Tag: 2015 LPC Leadership Race

pa·tri·cian n. 1. A person of refined upbringing. 2. A member of an aristocracy; an aristocrat. PM Stephen Harper got a jump-start on his electoral promise to increase the country’s panda population. Canada added not one but two pandas to its cubs-in-captivity collection this week. “Canadians will have the opportunity

pa·tri·cian

n.

1. A person of refined upbringing.

2. A member of an aristocracy; an aristocrat.

PM Stephen Harper got a jump-start on his electoral promise to increase the country’s panda population. Canada added not one but two pandas to its cubs-in-captivity collection this week.

“Canadians will have the opportunity for even more panda sightings in both Toronto and Calgary.”
– Prime Minister Harper, September 2015.

No other PM in Canadian history has paid so much attention to these mammals. In 2013, PM Harper hinted at his political prioritization pyramid when he opted to pose with a pair of pandas instead of meeting Aboriginal youth leaders. The Nishiyuu Journey from Northern Quebec to Ottawa was started by teenager David Kawapit Jr. and six other Whapmagoostui residents. By the end of their 1,600 km trek to Parliament Hill, the group had grown to 270. The prime-ministerial snub was summarized by Vice News as: “Stephen Harper Likes Pandas More than Idle No More“.

In general, the electorate can decipher a party leader’s priorities by observing their conspicuous conduct and strategic silences more so than their words. Actions matter the most. Silences speak volumes. And talk is cheap.
Liberal party leader Justin Trudeau showed his true colours when he honoured a commitment to Vancouver’s Gay Pride Parade over the all-important first electoral news cycle. When the writ dropped in August, Trudeau was noticeably absent from the airwaves — on a cross-country flight to attend the celebration of British Columbia’s LGBT community.

“I made a promise to the half a million British Columbians who will be celebrating Pride this afternoon, celebrating Canada’s diversity.” Trudeau explained.

One month after the writ drop, Trudeau gave lip service to Syrian refugees by suggesting Canada accept 25,000 of them ‘immediately’. Weeks later, Trudeau upped the ante: he said he’d consider airlifting Syrian refugees to fulfill his promise by January 2016. Trudeau later qualified Canada’s current refugee policy as “disgusting”.

By mid-campaign, both the Liberals and Tom Mulcair’s NDP argued against placing a ban on the niqab at citizenship ceremonies. Mr. Mulcair argued that the choice to wear this religious garb — a veil which covers the whole face, save the eyes – belongs to the individual. Trudeau, too, defended the pair of Muslim women who sought to keep themselves covered at the moment they ascend to Canadian citizenship. What better way to project adherence to women’s issues than to defend a woman’s right to choose? The absence of women’s chief grievances from the general discourse might be more telling.

Last Spring, the Conservative government made changes to the Citizenship Act, which included expanding the grounds for the revocation of citizenship. Naturally, the legislation applies to convicted terrorists, such as the Toronto 18. (They plotted to bomb downtown Toronto). During the electoral writ, several convicted criminals received federal notice that their citizenship would be revoked. In an atypical case, a Canadian-born convict could also lose his citizenship.

Mr. Trudeau jumped to the convicted terrorists’ defense when they were threatened with deportation.

“[…] The Liberal Party believes that terrorists should get to keep their Canadian citizenship,” Trudeau said. “Because I do. And I’m willing to take on anyone who disagrees with that.”

Trudeau and his fans liberal supporters love to brandish the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when they mine minority voting blocs defend Canadian values. To Liberals, the Charter is a fetish point of reference for upholding LGBT Rainbow Rights, protecting religious prerogatives or defending convicted criminals.

All the grandstanding about minority rights fades to radio silence for one demographic: Justin Trudeau defended the Charter rights of convicted terrorists ahead of innocent Afro-Canadians.

Trudeau’s Liberals recruited the champion of carding, former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, to represent the party in Scarborough, ON. The controversial police practice of ‘randomly’ stopping dark-skinned citizens who are not crime suspects has come under scrutiny in around the country. First Nations leaders have also decried the racist practice. Trudeau’s tacit endorsement of this Charter violation flies in the face of the ‘Just Society‘ his famous father stood for. In the dying days of the electoral campaign, some erudite liberal-minded leaders have read Trudeau’s deafening silence as a betrayal.

Much has been said of ‘weapons of mass distraction‘ this election cycle. The ‘Panda PM’ may have brought forth an array of red herrings to discourage undesired discourse, but there isn’t a niqab large enough to conceal the Liberal Party’s indifference towards the lives of those most vulnerable to civil rights abuses.

pa·tri·cian n. 1. A person of refined upbringing. 2. A member of an aristocracy; an aristocrat. PM Stephen Harper got a jump-start on his electoral promise to increase the country’s panda population. Canada added not one but two pandas to its cubs-in-captivity collection this week. “Canadians will have the opportunity