In Attempt To Smear Poilievre, The Liberals Reveal Their Own Moment Of Silence Hypocrisy

InsightSpencerFernando

While the Liberals regularly lament the increasingly divisive nature of Canadian politics, they ignore their own complicity in that trend.

There are few things more despicable in politics than attempting to exploit something like a moment of silence for political gain.

However, as we’ve watched the political landscape in Canada become more and more divisive, established norms and common-sense understandings have fallen by the wayside.

Liberals lament a situation they’ve largely caused

The Trudeau Liberals like to play a double-game. On the one hand, they posture as a party that is all about policy, about being serious, and about transcending partisanship.

On the other hand, they regularly seek to demonize their opponents and divide Canadians.

Which tactic they use tends to depend on how threatened they feel.

When the Liberals feel they have the wind at their backs, they indulge in all kinds of demonization tactics.

When they are facing scrutiny for their ‘missteps’ or outright misdeeds, they pivot to lamenting how partisan everything has become.

That’s what Trudeau did recently, as he sought to play the role of a responsible statesman above all the partisan bickering in regards to the China election interference scandal:

“I think where we should be careful as responsible leaders, and in dealing with this seriously, is not falling into some of the political partisan traps that are out there right now. It’s not about one party versus another,” said Trudeau.

This of course is the same person who initially dismissed the story altogether as being about racism and false reporting.

And where was Trudeau’s responsibility during the election of 2021, when he demonized unvaccinated Canadians in a bid to stay in power and direct public anger away from him and the government?

It also doesn’t seem responsible to ignore the demands of a majority of MPs – and Canadian public opinion more broadly – for a public inquiry into China’s interference.

No, for Trudeau the non-partisan statesman pose is exactly that, a pose that is all for appearance. The moment Trudeau feels he can slip back into using rabid partisanship for his own political benefit, he’ll do it.

And that moment may have already arrived.

Just take a look at how the Liberals are attempting to attack Pierre Poilievre for the political thought-crime of not bowing his head:

“How does one not choose to bow one’s head in respect of the unmarked graves at the former residential school in Kamloops, as the Speaker of the House asked members to do?”

Fergus – a Liberal MP – is referencing the following video:

There’s just one small problem with this Liberal attack on Poilievre: A bunch of Liberal MPs didn’t bow either, as you can see in the images and videos below.

To start with, there is no reason why ‘bowing’ is necessary during a moment of silence. The whole point is the ‘silence,’ as implied in the name.

Further, given that Fergus was there, he would have surely noticed that many of his colleagues didn’t bow.

What this means is that he thinks everyone is ignorant enough to fall for his attempt to attack Pierre Poilievre for doing exactly what many of his colleagues did.

If you look at the replies to Fergus’ Tweet, you can see that some partisan Liberals did indeed fall for it, but many more people did not. In fact, many pushed back against Fergus, as you can see in the Tweets and videos referenced above.

This is an example of how the solution to misleading speech or misleading information is more speech and more information. The truth exists regardless of what lies people spread, and when individuals are free to share their views the truth will win out in the end.

What does this say about the Liberals?

We are likely to see the Liberals back away from their latest attack on Poilievre and just pretend it never happened, given that it has so clearly backfired and exposed their own hypocrisy.

However, the fact that they sought to go in this direction at all says a lot about how they are going to approach politics going forward, which is itself an extension of how they have acted during their now almost eight years in power.

First off, the Liberals are all-in on attempting to cast Pierre Poilievre and Conservatives more broadly as racists. That’s obviously the underlying implication they are trying to draw by attacking Poilievre for not bowing.

They were seeking to make him appear disrespectful towards Indigenous People, which they would then leverage into a narrative casting him and the Conservative Party as discriminatory.

The fact that they tried to base that attack on Poilievre holding his head at an insufficient angle tells you how weak of a case they have, but it won’t stop them from trying to make it.

Second, the Liberals are demonstrating that they don’t have much respect for Canadians – and particularly their own supporters if they expect them to fall for such easily-discredited attacks. They are counting on pure partisan hate towards Poilievre to allow them to obscure the truth. It may indeed work with someone people as mentioned above, but it will also have an increasingly corrosive impact on the Liberals because it will further deepen the distrust many people feel towards them.

And finally, the Liberals can complain all they want about the level of partisanship in Canadian politics today, but everyone aside from the most devoted Liberal adherents can see that the Liberals have played a huge role in dividing the country. To try and politicize a moment of silence in such a crass, cheap, and easily exposed way makes it obvious that the Liberals don’t feel they can run on the substance of their record, and are instead going to try and deceive Canadians.

I guess that’s all that a government really has left when housing is unaffordable, crime is out of control, national security is receding, foreign powers are interfering, and people are falling behind economically.

‘Fear and Smear’ is about all the government now has to offer.

Spencer Fernando

Photo – Twitter

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