Listen Up! The entitled behaviour of the federal Liberals is inviting a populist vote

Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler

A Sense of Entitlement

Can the populist movement ever come to Canada? You betcha! It all comes from a sense of entitlement by those who govern us; a belief that they can do whatever they want, an attitude that eventually makes the guy in the street sick and tired of the governing class. It has happened in the United States and it can happen in Canada. As a matter of fact, it is happening in Canada.

Populism manifests itself across party lines. In America, most recently, it was a right wing movement. In Canada, it came from the left. People are simply sick of politicians of all stripes. Canadians spoke out by dumping the Harper government. In that campaign, the Liberals promised to do better but after a year and a half in government, they are exhibiting the same old partisan politics and sense of entitlement that they rallied against in order to gain power.

First, they stacked the Senate by pretending to create an independent body, a promise they made. But in fact, they appointed only people from the left of centre in the political spectrum, who will generally dance to their tune. Senate reform is a joke and only the blinkered faithful don’t see it.

And then there is the matter of cash for access. That wasn’t going to happen any more, the Liberals said. No catering to special interests. Oh no. But it has happened, big time, even with the Prime Minister’s active involvement. So much for promises, but the Liberal coffers are full.

Another Liberal promise was to restore the respect and relevance of parliament and yet to date, they have failed to appoint a single parliamentary watchdog. There are eight of these positions, officers who report directly to parliament and not to the government, on matters such as conflict of interest and ethics, Canada’s electoral system and lobbying. Four of these positions remain vacant and the government does not seem to be in a hurry to fill them. Apparently, they see no need to be held accountable.

Even worse, when it comes to respecting parliament, was a decision by the government last week to effectively take their own back benchers to court for voting for a bill to prevent genetic discrimination, introduced by Conservative Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose. This was not a government bill and they did not support it. Nevertheless, it was approved by parliament with the support of more than 100 Liberal MPs. Instead of respecting the will of parliament, which it almost always controls, the government is dragging its feet by taking the unusual step of referring the matter to the Supreme Court of Canada for a constitutional ruling. How dare parliament vote against the will of the government? We’ll show them who is boss! It is a sense of entitlement and it could be years before this legislation sees the light of day.

Sadly, this sense of entitlement by the government has not escaped Parry Sound-Muskoka. Last week, the federal minister responsible for FedNor was in the riding to announce a number of grants. The announcement was part of a nationwide blitz of government giveaways amounting to $1.2 billion of taxpayer dollars. In this riding the announcement of taxpayer grants to recipients was made in the acknowledged presence of Trisha Cowie who was the Liberal candidate here in the last federal election. The member of parliament for Parry Sound-Muskoka, Tony Clement, was not invited. He happens to be a Conservative. To make things worse, Ms. Cowie was in the official photo for the announcement and it was featured on her party’s riding website. Whether the Liberals like it or not, Tony Clement was elected to represent Parry Sound-Muskoka and not Trisha Cowie.

There is a time for electioneering and there is a time for governing. FedNor grants are an announcement of the government, not of the Liberal party. It is supposed to be non-partisan. Common courtesy would require an invitation to the sitting member, regardless of party affiliation. Instead, it was nothing more than a partisan event designed to buy votes. It was disrespectful to our member of parliament and it was yet another indication of the government’s sense of entitlement.

So why am I writing about all of this? Well a friend of mine (not a Conservative) put it somewhat succinctly the other day: “This is the kind of crap that led to the populist movement in the United States.”

Not withstanding the current personal popularity of Justin Trudeau, the Liberals are beginning a slide in the polls. The honeymoon is over and it has ended because there are too many signals of same old, same old and that is what voters will eventually reject.

Believe it or not, I would vote for a Trudeau government before I would vote for one led by Kevin O’Leary who, in so many ways, mirrors the populist/Trump movement endured by our neighbours to the south. But in my opinion, our current government is asking for it. They, more than any Conservative initiative, will usher in a populist movement in Canada by ignoring substantive commitments they made, by further eroding public trust and by perpetuating a sense of entitlement that excludes the interests of ordinary Canadians. Folks are fed up with politicians who say anything to get into power and then spend more time trying to stay there than delivering. So far, the Liberals are doing just that and we will all pay for it.

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