On Parliament Hill

What do you do when a rock star stops selling records? Send them out on tour. Given the dismal year the Liberals had in 2017, Justin Trudeau had little choice but to hit the road and try to explain himself to Canadians through his use of charm and drama.

While it is laudable that the Prime Minister is willing to step out from behind his spin doctors in the tightly controlled Ottawa bubble to talk to Canadians, please do not be fooled into thinking this tour is anything more than damage control.

Seeing the Prime Minister out and about taking questions is important but the answers he gives are far more so and Mr. Trudeau’s answers are falling far short.

Many of us remember last year’s $131,000 vanity exercise where Mr. Trudeau travelled across Canada taking selfies and insulting one group of Canadians after another. In Sherbrook, Quebec, when an Anglophone person asked a serious question about getting better supports in place for those with mental health issues Trudeau refused to answer him in English. When earnestly asked by a child why his father had (famously) given a group – rotesting high unemployment in BC – “the finger” he simply laughed it off. And who can forget when he insulted aboriginal Canadians with his infamous “aboriginal youth want a place where they can store their paddles and canoes” gaffe. Needless to say his team was hoping for an easier ride this time around. They didn’t get it.

And why should they? In just one year, 2017, Justin Trudeau was found guilty on four counts of breaking Parliament’s ethics rules. He allowed and tacitly encouraged thousands of illegal migrants to jump the immigration que to enter Canada illegally. He imposed a carbon tax and raised taxes on the middle class (according to the Fraser Institute the average middle class family will pay $840 more in taxes in 2018). He raised taxes on small businesses, family farms and doctors, who he views as tax cheats that must be caught and made to pay their fair share. He has put NAFTA at risk and failed to secure any other international trade deal, essentially cutting off Canada from world markets, opting instead to lecture these countries about values. He attempted to remove the religious freedoms cherished by Canadians by eliminating their protections in the criminal code. He is now actively targeting the beliefs and values of many Canadians, withholding government funding from all those who hold different values from His Liberal party. He continues to prioritize the reintegration of ISIS terrorists over those who have fled their tyranny. The ministers he has appointed have failed to provide essential services like pay to government employees (Phoenix pay system – Judy Foote/Carla Qualtrough Minister of Public Services and Procurement) and benefits to the disabled (diabetes tax credit-Dianne Labouthier, Minister of National Revenue). Some have misled (Operation Medusa-Harjit Sajjan, Defense Minister; ethics concerns- Bill Morneau, Finance Minister) and insulted Canadians of all stripes (Thalidomide survivors and veterans- Kent Hehr, Minister for Persons with Disabilities). And oh yes: let’s not forget that it was Justin Trudeau who gave $10.5 million Canadian tax dollars and an apology to a convicted terrorist and murderer Omar Khadr.

One would think that after the year he’s had Mr. Trudeau would have learned a little humility, but that trademark Liberal arrogance was out in full force as he faced Canadians. Despite the disaster that 2017 was and his falling popularity, Mr. Trudeau clearly still believes he knows best.

These town halls are little more than an opportunity for the PM to lecture a (mostly) friendly crowd about his favorite topics, regaling them with his radical version of what Canada and Canadian values should look like – and those who disagree or have legitimate concerns over his policies get short changed at these events.

In Nova Scotia he refused to answer a mother who asked about a national autism strategy and he laughed off his ethics violations. An Ontario woman got a similar response to her concerns over the reintegration of ISIS terrorists and the Khadr payment. But these things are far from joking matters. These are issues that matter to Canadians and issues that speak directly to the judgment (or clear lack thereof) of Justin Trudeau.

Let’s hope that in 2019 Canadians tell him to hit the road for good.