A phoney dilettant who lectures us with alt.liberal canned jargon with a smug superior attitude that breathes contempt for anyone who disagrees with his radical beliefs.
Trudeau is a Prime Minister without moral scruples, spending money that he doesn't have by burdening future generations with a debt load they never approved or bargained for.
In this respect, he's a chip off the old block, his father was another big spender who mortgaged Canada's future by spending money the country didn't have.
All this said I cannot hide a certain incredulity over the manufactured brouhaha over his vacation on what has become known as 'billionaire's island' a trip now found in breach of Parliamentary ethical standards.
Nobody seems to take Trudeau to task for raiding your grandchildren's legacy by borrowing billions upon billions and making them the guarantor of that debt, yet a mooched vacation is a big deal.
Usually, defecit spending is explained by a pressing need to end an economic recession or perhaps to finance a war. Such is not the case with young Justin who is borrowing and blowing billions upon billions of dollars just to keep his government popular.
Of course, his supporters tend to explain away or ignore this national theft because it is convenient, but what Trudeau and the Liberals are doing is unconscionable. It is taxation without representation because while we voted for him and his government, the unborn future generations who will be saddled with his debt certainly did not.
Deficit spending is hard for the average Canadian to oppose because the average Canadian is easily bribed with his or her own money and even more excited about being bribed with their grandchildren's money.
Since it is the holiday season let us make a Christmas analogy where we compare two fathers who treat the family finances differently.
Both families are facing a financially tough situation and the first father gathers the family around the dinner table and tells them that they will have to live with a less extravagant Christmas, where every family member will be limited to one modestly-priced present. The father explains that the family finances dictate that prudence be the rule and the future financial well-being of the family demands discipline.
The second father sees things differently and even though his family is as financially strapped as the first, he goes out and blows thousands and thousands of dollars on expensive and lavish Christmas gifts.
The children are thrilled and the father is a hero.
What the children don't know is that the deadbeat dad has taken out loans to pay for his largesse and that those loans were taken in the children's' name, unbeknownst and without their permission. It is they who will have to assume the debt once they grow up and join the workforce.
Justin Trudeau is that deadbeat dad and we should be outraged at his spendthrift behaviour, but alas we are not because we are infatuated with the Trudeau persona which blinds too many of us.
As for his ethics violation or even that of his finance minister, Bill Morneau, these are trifling distractions, small potatoes that the opposition seized upon because idiot Canadians cannot comprehend the real damage that Trudeau and company are wreaking on the finances of this country.
As for Trudeau's vacation on the island of a billionaire Arab benefactor, I couldn't care less. It is a trifle.
And by the way, what's a Prime Minister to do?
There is a Prime Ministerial retreat in Harrington Lake, but it hardly counts as a winter getaway. The Prime Minister cannot book a week at Club Med or a Carnival cruise.
Contrary to popular belief, Trudeau is not a gazillionaire as is his finance minister. The mooched vacation actually saved the government of Canada a considerable amount of money, the Aga Khan picked up most of the expenses.
As for special treatment, the Aga Khan doesn't need Canada's money, he is very rich. Any money given to his charities by Canadians is just that, charity...so what?
The opposition is playing a dirty game because they cannot make a real case against Trudeau, something that they should be able to do without employing cheap distractions.
I've come to conclude that Canadians voters are just as stupid as American voters and issues don't matter, while personality does.
For those of you enraged by Justin's trip to billionaire's island last year, take solace in that the Trudeau clan will no doubt be spending a very cold and local Christmas vacation this year. That's punishment enough for his trivial ethics violation.
Apologies for the unrelated comment: I just found out that you were back posting on this blog (admittedly, a bit late, but then it was a long hiatus that sounded very permanent when it started) and I want to say Welcome Back! I kept my old moniker just for this occasion as I am an old-time reader and occasional commentator of this blog, but I might find something less controversial to call myself for future comments as the main topic of this blog has somewhat moved on, and so has my life. Still, it's good to have you back: in the age of perennial outrage and controversy it's good to hear a rational voice on my side of the political spectrum.
ReplyDeleteMr. Sauga here. Partition, good to hear from you. Look at past comments by me. I think it's time Quebec partitions itself. After all, the minorities, 20% of the population make up 40% of the tax revenue base, i.e., for every dollar the minorities contribute to the coffers, the majority is just putting in 37.5 cents. Sadly, the minorities are acting like sitting ducks while the tyrannous majority, like bullies, constantly kick you folks in the gonads. Haven't you folks had enough?
DeleteThere's so much to consider here, not the least of which is the fear of losing what little they have left. Also, there is a serious need for all-new tactics to deal with the bully bunch, but I'm not sure if anyone knows who has the capacity or resources to mobilize an ever-dwindling and increasingly disorganized base of minorities to make it happen. And don't get me started on the French Press.
DeleteYou mean you don't like Canada's "Smiling Trump" ?
ReplyDelete> I've come to conclude that Canadians voters are just as stupid as American voters and issues don't matter, while personality does.
ReplyDeleteNot an accident. In fact, I’d wager that “billionaire’s island” vacation was a deliberate smokescreen for raiding the “grandchildren’s legacy.” Junior’s smiling persona also qualifies as a smokescreen for his real character (with his wife being a fashionable bonus). By keeping citizens focused on these elements, he has kept the attention off what we really need to care about.
And that is why the opposition is furious. Because he has managed to get away without so much as a scratch. They smell the smoke, but the fire remains firmly out of their field of vision.
Morneau, for his part, got only scant mention for exploiting loopholes to increase his own wealth while padlocking the same loopholes to prevent the Wallys of Canada from progressing themselves.
There is one silver lining in all of this. No one is paying much attention to the new Conservative leader. Unlike Trudeau, who achieved the reins of the Liberal side on the first ballot by more than three to one – against only a handful of players – Andrew Scheer had to battle a dozen or so competitors through as many ballots for the Tory side. He is learning how to play the game, making his worst mistakes early and gaining the time he needs to make enough of a recovery to duke it out with Trudeau in two years’ time. He will probably be more than ready to tangle with Junior then… as long as he makes sure to define himself first and him second.
The Presidential election of 2016 was incredibly dirty and nasty. Once he recovered from her first punch, Donald Trump made excellent use of the 15th stratagem and actually expanded on it with elements of the 22nd and 28th. Once the tiger – in this case, Hillary Clinton – was off the mountain, Trump’s side had the base of the mountain drilled all the way through. The culvert would then be stuffed with dry hay, while the hill itself was coated in even more hay, doused in gasoline, and cast aflame. Meanwhile, his operatives rolled Clinton around in a tar pit and covered her in feathers. For the remainder of the race, she would be unable to return to her position without endangering her own safety. He had taken the battle all the way out of her comfort zone and forced her to the Rubicon.
We may never be able to get that type of a result here, but Trudeau is building up a track record. There may be more than enough ammunition to destroy the heir in two to six years, depending on how the Conservative war room answers. There will be a new generation of first-time voters who aren’t likely to be crazy about Number 23. Many of those first-timers who did vote for him will be out in the real world by then. And they’re far more likely to follow the first father’s holiday course than the second. They would never be able to escape accountability like can be expected of our current Prime Minister.
Mr. Sauga here: Interesting metaphor re Trump's election campaign, but even before she ran, her mistrust was on the table. It still took a lot of doing for Trump to win, and in fact he did not get the majority of the popular vote, but that has happened twice in Quebec elections, so this is one of the few drawbacks of democracy.
DeleteI don't know about Marco's comment below, i.e., whether or not Sheer is a temp leader, but he sure isn't coming out to announce himself. Harper finally did and ran with it. Unless, and until Sheer presents himself to the public, he's just a Dolly Dimples.
Gorgeous and the Dike (Wynne, premier of Ontario), are both wreckless spendthrifts as they're both looking to stick it to their grandkids and beyond. Why not? It's only YOUR money! Unless this is reversed in the next Ontario provincial election, next June, Ontario will be worse off fiscally than Quebec! Now that's scary! Hopefully enough voters are fed up with ridiculous hydro rates and other crap Ontarians have endured. Unfortunately, unless and until Andrew Speers presents himself, I hold no hopes for change in 2019 when the next federal election is due to take place. If Sheer proves to be weak, then the party faithful put their eggs in the wrong basket.
I feel that Scheer is more of a temporary leader, to prepare the base and chip away at the smiling trump until Mulroney's daughter enters federal politics thereby ushering in the Trudeau vs Mulroney election but, what the hell do I know?
ReplyDeleteSimple analogy. But I don't know if Mulroney Junior wants in.
ReplyDeleteYou took the words right out of my mouth Mr.Berlach concerning Trudeau junior. The media agonizes over this little trip but says nothing about his reckless spending which is far more of a concern. As you say Canadians are dumb enough to fall for the charm and bs but this guy knows nothing about the real world. Canadians believe in image over substance..fantasy over reality..and so on.
ReplyDeleteI am embarassed at how Canadians embraced Trudeau simply because he looks nice, says nice things and happens to be the son of an ex prime minister who by the way started us well on our way to adding to the national debt. Any idiot can come into power and spend a lot of money and make everyone happy in the short term..but find me a politician who cares about the long term and is willing to take a political hit to do what is right for future generations..very few exist. Ralph Klein was one of them so was Margaret Thatcher..Paul Martin also..but for the most part most politicians fall into the game of spend now for short term gain and then someone mops up their mess in the longer term.
Canadians are dumb enough to vote once again for fluff ball pretty boy Trudeau in 2019 because all seems well as the government is spending tens of billions more per year than we have..so they will make the current housing bubble even worse before it pops..they will lull Canadians into a false sense of security before the post bubble collapse happens. In the end Canadians have no one to blame but themselves for being suckeredi into the chamr of a lightweight fluffball like JT..for driving the debt levels to above the levels even the americans reached ten years ago..Canadians are long overdue to getting a deserved kick int he butt and a reality check that you cant just keep borrowing infinite amounts of money at record low interest rates forever without it coming to bite you back in the butt.