The Liberals are employing the strategy Catherine McKenna proclaimed: “But you know, I actually gave them some real advice. I said that if you actually say it louder, we’ve learned in the House of Commons, if you repeat it, if you say it louder, if that is your talking point, people will totally believe it.”
Indeed.
And that is the strategy the Liberals have been using – with considerable success – to attempt to rewrite history when it comes to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout that resulted.
When initial lockdowns and a rapid economic collapse began, many people pointed out that if the government was telling people to stay home and thus lose their incomes, the government also had to ensure that people had a means of supporting themselves.
Before the Liberals even introduced any such program, people like myself were calling for $2000 payments to be sent out to Canadians, which is what the government ended up doing.
They did so with the support of all parties in the House of Commons, including the Conservatives, who repeatedly expressed support for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit program, and voted in favour of it.
There is clear and explicit documentation of this in the Hansard:
I’ll include a few key sections of the Hansard from March 24, 2020, when the House passed legislation to support Canadians:
“It being 5:50 a.m., pursuant to order made earlier today, the House will now proceed to the taking of the division on the motion for second reading and referral to a committee of the whole of Bill C-13, An Act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19.
[English]
The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
Some hon. members: On division.
(Motion agreed to, bill read the second time and referred to a committee of the whole, deemed considered in the committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage, deemed read at third reading and passed.)”
At this moment, MPs from all parties took the extraordinary step of fast-tracking the legislation. The Conservatives, NDP, Bloc, Greens, and Liberals all supported it.
This was Bill C-13, ‘An Act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19’:
As the legislation notes, “Part 2 enacts the Canada Emergency Response Benefit Act to authorize the making of income support payments to workers who suffer a loss of income for reasons related to the coronavirus disease 2019.”
During the sitting in which the legislation was passed, the Conservatives made multiple statements in support:
“Mr. Speaker, if I could take off my partisan hat for just a moment, we all recognize what a difficult time this is for the country, the world and the Canadian government of any political stripe. This is a very heavy load to bear. I am glad we can be here together, not always agreeing, but agreeing on one thing: that we are putting the needs of our fellow Canadians first and foremost.” – Candice Bergen
“We will be there to help and to propose solutions to ensure that Canadians can keep their homes. We will work with the measures that provide direct assistance to the Canadians affected by this crisis.
[English]I want to thank all my colleagues for being here throughout the day.
I again remind the government that the assistance part of this legislation could have been passed 12 hours ago, but we will acknowledge the progress that has been made and the spirit of co-operation that I see in the hon. government House leader. I want to thank him for all his efforts throughout the day. It has been a lot of hard work and there have been a lot of moving pieces in a lot of ways. Those of us who have been here since the start of the day are grateful that this assistance will be able to flow into the hands of Canadians.” – Andrew Scheer
Even CBC has admitted the Conservatives supported CERB
In an article on Justin Trudeau’s Liberal convention speech, even CBC had to admit the truth:
The Conservatives supported CERB.
“In a 20-minute virtual address to thousands of party members, Trudeau said Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole “can’t quite grasp” the struggles that Canadians have endured over the last year during COVID-19. He suggested the Tories would have been less generous with relief programs and unreliable pandemic stewards had they been in power.
While most pandemic programs unanimously passed the House of Commons, Trudeau claimed O’Toole would have cut the Canada emergency relief benefit (CERB) — “a lifeline for millions of people during the worst economic crisis in a century.” He also accused the Conservatives of thinking young people are “lazy” and argued they would have left students in the lurch during the pandemic.
The Conservatives supported the CERB program but O’Toole has said he worries such payments could endanger the country’s work ethic.”
Of course, as Trudeau’s state-broadcaster, CBC throws a ‘but’ in there to try and downplay the fact that their report makes out Trudeau to be a liar, but the truth is still in there. The CERB passed with the support of all parties – unanimously – meaning the Conservative Party supported the CERB.
Trudeau’s ‘big-lie’ strategy
Now, I want to point out something even more astounding:
Trudeau lying and changing his message on the very same day, in the very same House of Commons debate – June 23, 2021:
First, read this:
“Mr. Speaker, the plan has been very simple from the beginning: to have Canadians’ backs, as much as it takes and as long as it takes, to get through this pandemic. That is exactly what we have done, despite the non-support from the Conservatives, which we will unfortunately see yet again this afternoon when they vote against extending the supports to Canadians through this summer and into the fall. They completely misunderstand that it is through supporting Canadians and small businesses with government investments that we actually come back stronger and faster. It has always been our approach to support Canadians and raise taxes on the wealthy and lower them for the middle class, which the Conservatives have voted against every day.” – Justin Trudeau
And then this, also from Trudeau, where he admits all parties supported the programs to help Canadians:
“Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I want to point out that he and I, along with all other members of the House, did indeed work together so that we could send billions of dollars to the provinces for their health care systems.
We were there, and $8 out of every $10 spent to help Canadians during the pandemic came directly from the federal government. That was done with the collaboration of all parties in the House. We were there in the short term during the crisis to help health care systems across the country and we will continue to be there in the long term.
As I said, we will enter into discussions to increase health transfers in the coming years.”
In the same debate, Trudeau claims ‘non-support’ from the Conservatives for pandemic programs, and then admits that support ‘to help Canadians during the pandemic’ “was done with the collaboration of all parties in the House.”
So which one is it?
And then, read this, also from Trudeau, where he switches back to claiming the Conservatives didn’t support it:
“Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the Conservatives recognize that something must be done. What they can do this afternoon is vote in favour of the budget we presented.
Canadians need the extension of the Canada emergency wage subsidy, the Canada emergency rent subsidy and income support until the end of September, but the Conservatives could not care less. They continue to play their partisan games rather than choosing to help Canadians.
I really hope that they will change their minds and support the budget bill. They would be supporting Canadians, for once, at the end of the pandemic.”
With his remarks, Trudeau again implies that the Conservatives haven’t supported the financial assistance programs that were put in place during the pandemic, despite – as we’ve irrefutably seen above – the fact that the Conservatives did in fact support CERB.
Trudeau’s propaganda works
Unfortunately for Canada, Trudeau’s big-lie propaganda is working on many people.
In response to a Tweet in which I called out Trudeau’s lies, a Liberal supporter responded by claiming the CPC didn’t support CERB:
https://twitter.com/SpencerFernando/status/1418378442861551616
“Um… The cons absolutely did not support the CERB program. That is a documented fact”
Um… The cons absolutely did not support the CERB program. That is a documented fact
— Lady Julie d'Glencoe (@WriterWriter) July 23, 2021
Of course, as we’ve seen above, it is a document fact that the Conservatives supported CERB.
After this was pointed out, the Liberal supporter doubled down anyway:
“That is wrong. The CPC supported CERB. What they didn’t support was unfettered taxation and spending authority until the end of 2021. BUFFS!!”
https://twitter.com/CarlSouchereau/status/1419053032394805248
“The CPC did not support CERB. They have no platform or plans, and have spent so much of the last 30 months proving they’re incompetent, it is bizarre there’s any support. But at least they’ll be politically irrelevant very soon”
The CPC did not support CERB. They have no platform or plans, and have spent so much of the last 30 months proving they're incompetent, it is bizarre there's any support. But at least they'll be politically irrelevant very soon
— Lady Julie d'Glencoe (@WriterWriter) July 25, 2021
This is the kind of thinking we often see in political personality cults, where people choose to believe ‘their leader’ rather than actually looking at the facts.
It doesn’t only happen to Liberals of course, partisanship causes this mindset in Conservatives, NDP, Greens, Bloc, PPC, and every partisan stripe.
But in this case, the biggest lie in Canadian politics right now is being pushed by the Liberals, and it is decidedly manipulative because of how it seeks to distort the heightened fear and emotion many people felt during the pandemic.
Why defend the Conservatives?
Some may be reading this and asking, “why defend the Conservatives after criticizing them so much?”
The reason is that it’s my job to speak the truth and tell it like it is. That’s what you have a right to expect from me. So, when the Conservatives deserve to be criticized, I will not hesitate to do so. And, when they deserve to be defended, I will defend them.
It’s all about facts, not partisanship.
This is what the media is supposed to be about, but that is becoming increasingly rare as much of the media is financially beholden to the federal government.
In a reasonable world, Trudeau would be getting called out by everyone for his despicable dishonesty, and his big-lie on the CERB would have been exposed nationwide for the total falsehood that it is. If the establishment press won’t do their job, then we will do it for them.
We need to fight back against Trudeau’s big lie, and you can help by sharing this article with as many people as possible.
The truth must win.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
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