Month: October 2021

“Steven Guilbeault has pulled off his greatest anti-oil stunt. The former Greenpeace activist is now Canada’s minister of environment and climate change.” (Don Braid, Calgary Herald, October 26, 2021).

From breaking the law and climbing on then Premier Klein’s roof at his home, Guilbeault has made it into the big leagues now that Prime Minister Trudeau has made him the environment minister.

Guilbeault proved as Heritage minister that he wasn’t up to the job, doing poorly in committee and Question Period. It will be interesting to see how he does in a position where he should know the facts. But can he keep his environmental activism in check and be realistic about what progress can be made?

I suspect he can’t and won’t. He has to many buddies in the green networks who won’t let him forget his previous beliefs and opinions. The Conservatives shouldn’t either. He should be their number one target because we know from his time at Heritage that he does screw up and go off script.

This is a man with a known bias and someone who has the power to put tens of thousands of people out of work. Every word that he has ever uttered publicly, put in print or been quoted in the media should be in the CPC files.

Watch how he handles the pressure at this upcoming climate conference. My bet is that we will see his first screw up shortly. Whether he screws up in a few days or a few months; for the CPC it is just a matter of when to pounce on him.

The Conservative Party election position on vaccinations and whether or not their candidates should be vaccinated has come back to bite them as we get ready for Parliament to return.

This should have been expected. All their ducking, weaving, and avoiding the issue throughout the campaign was for nothing. But it did hurt O’Toole and the party as it was just one more issue that contributed to voter uneasiness with both the leader and the party. Coming as it did with the anti-vaxer protests and it was a guaranteed way to lose votes and more importantly trust.

The Board of Internal Economy for the House of Commons has decided that all MPS must be vaccinated to enter the parliamentary buildings. Surely the Conservatives must have expected this to happen. Surely, they aren’t dumb enough to expect that it wouldn’t.

The CPC will stand and fight on “Parliamentary Privilege.” Good issue, wrong fight.

Parliamentary privilege is important to protect, especially the ability of MPs to pursue issues, hold the government accountable etc. However, good luck to the party (that rarely has good communication skills) in explaining this one to voters, most of whom won’t care about the issue or who will shrug it off with a tough on them attitude. When your best defence is to try to explain complicated and dull parliament procedures- you have already lost the argument.

The Speaker needs to work out a way for a virtual swearing in and then for those not in compliance, continue to allow them to participate virtually- thus allowing them to continue to do their job.

I can see it now, just before the House of Commons returns, I expect some CPC unvaccinated MPs to arrive at the doors of the House of Commons demanding to be let in while TV cameras take it all in. A mariachi band won’t work with this one, perhaps bugles playing “charge”.

The only losers with this issue are the Conservatives- the Liberals, NDP, Bloc and Greens can sit back and enjoy watching this one unfold.

On Thanksgiving weekend, we were treated to a Globe and Mail story on the virtues of Chrystia Freeland.

It was interesting timing come as it did as the Prime Minister prepares for a cabinet shuffle amid reports of some Liberals mulling over the idea that perhaps it is time for Trudeau to take a walk on the sand.

It could be just a coincidence that this story appeared when it did, but it offers a nice contrast between her and our frat boy Prime Minister.

The Russian KGB built a file on her anti-communist activities. Did Trudeau when of university age do anything important?

While at university, Freeland was speaking at anticommunist rallies. Trudeau wasn’t doing anything important or memorable, unless being a short-term drama teacher counts?

Freeland was tough on Communism years ago. Trudeau admires the Chinese government and appears weak when dealing with them.

Our allies can takeaway that this is a person they can trust, as opposed to Trudeau who has watched key allies form new defensive military pacts without even letting the PM know that such discussions were being conducted.

In many ways it was an excellent compare and contrast piece between the current Liberal leader and someone that is seen by many Liberals as the heir apparent. Certainly, this article gives Trudeau and his PMO staff something to mull over while he goes about picking his cabinet.

Does he keep her at Finance? Some PMs put potential challengers there. Many finance ministers become very unpopular, especially those who must cancel programs or raise taxes to pay for them and any other future goodies the Liberals produce. If the Liberal’s daycare program doesn’t work out as expected, who gets the blame?  It won’t be Trudeau.

Foreign Affairs is also another spot to put a potential challenger. As PM, he can keep her travelling all over the world seriously limiting her ability to organize for a run at him.

Another spot is Public Works. Pretty much the dullest cabinet job out there with the added bonus that there is always another scandal around a contract just waiting to come out.

Liberals tell me that it wasn’t an important article, and the timing is pure coincidence. Really? I go back to the Diefenbaker days and Dalton Camp and in one way or another I have been involved in something like 10 leadership races in my own party and tracked innumerable ones in other parties.

Coincidence? I think not.

What would Thanksgiving be without a Trudeau photo op?

Of course, this time he chose to introduce an Afghan refugee family to one of our Canadian traditions.

Under normal circumstances it would warrant a yawn from the public, but this time it is different.

Trudeau is the guy whose desk the buck stops on. This is the guy who was in charge of the pathetic attempt to retrieve and bring back to Canada hundreds of individuals and their families who had helped and fought with Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

Families who are now in hiding, because he didn’t do his job and when he didn’t have the guts to see things through like our other allies did. Instead, he called an election for his own vanity while the Taliban hunted our former supporters.

This is the man who had our hardworking rescuers pull out early, leaving the UK and the USA and Ukrainians to finish up what they could for us.

Trudeau figures this one photo op will make us forget his screw up in Afghanistan. It won’t, because that mess is one for the history books.