Justin Trudeau is trying to gaslight Canadians into ignoring what we can see all around us.
At a recent event on housing (during which Justin Trudeau said the federal government wasn’t responsible for housing), the Prime Minister claimed Pierre Poilievre was stoking anger in the nation:
“That’s where the anger that he is drumming up is dangerous for Canadians, who would much rather work hard and build a strong future than throw up their hands and say, ‘Oh, it’s all terrible, it’s all broken, let’s all stay home.’ No. That’s not who Canadians are,” said Trudeau.
“So I won’t be stirring up anger, I will be pointing out where his proposals are irresponsible and unserious. But, I will stay focused on solving the challenges Canadians are facing, rather than exploiting them for political gain, like Pierre Poilievre does.”
Now, we all remember how Justin Trudeau campaigned in 2021. He went all-in on fear and division, particularly in his relentless demonization of unvaccinated Canadians. So, we can dismiss his claim to be against division completely out of hand.
But let’s look at Trudeau’s main claim.
The Prime Minister is attempting to argue that Canadians are angry because of Pierre Poilievre. This is top-tier gaslighting. In attempting to blame public anger on his main political opponent, Trudeau is seeking to transfer blame for the state of things in this country onto Poilievre.
By blaming Poilievre for the anger in the nation, Trudeau is also implying that Canadians shouldn’t be angry, which represents a devaluation and outright dismissal of what Canadians are going through.
Here’s the thing:
If there was nothing to be angry about, what Pierre Poilievre says wouldn’t matter at all.
If Canada was doing well, if our economy was booming, if crime was dropping, if housing was affordable, people would laugh at Pierre Poilievre or any other politician who sought to claim things were broken in this country.
Instead, Poilievre leads in the polls and leads as best choice for PM. Just last week, the polling averages shifted even more towards the Conservatives and Trudeau shuffled the federal cabinet in a desperate attempt to improve his declining political fortunes.
What all of this means is that Poilievre is responding to public anger that already existed, rather than generating that anger.
And why are Canadians angry?
Because things are objectively getting worse:
Crime
According to Statistics Canada, the national crime rate is rising. Violent crime in particular is getting worse:
“The Violent CSI rose 5% in 2022, following a 6% increase the previous year. Compared with 2021, the increase in the Violent CSI in 2022 included higher rates of robbery (+15%), extortion (+39%), homicide (+8%) and level 1 sexual assault (+3%).”
The homicide rate is now higher than at any time since 1992:
“Police reported 874 homicides in 2022, 78 more than the year before. The homicide rate increased 8% from 2.08 homicides per 100,000 population in 2021 to 2.25 homicides per 100,000 population in 2022. This was the highest rate since 1992. The national increase was largely the result of more homicides in British Columbia (+30 homicides), Manitoba (+26 homicides) and Quebec (+20 homicides). As has been the case historically, provincial homicide rates were highest in Manitoba (6.24 homicides per 100,000 population) and Saskatchewan (5.94 per 100,000).”
Weak economic growth
If our per capita GDP was rising as fast as the violent crime rate, we would at least have something positive to point to. But alas, our per capita GDP is stagnating, and things have only gotten worse under the current Liberal government.
Here’s part of what TD Economics said in a recent report on Canada’s economic growth:
“But when adjusting for the rising population, Canada’s real GDP per capita has been deteriorating for many years (chart 3). At the start of the 1980s, Canada enjoyed an edge against the average of advanced economies of almost US$4,000 while keeping fairly level with U.S. estimates. By 2000, this advantage had all but evaporated, and U.S. per capita GDP had pulled ahead of Canada’s to the tune of over US$8,000. Still, since the 2014-15 oil shock, Canada’s performance has gone from bad to worse. Canadian real GDP per capita has grown at a meagre rate of only +0.4% annually, paling in comparison to the advanced economy average of +1.4%.”
Canada’s per capita GDP is now actually contracting, so Canadians are getting poorer in real terms.
Unaffordable housing
The chart below says it all about housing affordability in Canada:
You can clearly see that housing has become less and less affordable under the Liberal government. It’s not even a debatable point. The evidence is undeniable.
The Liberals have run massive deficits – largely financed by significant levels of money creation by the Bank of Canada, while raising taxes, taking an anti-productivity, anti-business approach, and rapidly increasing our population. There is no logical scenario in which those policies wouldn’t rapidly increase housing costs.
Canadians are responding to objective reality
Crime is getting worse. Canadians are getting poorer. Housing is more and more expensive.
Canadians are justified in being angry about this.
Ironically, by dismissing the anger of Canadians, Justin Trudeau is making that anger worse. People have a right to expect that elected officials will – at the very least – show them the respect of validating their concerns. By attempting to dismiss national anger as nothing more than a result of his opponent’s rhetoric, Trudeau deepens the disconnect between many Canadians and the government.
With this in mind, we can see how Pierre Poilievre – by acknowledging the obvious problems facing our country and proposing some policy fixes – is channeling national anger in a positive direction through the electoral and policy process.
Justin Trudeau should take responsibility for the state of things in this country. He should stop gaslighting Canadians and stop blaming others for the failure of his own time in office.
But that would take some humility and self-reflection, qualities the Prime Minister clearly lacks.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
