Canadians appear increasingly tired of being lectured by someone who is unable to achieve positive policy outcomes.
At the end of the day, governing a country effectively require a lot of ‘boring’ work.
Countless meetings, ongoing evaluation of minister/deputy minister performance, parsing economic statistics, learning from other countries, maintaining alliances, balancing regional interests, protecting our national security, fixing procurement systems, and on and on it goes. None of that gets much attention, and it rarely happens on camera.
Thus, much of what constitutes good governance requires reasonableness, a logical approach to addressing problems, and a willingness to focus on results rather than publicity.
Of course, that also means that those who place publicity ahead of results will not provide good governance.
And that is a key reason Canada finds itself in the situation we are in today – with rising crime, unaffordable housing, a cost-of-living crisis, surging divisions, out-of-control spending, and China interfering in our democratic institutions without being challenged.
Justin Trudeau finds actual governance boring.
On issue after issue, Justin Trudeau makes it perfectly clear that he has no interest in doing anything other than imposing the most performatively ‘progressive’ policy he can think of, with little regard for the details or the consequences.
The Liberal government starts the process of governance and policy formation with the slogan they have in mind, and work backwards from there.
Climate policy is based on “moving even faster on climate” with no regard for the cost-of-living, regional industry concerns, or Canada’s already-declining emissions being a tiny fraction of the world total.
Crime policy is based on being “compassionate” to criminals, a policy that has resulted in cruelty towards innocent law-abiding Canadians.
Economic policy is based on never cutting spending (except for the military), and simply spending more and more in what the government claims is “having Canadians’ backs,” with no regard for our rising debt or the impact of inflation.
Speech policy is based on “fighting misinformation” and “hate speech,” with no regard for the damage this does to free expression or the way in which policies (like Bill C-18), can completely backfire.
Immigration policy is based on being seen as the most pro-immigrant government possible, denouncing any critics as “anti-immigrant,” always raising immigration numbers, and ignoring the consequences of doing so.
Tax policy is based on increasing the carbon tax year after year, with no regard for how this will impact Canadians already struggling with the cost-of-living, or how it will make our economy less competitive.
You are seeing the pattern here: Impose a policy that fits into a soundbite, while ignoring the consequences.
Of course, since we live in a very superficial era, a government that prioritizes image over substance can stay in power for a long-time. But sooner or later, a lack of substance manifests itself in disastrous public policy outcomes, and that is what we are seeing in Canada today.
Thus, it is no surprise to see that in the latest Abacus poll, 56% of Canadians want Trudeau to step aside rather than run again:
“Should Justin Trudeau run again in the next election or step down?”
Step down: 56%
Run again: 27%Unsure: 17%
Abacus Data / August 23, 2023 / n=2189 / Online”
"Should Justin Trudeau run again in the next election or step down?"
Step down: 56%
Run again: 27%Unsure: 17%
Abacus Data / August 23, 2023 / n=2189 / Online
— Polling Canada (@CanadianPolling) August 25, 2023
The Trudeau act is wearing thin
Justin Trudeau continues to keep up his usual gaslighting and lecturing tone. He postures as ‘above it all,’ focused on ‘fixing problems rather than spreading blame,’ and of course believes he occupies the moral high ground.
But people simply aren’t willing to listen as they once did.
Trudeau’s policies have objectively failed, and Canadians have seen him try and divide the country far too many times to believe that he has anything of substance to offer.
He can talk all he wants, but Canadians are rightfully deciding to tune him out.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
