Ms Soapbox just returned from Italy with a miserable head cold, jet lag and no luggage. In this pathetic state she is trying to make sense of the Trudeau/blackface stories that have dominated the news for the last week.
Trudeau apologized twice and acknowledged that “layers of privilege” as a wealthy white man blinded him to the racism behind his actions. He appears to be truly remorseful. This is enough for some people and not enough for others. Meanwhile the media continues to churn the story with irrelevant questions like “who is the real Trudeau” and assertions that the real problem is Trudeau “expects” forgiveness. (Since the only one who knows who the “real” Trudeau is or whether he “expects” forgiveness is Trudeau, this is mindless speculation).
The only thing that matters now is whether Trudeau’s behavior almost 20 years ago is enough to derail the Liberals in this election.
Given the Liberals’ progress on immigration, indigenous issues and climate change and their efforts to improve the quality of life for children and the elderly as well as those who happen not to be in the top one percent it would be sad if Trudeau’s lack of judgement so many years ago tanked the party’s chance of re-election.
However, given the Liberals failure to deliver on the promise of proportional representation and their shoddy handling of the JWR/SNC file, this could be the last straw.
Which leads Ms Soapbox to what’s truly bothering her about this mess—the feeling that we must vote for Trudeau because Scheer’s conservatives are so much worse.
Only once did Ms Soapbox hit the trifecta in an election where she respected the party leader, she supported the party’s policies and she liked her local candidate. That was with Rachel Notley’s NDP in 2015.
Given the prospect of a Scheer conservative government, two out of three isn’t bad…
…but surely, it’s not too much to ask for political parties to allow us to vote for a candidate with the best policies to face an uncertain future instead of against candidates who by comparison are less worthy of our support.
Susan on the Soapbox 
-“We can’t shutdown the oilsands tomorrow, we need to phase them out.” is criminal stupidity.
– multiple examples of unacceptable racist, privileged behaviour;
– repeated attempted illegal political interference in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin;
– failure to back ethical, principled, strong women in his cabinet;
– accepting the gift of a family vacation accommodation at the Caribbean island of the Aga Khan, a lobbyist for, and recipient of, Canadians’ tax dollars;
– banning oil tankers only off BC’s north coast, but nowhere else;
– scuttling Energy East and failing to make Canada energy independent;
– purchasing the existing Trans Mountain pipeline and not informing Canadian taxpayers of the $20 billion-plus liability to buy the line, expand it, and replace the existing 67-year-old line;
– broken election promises, especially re deficits;
– stupid, misguided, eco-cuckoo policies including the attempted willful destruction, shut-in and/or phase-out of the oil sands and allowing the shrill, fanatic and hysterical Environment Minister Catherine McKenna a say in anything;
– embarrassing Canada with silly cultural appropriation while in India; and, finally,
– creating divisiveness between eastern and western Canada and increasing the risk of western separation.
How can any Canadian, let alone western Canadian, especially Albertan, vote for the Liberals?
Mike Priaro: The CPC has made plenty of very major mistakes themselves. If they were that good, why are they not in power anymore?
Mike, I disagree with how you’ve characterized Trudeau’s position with respect to the oilsands (critics seem to forget that his government paid over $4 billion for TMX which is a huge sign of support for the industry). I disagree with your characterization of Environment Minister McKenna, and am of the view that the politician who is creating divisiveness between eastern and western Canada is Kenney, not Trudeau.
I’m extremely disappointed that Trudeau failed to understand the significance of appearing in blackface when he was 28, however given the alternative, I’ll take my chances with Trudeau over Scheer–whose views on same sex marriage and abortion are firmly rooted in the 19th century–any day.
Ditto!!
‘How can any Canadian, let alone western Canadian, especially Albertan, vote for the Liberals?’
If you try to honestly do the same type of summary for the Conservatives you will understand why people vote Liberal.
Good point Carlos. Unfortunately Postmedia and the Globe and Mail won’t review Scheer’s policies (and failings) to the same degree as the Liberals. Not surprising given the Globe’s endorsement of Harper in 2015 — they said we should hold our noses over things like the barbarism snitch line, the niqab ban. One of the lead stories in the Globe today is they can’t find the guy who gave the blackface photo to Time. This is not news.
Mr Priaro: All the pro-pipeline issues you list here, are also reasons why the Liberals are in trouble from the left & the environmental movement. We have Green Party Leader Elizabeth May reiterating constantly that this is the last election wherein we have a chance, as a nation, to do the right thing for the climate; and we have Jagmeet Singh being equally committed to taking radical action, though somewhat less dramatic about it. (Then there are the ScheerCons, who try to pretend they are not climate change denialists, and Mad Max’s PPC, who is fully outed as such). Finally, there are two provinces — BC and Quebec — that are so adamantly opposed to pipelines that I can’t see any way — short of sending troops — to push a pipeline across their territory, “national interest” be damned — not that there is any consensus that pipelines are in the national interest at all (see above re Ms May & Mr Singh).
So, you can blame Mr Trudeau all you want, but even if he won the lottery, decamped to Fiji tomorrow and conceded the election to Mr Scheer, there is very little likelihood anything would, happen on the pipeline file. The legal cards are too stacked against it.
I think the question many people are asking, is “the PM has no problem calling anyone who doesn’t agree with his point of view a racist, or a settler, or any number of labels”, while not “practising what he preaches” and I suspect that will be how many people will look at it. Regardless of the fact all of us have prejudices of some kind and we are all weak and capable of ignorant behavior and less than nice speech. Maybe we all need to realize that, and endeavour to do better, while not pointing fingers. Will he recover from this, I suspect he will. His image will be a little tattered, but to build on what you said, the alternatives for most Canadians will be unthinkable. I often say federal elections are making the best decision of a lot of poor choices. It’s a shame it seems to be getting worse every election. There used to be more good people than bad who were in politics? Or is it just all the yelling by the bad ones and their allies, are drowning out the good ones? Should Andrew Sheer become PM, then the Liberal Party of Canada deserved to lose as they chose Justin Trudeau. We all are responsible for our errors, right wing, left wing or centre. Canada will survive Trudeau, Sheer, Singh or May.
Einar, well said, especially your comment about politics and politicians seeming to get worse every election. The whole idea of “progressive” conservatism went into the trash when Harper rose to power. I recall Elizabeth May saying Harper absolutely refused to speak to anyone from another party and in an act of desperation she tried to catch up with him in an elevator. He was surrounded by a phalanx of aides who wouldn’t let her into the elevator. Contrast this to Brian Mulroney who enacted Pierre Eliot Trudeau’s universal healthcare plan because he thought it was a good idea. Sadly those days are gone.
I really like your last sentence: Canada will survive Trudeau, Scheer, Singh and May.
I’m not giving PM Trudeau a pass, I’m not giving any one of us a pass. We are all guilty of something, we are all judgmental, we all love to find fault (including me) we all love to say “I’m right, you are wrong, you don’t think like me therefore you aren’t worthy”. When we get caught we all make excuses too. No one is perfect. However if we don’t find a way to stop being offended or being a victim about everything, we will miss the important stuff. We can build a better Alberta, Canada and the world but we spend too much time bickering and pointing fingers. I don’t know about everyone else, but I want to accept we have problems, and sit down with others cooperatively to fix them. Like the song “United we stand, divided we fall and if our backs should ever be against the wall, we’ll be TOGETHER. Those words are still true. That means Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Green and anyone else put aside their ideology and their animosities, learn to find common ground again and get on with the job. That’s my ideology. Sorry for the rant.
Wise words Einar, not a rant. Thank you.
Susan: Thanks for another great blog. We all make mistakes. This is a really contentious issue. There are people who want Justin Trudeau to resign. Yet, how come other politicians, like CPC MP, Gerry Ritz has said so many inappropriate things, which included mocking listeriosis deaths, wanting a victim to be PEI, Liberal MP, Wayne Easter, or making degrading remarks about Liberal MP, Catherine McKenna, and he was never punished by the voters, or the CPC cabinet? Grant Hunter, a UCP MLA, has said many bad things, including recently quoting a Nazi. Why is still allowed to be an MLA? Also, Ralph Klein got drunk and threw money at the homeless, was making fun of disabled people, needing government help, because they were unemployable, did many very costly debacles, and so on, but was not made to resign? If it is a party that is not Conservative, there is outrage. If it is a Conservative politician that makes a serious mistake, it is ignored. This is very true in Alberta. Brian Liley (the name makes me feel uncomfortable), was having a field day with this in The Sun. Yet, look at the “media outlet” he helped to create. Look at who the “journalists” are on that. We will see what happens with this.
Dwayne, you raise a very important point, namely that the Conservatives and UCP seem to have a high tolerance for the kind of behaviour they deplore in Trudeau. One thing that crossed my mind as these conservatives ripped into Trudeau was whether their staunch defense of people of colour extended to accepting the fact that Indigenous groups have the legal right to challenge a pipeline for lack of adequate government consultation. Instead of railing against court decisions that hold up pipelines (here and in the US) to allow Indigenous groups to appeal, they should be applauding them.
Thanks Dwayne, you make an important point, the conservatives cut themselves a lot of slack when it comes to crossing the line, heck in the dying days of his campaign Harper added the barbaric snitch line and niqab ban to his platform and conservatives thought nothing of it. It’s important that progressives hold their politicians to a higher standard, but we also need to understand that as Eisner said, we’ve all made mistakes in the past, (and this one is appalling), Trudeau apologized and there is nothing he’s done while in office that supports the allegation that he’s a racist.
Susan, Trudeau apologized. Yes, it was a stupid thing to do. I think Trudeau also owes a huge apology to his staff for not disclosing these incidents to them. Now, can we move on? The Amazon Rainforest is still burning. Geez, I wish our media, I wish people were as wrapped up in this and how it affects our climate. Want to see a true racist, look south of the border. Bill Maher covered this issue Friday night. I liked what he said. Also, um, Ive done some stupid crap in my past too which I have apologized for to the party involved. Before we point the figure and tisk, we should also look at ourselves and what we’ve done to others.
JVC, I fall into the camp that accepts Trudeau’s apology. I can get there because throughout his term he’s implemented policies to protect minority rights, he expressed his disapproval of Quebec’s secular law, he’s a strong advocate for the LBGTQ community, he’s working on increasing funding for Indigenous communities, and he’s clearly pro-choice. I can’t say the same for Scheer.
What bugs me about this mess is it’s deflected attention away from the respective parties’ platforms into speculation in the Globe & Mail as well as in rags like the Sun about whether Trudeau is secretly a racist, etc.
@scheers Worms
Waiting to clean up the city Waiting to follow the worms Waiting to put on a black shirt Waiting to weed out the weaklings Waiting to smash in their windows And kick in their doors Waiting for the final solution
Derek Coke-Kerr Find me on LinkedIn http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/derek-coke-kerr/6/389/859 17022 67 Ave. Edmonton AB T5T 1Y8 Cell (24/7): 780 441 5040 Calgary Apt: 403 244 9684 Home (Edmonton) 780 481 3821
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Too much common sense here.
Sent from my iPhone
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Why all the angst about what party to vote for?
Vote NDP. Libs and Cons have nothing to give this country.
Greens are now polling ahead of the NDP. So – vote Green. I wish these two parties would merge . . . I think they – together – would CRUSH the old boy’s clubs . . .
It’s that time again:
That said, perhaps you’re right, and it is time we gave the NDP a mandate from the masses.
GoinFawr: I don’t know why but the NDP under Singh aren’t resonating with me the way they did under Layton or even Mulcair. Maybe it’s because the media is doing such a crappy job of covering all the major parties in this election. The puff pieces coming out of the Globe are getting unbearable…on the weekend they ran a story about a reporter visiting Scheer at home. Wasted two full pages on describing his kids jumping on the couch and his wife rephrasing his sentences for him, when they could have informed the public about NDP and Green policies.
Amacgregor my worry about voting NDP/Green is we’ll split the vote and usher in the Conservatives. Not a risk I want to take.
Worrying about splitting the vote. I completely understand, but if Trudeau had not reneged on his promises on electoral reform, you would not face that dilemma. That is one reason why I will find it very hard to vote Liberal in this election, and am still weighing my (non-conservative) options.
The liberal record is mixed: good performance on science and paying attention to the Naylor Report, and on equity diversity and reconciliation (eg. Lubicon deal). Some action (though not enough) on climate change. But then there is selling arms to the Saudis, breaking promises on electoral reform, inconsistent environmental policy when it comes to pipelines, and the SNC Lavalin. Sure, the Conservatives will be worse – we have recent history to show that to us, but the Liberals certainly have not done enough to prove they deserve another majority, in my view.
Of course, here in Alberta there are few (1-4, depending on who you believe) ridings in which a vote for any party has any consequences. So there is usually no incentive to vote strategically anyway – that only makes sense when the result is going to be fairly close, and would be altered by about 1/4 of the voters from each of the 3rd and 4th placed parties switching to the second placed one. Might have worked in Calgary Confederation last time, but there is no evidence it will make any difference this time.
I agree hitting the election trifecta is very rare. I have decided that Climate Change action is the key issue in this election – at minimum keeping us in Paris. I’ll try to vote in that direction. Unfortunately we only have 3 candidates in Fort McMurray. And without Pro-Rep, I don’t foresee us ever having a full slate.
Alisacaswell: sadly that’s the case all across Alberta.
I suspect there’s more stuff in Trudeau’s background that could come out. I am not innocent either…I will confess that in 1947 my mom took me to the corner store with her when she needed a pack of cigs and did not buy me any candy so I stole a stick of bubble gum. Been living in fear ever since.
But I learned!!
Trudeau and his Liberal party have not learned in my honest opinion! They are totally focused on the betterment of the Liberal Party and themselves at the expense of Canadians and no expense is too great.
Ed, time will tell whether there’s more to come out about Trudeau, but I disagree that everything the Liberals have done is for the betterment of the Liberal Party. Andrew Leach recently posted a tweet in which he said the Liberals have made more progress on the climate change file than any government before it, having said that there is still much more to be done. Given the enormous response in 150 countries to the Climate Strike today I suspect the climate issue is now firmly front and centre in this election. That leaves the Conservatives in a sticky situation.
I think one guy on a Twitter said it best: “The one positive coming out of this is that Justin Trudeau got conservatives to finally care about racism.” I’d rather he said “The CPC” – as many conservatives DO care about racism – but pithy nonetheless.
Grant, that is an important distinction—the conservatives we used to know and the CPC and UCP are two different beasts.
So True!!!
Hi Susan, I often agree with your views, but this time I can’t. As a black male, I truly find it appalling that our Prime Minister painted himself in blackface. He did it in 2001 as a 29-year-old teacher. Given his Bollywood incident, I really don’t think he learned anything.
Brendon, thank you for your comment. There isn’t a white person on the planet who has the right to tell a black person how to react to this incident. I didn’t mean this post to be come across that way. It was meant to express my extreme disappointment in Trudeau’s behaviour, and explain why I, a white woman, will still vote Liberal on Oct 21.
.. too much sanctimony .. high dudgeon .. a rush on fainting couch sales.. deary me ! He dressed up as Alladin.. the horror ! I think not. I did the burnt cork makeup.. to go as two of my heroes.. Jimmy Hendrix and as Lew Alcindor. Did anyone get that ? I did it twice. I was not ridiculing anyone.. aside from spoofing myself. I was not dishonouring anyone.. I would have gone as Cassius Clay.. another hero of mine.. but I was 168 lbs.. scrawny and white. Good on those who went to Halloween costume parties with inventive ideas that are not insulting.. I can’t and won’t try to judge or assume .. it was Arabian Nights folks.. not a toga party, not Star Wars, not Easy Rider.. I laughed and jested re some of the costumes I have seen.. and folks have laughed and jested on mine.. Aint it strange how my friends of color aint buying into the sanctimonious & partisan white ass old stock pile on.. (most of those piling on, have made no comment re Bill Cosby or Woody Allen.. let me know if you can find a shred)
Need an example of sanctimony ? How about Hamish Marshall’s wife Kathryn pronouncing that ‘just by looking at her body English’.. in the photo, poor Bianca Andreescu’s sacred personal space was invaded by Trudeau .. hell, he flew into town to personally on stage congratulate her.. on her day.. with her adoring crowd. The smiles on her face were fab & real.. Kinsella says he would have punched him if he tried that with his daughter.. People use anything now.. to make the news.. it was laughable nonsense that Trudeau was leering at her.. but our dear Senator Frum leapt to the 19 year old young woman’s defense, with imagined prescience or magic .. .. the image of course was grabbed from Biana’s Facebook page, without permission and no credit.. sanctimony, larceny meets partisan posturing and preening.. and is thrilled doing so.. CPC is probably fund raising re both.. and I bet zero % of CPC or their fan club ever bothered to read Black Like Me.. I read the book as a farm kid 15 years old.. I had not actually met a black person at the time. It was an astonishing read.. I have never forgotten it
Thank you . . .
Diamondwalker: for me this is an issue of awareness, we have to be more aware of how our actions impact others…so while many POC aren’t offended by Trudeau’s blackface, others are. Their feelings have to be respected. But you’re right, there’s been too much piling on by people who latched on to this to make political hay. Very hypocritical coming from the CPC given their record in race relations.
I too read Black Like Me. Everyone should read it; it was published in the 1960s but I’m sure it is just as relevant today.
So: first of all, I don’t think Mr Trudeau himself is or ever has been a racist, and I do not believe his caucus or party is either — which is not something Mr Scheer should be able to say with a straight face.
But, this affair displays a shocking lack of judgement, especially when you consider that as a schoolteacher, he should have been setting an example for the well-to-do students of the hoity-toity private school where he was working at the time.
Furthermore, there’s the hypocrisy of his sanctimonious hectoring of others who fail to live up to the standards he claims to champion, when all along his hands were far from clean in the matter. Who was it who said, “he who lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones”? He’s thrown a boulder.
Jerrymacgp: Agree 100%.
You nailed it! Too often we do make the comparison and vote for the “lesser of two evils” so to speak. I really liked Jack Layton – at least I liked the man and some of the NDP policies. This election it seems the NDP do not have enough credible candidates so, for me at least, it does come down to either Trudeau or Scheer. I think you can guess which way I’m leaning.
Carol, you and me both, (assuming I’ve guessed correctly on which way you’re leaning.”
Social justice issues are close to my heart and I do not see the Conservatives as embodying much of that.
How can they if they do not believe in society? It is a very sad state of affairs.
I am sure they embody some when it comes to them and their families but for the rest of us we have to compete for it. You just have to read Ayn Rand to see what it all means.
Amazingly ‘The Fountain Head’ one of her success stories is an enormous best sellers.
We can just look at ourselves right now and see how far from a moderate social attitude we are. Greed and individualism reigns supreme. Education is no longer necessary because facts are not really that important. It is not an accident that the only two dropouts in the last 3 decades opted for the slash and burn.
Our competent premier just announced that we do not have to worry about plastic garbage because that is only a problem in the third world. Someone has to remind him that their plastic garbage is coming from Canada where we do know how to deal with our garbage.
This is all a joke and until we decide that we need to know what is really going on, it will continue to get worse. One cannot expect any better when we are managed by fundamentalists and fact less idiots.
Calgary’s Muslim Mayor Nenshi’s take on Trudeaus costume party . . .
“When I saw the picture, it was like a sucker punch.”
“Let’s dispense with the obvious: Yes, it was a stupid thing to do, as much in 2001 as now,” he writes. “No, he’s not a racist.”
“What I did hurt them, hurt people who shouldn’t have to face intolerance and discrimination because of their identity, Trudeau told reporters after the third video was made public.
“This is something that I deeply, deeply regret.”
The Calgary mayor said while Trudeau should have known better, he shouldn’t resign over the incidents.
“He should be judged on the totality of his record and whether Canadians believe in his ability to do good in the future,” Nenshi wrote.
The mayor added the Trudeau incidents highlight all Canadians’ need to have important conversations.
“Canadians cannot stand on moral high ground calling out leaders for offensive things they did, years ago, if we’re not also willing to stand up to the racist and discriminatory behaviour that is directly in front of our faces in 2019,” he wrote.
Nenshi referred to the law in Quebec that bans some public sector employees from wearing religious symbols during work hours.
“I, as a Muslim man, could hold any job I want, but under this law, a Muslim woman who covers with a headscarf cannot,” he wrote.
He noted national leaders have expressed disapproval of the law but have not done anything about it.
On Sunday, Trudeau did not directly respond to the op-ed but said he will try to regain Canadians’ trust.
“I have been very forthright with Canadians on this issue and I will continue to be,” Trudeau said.
“As a country we need to continue to work to diversity, working to fight racism and intolerance, and as an individual I have to keep having really important conversations about choices made in the past and about how I earn once again the trust of Canadians that I hurt.”
Nenshi concluded the column, “Let’s use Justin Trudeau’s old blunders to think about the links between individual action and real justice.”
Mr Nenshi is a classy guy … Calgary doesn’t deserve him as its Mayor.
I also agree with him on Bill 21 in Quebec, which is little different in principle from US President Woodrow Wilson segregating the US federal government in the early 19-teens. Sadly, Canada in the 21st century doesn’t have a Martin Luther King, an Eisenhower or an LBJ to speak up for civil rights over “provincial rights”, which is uncomfortably close to the “states’ rights” argument that was used to defend Jim Crow in the South. Our party leaders, from Andrew Scheer to Jagmeet Singh, are all cowards on this file, and Elizabeth May is even advocating a Québécois reprise of the Great Migration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Migration_(African_American) — if you recall, she suggested that the federal government should help Bill 21-displaced Quebec public sector workers find jobs in The Rest of Canada.
I’m so depressed — & angry — about what our country has come to.
Jerry: I was not aware that Elizabeth May was advocating our own version of the Great Migration. Before we suggest minorities pack up and leave wouldn’t it be better for the rest of Canada to make it clear to Quebec that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated because it’s contrary to the Charter and Canadian values.
Rockymountain: Mayor Nenshi’s take was bang on. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Good comments, Susan. Since the best predictor of future behaviour is a pattern of past behaviour, and since three photos, or was it four (two from the same event) were from almost twenty years ago and more, I’ll go with Trudeau’s lengthy string of more recent accomplishments for minority rights, and stop fussing about this.
Fingers crossed for a minority gov’t, with just a squeeze to the greendp.
Or Trudeau could surprise everyone by fulfilling his electoral reform promise by next month.
Hahahah! Did you see what I did there?
But seriously, that would change everything.
… “squeeze” as in ‘balance of power’, or better
Well, will you look at that!
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/jody-wilson-raybould-wants-a-minority-government-and-is-willing-to-work-with-whomever-is-in-power-1.5295789
I’d say “Great Minds…” and all that, but I suppose that would be presumptuous on my part
GoinFawr: the thought had crossed my mind, that a minority government might not be the worst outcome.
I agree JJJ, actions speak louder than words, perhaps even those 1000 words that pictures are worth.
Judy, I’m with you that Trudeau’s actions are not those of a racist. As others have said here, he’s apologized and its time to focus on all of the issues in this election.
What is surprising to me is the extreme level we are taking this issue to.
I do not know if Justin Trudeau is racist or not and to judge him because of this blackface business is to me ridiculous. Millions of people around the world especially in Brazil celebrate Carnaval which is exactly when people dress like someone else. I personally have to apologize to witches, bees and pirates because ions ago I dressed like them.
In this particular case it is even crazier because he dressed like an East Indian. India is one of the most racist countries in the world with their quasi legal caste system that forces inequality between themselves. If Jagmeet Singh is offended he should be happy that he is Canadian because I am quite certain his parents suffered racism way more offensive back in India. Furthermore it is important to realize that the cast system is directly related to Hinduism which is the largest religious group in India and which prime minister Modi is now imposing to a degree that has caused Christians and Muslims to feel a bit uncomfortable and fearful.
I think we should be concerned way more with Justin Trudeau’s record on SNC-Lavalin and his visits to the Agha Khan then these party dressings. If this is racism in Canada I suggest to go abroad and you will realize what racism is. I suggest Africa for example where tribal wars are still the name of the game. We have now an open racist president in the US that is actually surprised with Justin Trudeau’s story. The world is really out of balance and these are just distractions to leaders that do not have a clue of what they are doing.
.. I myself don’t like ‘comparitive’ partisan sniping.. the ‘well when you were a senior minister’ .. or .. well you get it..
But for purposes of gettig our footing on a heeling deck ( a marine anology) .. how about Ms Rona Ambrose lounging in her bikini with Rodeo Boy aboard the super mega yacht of the CEO of Mt Polly, and the biggest tar sands owner & exporter, owner of the Calgary Flames, castigating Trudeau for a helicopter ride to the Agha Khan island.. Yes, it was a free ride to a secure chopper pad.. he could not exactly fly on a broom.. OK .. maybe a taxpayer paid boat ride was the right answer to get to a secure island logistics.. I am still awaiting ms Ambrose response re her free ride as Official Opposition Leader at the very same time.. I’m sure the food was yummy, the cocktails .. and how did she board the great ship ? On wings ? Mid Caribbean ? Right. Can she produce a receipt ? The irony and hypocracy is off planet humungous .. her whiny complaint re Trudeau came from her phone or the ship’s comm center or the deck chairs on her cruise.. ‘pass the canapes and shrimp wouldya??? And another margarita thanks.. a little more salt please’
Well the world is now watching and revolution is moving – not unexpected to me but way faster.
The politics of elite creation which started with garbage created by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, based on hyper garbage from Ayn Rand and the Chicago School of Economics and Guru Freidman is stalling and people are finally coming out of imposed hyper individualistic/ greedy drunkenness and realizing what this is all about.
Politicians now have to change as well and many dinosaurs will disappear soon. If not the world will for sure enter a second Dark Age.
Well Rona Ambrose just had to pay the price of doing business 🙂
I agree Diamondwalker, this “whataboutism” deflects the discussion from the real issue, but it certainly helps point out the hypocrisy of people like Scheer when they’re making their so-called political points.
I have a feeling that Mike Priaro is a UCP trained – drop the cassette and run – type agent.
At least there is a name – kudos for that but it would be nice if he discussed the issues he raises rather than just repeat the mantra and propaganda and nothing else. I really believe this is because they cannot discuss anything. The objective is to create doubt and confusion.
Jason Kenney is of course, throwing all his stones to Justin Trudeau. He already forgot what he was doing less that 20 years ago. I do not have a problem reminding him that he was working very hard to stop gays with HIV from getting proper treatment. Compare that with a guy with a black face.
This guy who calls himself the premier of Alberta is nothing but a darn CROOK.
Unfortunately in this province we need a Greta Thunberg with horns to get rid of these idiots.
At least in Britain the Supreme Court stopped one idiot – hopefully we can reverse this wave of complete madness and anti-democratic values.
Carlos, I know him on a very casual basis but we don’t have much in common as you can see from our dialogue on this blog…I post Mike’s comments so readers can see how other people think because I know he’s not a troll, but I try to screen out comments from commentators who are actually bots.
I agree with your point that some explanation beyond the UCP speaking points would be helpful.
Mr. Kenney claims he has “evolved”, but there doesn’t seem to be much evidence of that. He still seems to avoid Pride Parades as does Scheer and Kenney doesn’t seem very supportive of GSA’s. I don’t think Kenney is a closet racist, nor do I think Trudeau is either based on his diverse cabinet and fairly inclusive immigration policies, among other things. However, I strongly suspect Kenney is a closet homophobe.
I’m not so sure how much the Federal Conservative party has evolved on racial issues, wasn’t it just in 2015 they were calling for a niqab ban and two of their prominent ministers were sent off to propose a barbaric cultural practices hotline? No wonder racial minority voters feel they have such a dilemma now. We have one party leader who has perhaps inadvertently done distasteful things a number of years ago and another party that may benefit from this, that hasn’t really disavowed distasteful things they said more recently, even when Kenney was still there. Maybe Mr. Kenney should reflect a bit more about his own party’s behavior before he offers his own pious comments.
Well said DAve, well said.
More and More we are seeing sentences like this on newspaper articles, books and magazines
“Christiana Figueres, former head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and who was involved in the report, said: “I see all evidence that social and economic tipping points are aligning. We can now say the next decade has the potential to see the fastest economic transition in history.”
In the meantime our premier is after the climate change activists and wants to build more pipelines. It almost feels like he has been in his basement suite for too long.
While wind and solar are cheaper, the world leaders have spent 5.2 trillions on oils subsidies. No wonder Greta Thunberg is mad. It is not just absurd but completely stupid.
Well at least this week things got finally moving – Boris Johnson was told to go back to parliament, Trump impeachment inquiry has started and hopefully the Canadian puppets get also a kick in the butt. Our provincial genius could be next
Carlos, we’ve reached the tipping point. When millions of people across the globe take to the streets to protest their government’s lack of action on climate change, all at the instigation of a young girl, you know we’ve finally woken up. Politicians will listen or be forced out of office. It’s about time.
Susan: It’s rather odd that this was brought up before the up and coming federal election. Who is behind this?
Anonymous, well I could hazard a guess. Politics is getting dirtier with each election cycle.