On Parliament Hill

This past Friday, Cuba’s long serving dictator, Fidel Castro, passed away. While it is customary and appropriate for the Prime Minister of Canada to make an official statement on the passing of a world leader, many around the world were surprised by Justin Trudeau’s gushing praise of Mr. Castro and his oppressive regime.

Mr. Trudeau stated, “Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century.”

While it is true that Mr. Castro was indeed Cuba’s leader for almost 50 years, the world agrees that he did not “serve” his people. Instead, Fidel Castro brought suffering, poverty, and oppression to his country and its residents.

Unfortunately Mr. Trudeau did not limit his speech to just one inappropriate sentence. He went on to talk about his family’s close relationship with Fidel Castro and about how his father was proud to call Mr. Castro a good friend. He concluded with, “On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and many, many supporters of Mr. Castro. We join the people of Cuba today in mourning the loss of this remarkable leader.”

While I will let the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who have escaped Castro’s regime debate about whether or not his leadership was “remarkable”, I will state emphatically that Justin Trudeau’s statement should NOT have included the notion that he was speaking on behalf of ALL Canadians when he lauded praise on the former dictator.

Canada’s reputation has taken a hit as our Prime Minister’s statement drew criticism and humiliating headlines from around the world. Social media exploded over the weekend with satirical eulogies courtesy of Justin Trudeau. The reaction was similar three years ago when he responded with “China’s basic dictatorship” when asked the question of which nation’s administration, besides Canada’s, he admired the most.

Elected officials also weighed in. US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who as a child fled Cuba with her family, stated that Mr. Trudeau’s “love letter” to Fidel Castro “sickened” her. She went on to state that our Prime Minister obviously has no understanding of the suffering of so many Cubans who lost loved ones to the Cuban gulags or execution squads.

For comparison, we can look to Conservative Party leader Rona Ambrose for a more appropriate statement where she concluded, “Canada and the Cuban people have had a long and warm friendship over many years. With today’s news, my hope is that a brighter day will be coming for the Cuban people, where they may live in freedom and where democracy, human rights, and the rule of law are enshrined.‎”

This is the type of statement a REAL leader makes when commenting on the death of a former tyrant. Our Prime Minister should have simply recognized Mr. Castro’s passing, acknowledged the decades of suffering that the Cuban people have endured and then pointed to the brighter future ahead for the country, where freedom and democracy now have an opportunity to take root.

Mr. Trudeau did none of that, and Canada’s reputation has taken a step back because of it.