Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler
In defense of Justin Trudeau
Now, that is a headline few would expect to see above a column written by me. But there it is. I am not a member of the Justin Trudeau Fan Club, but neither do I wear blinkers. The Prime Minister did several things that impressed me this week. On at least one of them, he Is taking a real hit but I, for one, give him credit for doing so.
First, there was the terrible massacre of innocent people in Quebec City. If it was not a terrorist attack, it was a hate crime. Six men mowed down and several others injured in their place of worship, simply because they were Muslims. Prime Minister Trudeau took an immediate stand on this tragedy that all Canadians should be proud of. It was one that may not have won him friends in high office in certain places, but it was one that defined Canada. “Diversity is our strength,” he said. “These senseless acts have no place in our communities, our cities and country.”
Justin Trudeau made it clear that there is no room for racism in Canada. We don’t like the bad guys any more than others do. But we reject intolerance, we respect religious freedom and we open our arms to people genuinely fleeing persecution. That is who we are and we are a richer nation for it. We are not afraid. We will not shut our doors. We will not turn our backs on those in need. Especially, in light of the tragedy in Quebec City, that was an important message for the Prime Minister to send and I am glad that he did so.
Another encouraging note to me was Justin Trudeau’s reaction to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order to ban Muslims from seven Middle East countries from entering the U.S., even if they had dual citizenship. Trudeau did not address it directly. Let’s face it, the United States is somewhat larger than we are and, in many ways, we are dependent on their good will. It is like walking a tight rope. But Trudeau showed courage. He did not turn a blind eye. Again, he stated what Canada stood for when he said: “To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you regardless of your faith.” Those words mean something to me. My faith teaches me to love my fellow man (and woman). I am not taught to pick and choose.
Finally, there is the matter of election reform in Canada. Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Government are taking it in the neck for copping out on a campaign promise that there would never again be a ‘first past the post’ election in Canada. Of course, I understand the politics. It is a perfect opportunity for the Opposition to attack the Government’s credibility because of broken promises. But here is one Conservative who believes that Trudeau did the right thing.
He should not have included electoral reform in his campaign platform in the first place. It is too much of a fundamental tenet of democracy to be treated arbitrarily, without direct consent from the electorate. It did not take the Prime Minister long to determine that he would not get consensus on electoral reform, even from his own party. It quickly became an issue of “be careful what you wish for”.
I have made no secret about my opposition to certain types of electoral reform such as proportional representation, which would effectively do away with constituencies and locally elected representatives. No system is perfect, however, and I could have lived with a change to a weighted ballot.
In politics, it sometimes takes courage to change your mind and, whatever Justin Trudeau’s motives, I am happy, at least in this case, that he did so. Broken promises or not, it was the right decision.
Of course, I have other issues with the Trudeau Government. However, in my view it was a pretty good week for Justin Trudeau. There are many who will not agree but it is important to me to call them as I see them. To my Liberal friends, may I suggest you print this column and save it. It may be a while until you see one like this from me again!
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Electoral reform reversal shows Justin Trudeau takes Canadians for fools
BY CHRISTOPHER MAJKA | FEBRUARY 6, 2017
Article from Rabble.ca
Well worth the read.
I agree with everything that you’ve said, Hugh; I was initially interested in reform of the electoral system, but I think this is not the time to do it; it requires far more educating of the public and a lot more serious consideration of the pros and cons than has been given it so far; I think that Mr Trudeau has handled himself and the issues of the day very well; it is very turbulent times we are living in and he has kept a steady hand on the rudder, steering us in a positive direction.
OK, here comes the Philistine to wreck the love-in which seems to be in progress.
I give Trideau no special credit for rightly expressing horror and sympathy and support after the attrocity in Quebec City. What else could he possibly have done? A no option response gets nothing more than neutral points from me.
In sofar as the announcement that the election reform issue has been shuffled off the agenda I say, bully for him and nothing more. It should never have been used as a carrot to be dangled before the star crossed lefties during the election. Cynical. Election reform is so fundamental a change that a referendum is absolutly required. Trudeau was guilty of fraudulent behaviour in the way it was presented and it is now clear that it was nothing more than a cynical vote magnet destined for the trash bin after the election. Very poor IMO and absolutly no points awarded.
Taken together, Trudeau, who is let’s face it, simply a pretty boy do gooder put forward by the old guard Liberals to grasp power has been pretty shakey as a prime minister. He has name recognition and a pretty face, good hair and no better than average intellect. I imagine many seasoned foreign powers have assessed Trudeau and placed him well down on the list. After fawning over him in public. But he is a fair bet for any airy fairy environmental scheme designed to enrich the crafty and fleece the gullible.
God help Canada.
Too bad. Canada deserves better. Seem harsh to you? Someone has to say it.
I’m not all that surprised at your tone Hugh. Okay…maybe I’m a little surprised but in a good way.
As you well know, one can spend months and years in the U.S. without hearing a word about Canada on the news and it irritates the devil out of me. I do not think we need the approval of the U.S…..it’s not about that. It’s just that surely something happens occasionally in Canada that might be of interest to those to the south of us?
But all of that seems to have changed for pretty much the reasons you chose to give praise to Mr. Trudeau. Canada is everywhere on television right now and most of it has to do with admiration of Trudeau and his description of an inclusive Canada which by extension sprinkles affection and respect and interest on the rest of us.
The New York Times sent one of their top journalists/columnists north to talk to ‘real’ Canadians and the resultant article is a big, slobbering kiss to us in print form. Interestingly, in the ‘Comments’ section not a few Canadians saw fit to demure and point out that our relationship with First Nations is a disgrace (true) and that we wait a long time to see a specialist (also true) and a woman from Manhattan declared that “most of that country is an empty, desolate wasteland.” Thousands more sang our praises and wished they could be more like us and wailed at the awful contrast between our two leaders.
As to bailing on the first past the post reform….I was very upset about that and disappointed in Mr. Trudeau. But I’ve been doing a ton of research on the subject and I’m not as rock solid on my stance as I was. We’ll see.
This may be the last time I see you and Debi and John all give credit to Trudeau so I’m going to savour it. :o)
The PM had a good week. Taxpayers will Quickly forget that it took millions of dollars and countless resources to come up with no answer on Election reform. The losers are those fringe Party and NDP supporters that thought by voting for Trudeau they might finally become a partaker of some of the blessed promises intimated.
OMG Debi? Which one of you is on the couch tonight?
Sometimes a good performance is all we need. Well done PM and well said Hugh.