberal partisans who supported him until he destroyed his working relationship and drove the proverbial bus over one of his biggest allies, former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Even the thirstiest of Liberal Kool-aid drinkers viewed this betrayal as a beverage … err, bridge too far.
Most Canadians are done with this nonsense. If the PM resigns in January, fine. If the Liberal caucus revolts, so be it. If it’s left to the NDP to finally join the other opposition parties in supporting a no confidence vote in Parliament once Jagmeet Singh’s gold-plated pension kicks in, that’ll be the solution.
Canada wants to put an end to its own Watergate — in this case, “Trudeaugate.” Then, and only then, our political nightmare will have finally and mercifully concluded.
National Post
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