What Has The Trudeau Government Built?
Re-printed without permission. Needs to be saved.
July 30 2024
Announcements are not results.
In a recent column for the Globe & Mail, John Ibbitson wrote about how Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would “dismantle most of what the Liberal government built over the past nine years.”
Now, this isn’t a criticism of Ibbitson, who is often a relatively thoughtful commentator.
The issue here is the idea that Trudeau has really ‘built’ anything.
The idea rests upon confusing announcements with action, and ignoring tangible results in favour of treating rhetoric as reality.
For a government to have built something would require leaving a tangible legacy. And that implies a positive legacy.
Which brings us yet again to the following question:
What has the Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau actually built?
A stronger economy?
Nope.
A safer country?
Nope.
A more respected Canada on the world stage?
Nope.
A more unified nation?
Nope.
A nation with more trust in our key institutions?
Nope.
In all of those areas – some of the most fundamental areas – Canada has gone backward.
Our economy is stagnant, with per capita GDP declining.
Crime has increased significantly.
We are less respected on the world stage, with our allies increasingly tired of our refusal to meet our NATO commitments.
We are deeply divided, with internal tensions growing as the Liberals push immigration to unsustainable levels.
There is less and less trust in our institutions, with the government having largely ignored China’s interference in our elections and Iran’s promotion of anti-Western & anti-Semitic ‘protests.’
Given these circumstances, how can anyone credibly claim that the Liberals have built anything?
Sure, they’ve spent a ton of money.
They’ve made plenty of announcements.
They’ve even passed a lot of legislation.
But where are the positive results?
What do they have to show for it?
Very little.
What this means is that – despite the Liberals attempting to label themselves as a ‘progressive’ party that has ‘built up’ Canada, the reality is that Canada has regressed on their watch.
We can’t judge a political party simply by its name. There is little that is ‘liberal’ about the Liberal Party of Canada under Justin Trudeau.
And the Conservatives under Poilievre will have to spend much of their time building up our economy, building up our credibility, and building up our institutions, rather than conserving the nation as is under the current government.
Most importantly, we must shift from an ‘announcement frame’ to a ‘results frame.’ Announcements and even commitments to spend on their own are meaningless. What matters is results. And for far too long, the results haven’t been there under this Liberal government.
Spencer Fernando
Comments