Last weekend Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took time off to go cross-country skiing in Quebec.
So what?
Also last weekend, Ontario Premier Doug Ford took time off to go snowmobiling in Muskoka.
So what?
The only thing significant about any of this is that to learn about Trudeau’s skiing excursion you had to look very hard to find it. Whereas Ford’s interlude on Muskoka’s fabulous snowmobile trails was splashed all over the media and social commentary, much of it embedded in sarcasm. Great publicity for Muskoka I suppose but think about that for a minute. I’ll get back to it.
Anyone with the slightest understanding of crisis management knows that respite and down-time for the leaders involved is critical to focused and strategic action and to avoiding knee-jerk responses that make things worse rather than better. You cannot make effective decisions when you are over-tired or stressed out. In fact, that is when you make the poor ones. Bottom line, neither Ford nor Trudeau should be criticized for taking needed and necessary time out.
What is disturbing, however, is that to much of the left-leaning media, and to people like the Opposition leaders in Ontario, this appeared to be more important to exploit, primarily in relation to Doug Ford, than the real crisis Canada is currently facing, particularly at its borders. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Doug Ford did pay attention to what is going on in this country right now, particularly in Ontario where blockades are doing real damage to the economy and to hard-working individuals whose lives, and in many cases their ability to work, have been disrupted and a place where, embarrassingly, at least one other country, India, has issued a no-travel advisory for Canada.
Ford has done what the federal government has failed to do, declared a state of emergency, called the insurrection, as it now is, a siege, and put in place tough measures to end it. He did this knowing that a portion of his base supporters would be unhappy, but also knowing that it was the right thing to do. Many people of all political stripes applauded this action.
Shortly after Ford’s press conference on Friday, political pundit and former Liberal strategist, Warren Kinsella, tweeted this: “@fordnation just made the @JustinTrudeau government look useless, and the @CandiceBergenMP @PierrePoilievre Tories look clueless. And it ain’t even noon yet.”
A dear friend of mine, an ardent NDP supporter, said to me, “Finally, finally, a leader who spoke up and did the right thing.”
Another friend, currently a strong supporter of Trudeau, wrote to say, “Doug Ford just earned my vote.”
Even Gerald Butts, a close friend of the prime minister and at one point a senior member of the PMO, tweeted, “I’m often critical of him but that was very strong stuff from Doug Ford.”
Clearly there has been a great deal of bipartisan support for the action that Doug Ford took on Friday. That is good and the way it should be in Canada. We need more of that on all sides.
But what did much of the mainstream media do? A number of them moved quickly in an attempt to discredit Ford as people were praising him for taking a strong stand on opening up the borders. Clearly, they would have no truck with that. (Pun intended.)
That same day, one well known commentator gave credit to the Trudeau Government, saying they had asked the Ford Government to declare a state of emergency a week or so previously but had been rebuffed. That was strongly denied by the Ford Government and, in any event, when it comes to protecting Canada’s borders the federal government has ample jurisdiction under our constitution to take action. To date, they have not done that. It was the Ontario Government that earlier in the week successfully sought a court injunction in relation to the border blockades.
Then there was an opinion piece in the Toronto Star yesterday that just eviscerated Doug Ford for his statement and actions on Friday. He (Ford) didn’t get anything right. Everything was too late and self-serving or not good enough. No mention that he was the only leader that took any action at all. And just a buried, last paragraph comment that the prime minister could have shown more leadership.
Reading some of these stories and comments over the weekend made me wonder if there wasn’t some kind of unspoken resolve among some left-of-centre media folks that a good performance by Doug Ford needed to have the bottom torn out of it, especially so close to a provincial election, and that it was their job to do just that.
The day is gone I suppose, when we can expect a balanced approach to media reporting. It has become seriously polarized on both the left and the right, and I find that disturbing. In Canada at least, the left seems to be more dominant, but it causes me to wonder if this polarization, from both perspectives, contributes to the state our country is in today where anger, frustration, and distrust have become a toxic combination. It is easy to blame politicians for this, but many of those in the mainstream media must be held responsible as well.
Canadian journalist Alan Fryer put it this way: “Before media decided it was okay for their newsrooms to pick sides, most journalists were rightly seen as being on the public’s side. Picking political sides – it doesn’t matter which side – seriously erodes public trust in journalism and ultimately in our democracy.”
There will be people today who are content with bias to the left in the mainstream media. But we all should be calling for balance. Just look at the United States, where the pendulum is swinging too far to the alt-right. Surely we don’t want that here any more than we want the extreme left. Canada has always been about balance and not about extremism. We need to keep it that way.
Because inexorably, what goes around comes around.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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I am not happy that PM Justin Trudeau enacted the ” Emergencies Act “yesterday to solve the ” Siege of Ottawa ” as premier Ford calls it . I am really happy that ” Do Nothing ” Ottawa ‘s police chief Peter Sloly resigned earlier today as I personally feel that some of his officers aided and abetted the protesters over the last 3 weeks . If premier Ford had followed up on his ” Ontario State of Emergency ” with ACTION , we would not have needed Trudeau’s ” Emergencies Act “. From my perspective , premier Ford has been missing in action re this crisis.
Below is an email that I sent to Mayor Jim Watson and the Ottawa Police Board
John Barltrop
Markham, Ontario
Most diverse, inclusive city in Canada
John Barltrop
Feb 13, 2022, 4:04 PM (2 days ago)
to jim.watson, info, bill.blair, pm, candice.bergen, jagmeet, premier, marco.mendicino, yves-francois.blanchet, omar.alghabra, Paul, chrystia.freeland, mayor_tory
Dear Mayor Jim Watson
What is wrong with you Jim Watson , mayor of Ottawa , and the Ottawa police force headed up by chief Stoly as the ” Siege of Ottawa ” enters its 17 day .
Michael Kempa, a criminology professor at the University of Ottawa stated the reason why you must take back your city from these insurgents.
“This underlines why the state must get control of the streets of Ottawa. Citizens are, in effect, giving up and the state must demonstrate that the institutions of democracy are able to control the situation.”
It is time for you and the police to do their duty and to clear out the protesters/insurgents from your city. Counter protesters in your city are agonizing over the ” Do Nothing ” approach from you, chief Sloly and Premier Ford re ” The Occupation Of Their City ,Ottawa “.
I want to see resolve from the municipal , provincial levels of government to end the ” Siege of Ottawa ” ASAP .
John Barltrop
Markham, Ontario
Most diverse, inclusive city in canada .
Jody, As I replied to you on Facebook, In our Commentary section we welcome respectful articles on all subjects and from all political perspectives. Why don’t you take a crack at it? What we do not allow is any political bias in our news reporting. Unlike many in the main-stream media we believe that belongs on the Opinion Page which as I said, is open to all. I challenge you to find one news story on Doppler where there is a political bias..
With the federal Emergencies Act, a much more benign legislation, (that in many ways protects civil rights), than the previous War Measures Act, Trudeau has now enhanced overall government power.
This enables governments at all levels to reduce significant economic losses, enact stronger legislation to block funding of the blockades, remove trucks (compelling use of tow trucks etc ) entrenched in public spaces, and further protect trade and border disruption.
With known connections to extreme groups, I suspect that there’s more security risk known by intelligence agencies than the general public is currently aware of. These will eventually come to light, as it’s required by the Emergencies Act to hold an independent inquiry into the need for enacting this legislation. I strongly believe that Trudeau, Freeland, and other ministers would not have invoked this Act unnecessarily.
Part of the reason given in Trudeau’s speech is to stop border blockades and worse from continuing to pop up and reduce the risk to Canadians from criminal elements such as those connected to the weapons found at the Coutts, Alberta border.. Makes me think of trying to avoid whack-a-mole!
I was impressed with DF’s declaration speech but very impressed with JT’s speech as it gave many specifics, especially in alleviating potential public fears, by outlining what the Emergency Act would NOT do to harm people’s rights.
Yet there is and will continue to be lots of criticism from both sides of the political spectrum about the federal government’s temporary and geographically targeted plans with this state of emergency.
I’m glad that DF has supported the federal government on this. I’m glad that the federal government has been working together with the Ontario government ( and others) for some time, although reporting on this has been minimal.
I am curious to hear Hugh’s possible potential comments on Trudeau taking this step. It’s OK for DF to declare a state of emergency but perhaps not JT?
I agree that balanced reporting is desirable and deserved by citizens. Mainstream media seems almost as biased as partisan political rhetoric has become. One strategy to counter this is to read editorials, articles and opinion pieces written from different sides/viewpoints and use one’s critical thinking skills.
I am happy to hear the CBC interview people with opposing viewpoints, including an interview this morning on Morning North radio with a First Nation man who has been protesting and supporting truckers in Ottawa for the past two weeks. CBC is the only news source I know of that regularly tells stories of those Canadians whose voices are rarely heard. Opposing viewpoints are heard on the call in radio shows.
DF declaring a state of emergency is just that…it’s a declaration, a statement. It requires ACTION. The court injunction to stop the Ambassador Bridge blockade came from both the Automotive Parts and the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturing Associations backed by the City of Windsor.
Just as a citizen’s injunction by a 21 year old Ottawa resident got a court injunction to stop big rigs from blasting horns at all hours.
I’m curious as to why the Ontario state of emergency has not stopped illegal blockades in Ottawa and why the police have not been taking more action, perhaps other than their concern about triggering violence if police step in?
I’ll also be watching to see how the federal Emergency Act will enable ACTION to disperse illegal blockades in the city of Ottawa, to give the residents their city and their “normal” lives back, whatever normal means in these pandemic times.
I understood that Mr. Trudeau went to the official summer residence at Harrington Lake to isolate for a week because 2 of his children tested positive for Covid-19. He held at least 2 press announcements that I watched. During the first lock down, Mr. Ford made a short trip to check on his cottage and this time, went snowmobiling during the new crisis. Commentators in all forms of media, including you, tend to cherry pick facts to colour their commentary to suit their bias.
I wish that all media, print or digital, would present the required information needed in times of crisis (virus or blockades) without the political bias, but that would not make money for the media outlets nor gain support for the politicians.
Nancy Rogers
Lets be fair and give credit where credit is due. Ford and Trudeau both did a good job, but the federal job is considerably more complicated so it took a bit longer. How refreshing to see them actually working together like adults.
Jean Bagshaw; good luck with the notion of debate between anti-vaxxers and those who follow guidelines and mandates. Those who still are not persuaded/convinced are much more entrenched in their positions.
Likely, we would hear from those who are anti-vaccination and mandates the repeat of inaccurate information, pulled from unreliable sources on the Internet. It is not that their voices have not been heard.
It is unfortunate that DF has not shown similar strength or savvy on COVID and anti-vaxxers.
I’m not clear if abandoning the Vax passports and their required use, come March 1, is not great positive reinforcement for anti-vaxxers to recklessly integrate with those who have been fully vaccinated.
The message may be perceived as “if you wait long enough, there will be no repercussions for being unvaccinated”. However, there may still be repercussions for others. We’ll see.
Mandates and precautions will fall to Public Health districts, lets hope all unvaccinated will abide (for example, if we are still advised to wear masks). Or will it be mini-free-for-alls?
The damage that has been done in this province to our public health care system, long term care, the sell out to private, for-profit care, and the incredible strain on all healthcare workers have and will have huge costs/consequences.
Waves during a pandemic are normal. The lack of planning and action between waves is not = very poor.
DF is entitled to a break, but he has been missing-in-action at crucial times during the pandemic.
I think Canada has handled protesters well. So far there has been no deaths due to police, RCMP actions. No “martyrdom” media coverage for the protestors. Alberta RCMP have ceased weapons. I cannot explain police action in Ottawa, but for some to assume there is no strategy is fallacious. Careful deliberation on the use of the Emergency Measures Act is required in each case – provincial and federal.
Just a tad of hypocrisy, from the right leaning Doppler, don’t you think?
Well said. I do feel for the genuine protestors in Ottawa but not for the blockades – thanks to Doug Ford. We surely need a wise leader for Prime Minister not someone who hides. I have no time for Trump but am beginning to wonder about his saying “Fake News”. If you only report one side, that is in a sense fake news. We surely need honest reporters that report all sides.
In this situation, I give Doug Ford high praise. I generally lean left, but Mr. Ford is the only leader who stood up and did what needed to be done. Protesting is one thing, but laying siege to the Capital and blockading border crossings, is quite another. If something was illegal in 2018, then it is illegal in 2022 (unless the law has been changed in the meantime). This is more than a citizen’s protest (though it may also be that), it is a well-organized, well-funded insurrection backed by foreigners (as I understand it from what I read). I would like to see a civilized debate on TV, moderated by someone like Steve Paikin of “The Agenda” where people from both sides of the divide come and give their perspective in a civilized and honest debate.