As you probably know Donald Trump's decision to declare war on Canada has sent Justin Trudeau's popularity skyrocketing.
According to the latest poll his approval rating hasn't been as high since he won the 2015 election.
But since the tariffs we have imposed on the United States don't come into effect until July the first, things could get ugly fast.
There is no telling what an enraged Trump might do, or what additional punishment the diseased would be dictator might inflict on Canada.
And since the Con media and some of the surrender monkeys in the business community are already calling for Trudeau to cut a deal at any cost, no matter how humiliating.
As Susan Delacourt writes, now might be the time for Trudeau to call an early election.
Instead of adjourning Parliament for the summer in the next couple of weeks, Trudeau could dissolve it completely, heading to Rideau Hall and telling the Governor-General that he needs an entirely new mandate to deal with this crisis in Canada-U.S. relations.
There was no such thing as a Trump presidency when Canadians last went to the polls in 2015 — Trudeau could argue that it’s time we elected a government specifically to deal with the clear and present danger that the American president is posing to to the Canadian economy.
And while I would wait until the end of the summer to give whatever Trump is planning to do to us time to take shape, and outrage even more Canadians, I think it's an excellent idea for two main reasons.
One, it would show Trump that this country is united, and cannot be easily divided.
And two, it would almost certainly deep six the treasonous Trumpling Andrew Scheer...
Who as Martin Patriquin is the latest to point out, played into Trump's hands in a most shameful manner.
When Trump went ahead with tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, Scheer saw it less as an affront to the country than a chance to attack his opponent. “Justin Trudeau promised workers in Quebec, Ontario, and Saskatchewan that he had resolved this issue,” Scheer wrote. “It is clear that the Prime Minister failed.”
For no good or decent reason.
Perhaps Scheer was miffed at the near-unanimous acknowledgement amongst Conservatives that Trudeau was doing his level best to manage Trump’s Gong Show whims. Maybe his inner knee-jerk partisan got the better of him and his advisors.
Regardless of the reason, Scheer’s digression has weakened Canada’s hand. Intentionally or not, it telegraphed Trump’s later “weak and dishonest” comments and created a crack in the united front necessary when dealing with the Trump administration.
And since Scheer cannot be trusted not to do that again, the best way to sideline him is to send him down the memory hole...
For you can be sure if he loses the next election he'll be gone quicker than you can say Maxime Bernier.
When we are under attack as we are now, it's time to put country before party, treat the Trumplings like traitors.
And make sure we have a real leader who will not sell us out...
I wish we could have an early election in the U.S., but our system is deliberately different from Commonwealth countries for obvious historical reasons. That being said, I almost wish you guys didn't have to have an election until Trump dies or is thrown out of office, because I don't trust the increasingly desperate backstabbers not to pull their usual dirty tricks.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention, after the Trump redux in Ontario, whatever right-wing rumblings are still going on in Alberta, and Merkel in trouble in Germany thanks to the Nazis by any other name AfD (and our own troublemakers, namely Bannon and the U.S. ambassador to Germany) amping up the all-too-familiar propaganda about immigration, the fickle nature of voters and their all-too-human susceptibility to base-level bullshit worries me.
Can't the queen make him a prince or something? The pope canonize him and condemn the traitors to their special place in hell? The U.N. release the refugee children from the Walmart Gitmo prisons, and fill them with the Republicon fascists instead?
I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best if Trudeau does call an early election, but Andrew Scheer is no Joe Clark and Trump is obviously no Jimmy Carter (and not even Ronald Reagan) -- and I don't want Canada to see a Grand Old Party like it's 1979... 😳
Hi Jackie...I suppose there is a small risk that something unexpected could happen, but I think the odds would still favour Trudeau, especially if Scheer is hit with a massive attack ad campaign portraying him as the traitor who made Canada look divided and emboldened Trump to do what he did. Progressives in this country and yours are dying of timidity and need to be bolder and more aggressive or they will be reduced to being passive spectators at a fascist apocalypse...
DeleteCalling a snap election could work for JT, as it did twice for Chretien. JT's still well short of his best-before date, and while he's run up significant broken promises on electoral reform and pipelines, the Cons won't be able to capitalize on them. As for the NDP, they look dead in the water. I'm not a Lib, but if I were JT, I'd go for it.
ReplyDeleteHi anonymous...I doubt it will happen, this country isn’t that daring or imaginative. And will not be until the new generation takes over. But you’re right, it would clear the decks and prevent the Cons from capitalizing on other issues. And you’re also right, although I like Jagmeet Singh, at the present time him and the NDP aren’t going anywhere...
DeleteI think Trudeau definitely should call an early election. Canada is facing the worst crisis since the Second World War and the government must let Trump know that Canadians have given it a mandate to deal with his threats. Thanks to the traitor/idiot Scheer, Trump now thinks that he can divide and conquer. To allow that delusion to continue can only make Trump think he can get away with murder.
ReplyDeleteHi anon...I like the way you call Scheer a traitor/idiot, for what he did is equal parts stupidity and treason. But as much as I’d also like to call him that, the real reason he betrayed his country is that he is such a toxic Trudeau hater that he that like most of those droolers he ate his own brain. He couldn’t restrain his cheap partisanship, that could cost millions of jobs, and because of that in my opinion he can’t be punished enough...
DeleteThis may work for Trudeau in the short term but let's face it, we don't hold the big end of the stick in this. Saying that is not 'surrender', it is statement of fact. Trade with Canada is less than 2% of USA's economy, but almost 25% of Canada's, 49% of Ontario's. Guess who has the most to lose in this.
ReplyDeleteNAFTA is dead. Nothing will stop Trump from leveling tariffs on just about everything. The first major target will be the auto sector. When the plant closures and layoffs start, and cascade into other sectors, real estate will collapse. Remember 2008? Home prices in several US cities dropped by as much as 75%. How would you like to see your million-dollar home in Toronto now worth 250K? I hope your mortgage is no bigger than that, and you'll still have a job to pay it.
When that happens, let's talk again about PMJT's rate of approval. Actually by then he'll probably face full open revolt from the Liberal party itself.
These could interesting times.
Hi Bernie....Holding an election would not trigger further sanctions, imposing our own tariffs on the U.S. might. What an election could do is rescue our dignity from that apocalypse, and while you seem to think that’s no big deal I do. Money might be everything for the older generation, but it’s not everything for the younger generation that still has a sense of the pride that carried this country through two world wars. And since I and others will never own a million dollar home, it’s hard to feel sorry for those that do. I prefer to go down fighting, than roll over like a doggie...
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ReplyDeleteSorry Con...but every day you turn up like a dirty old man claiming the progressives have their heads up their “arseholes.” Tell me do you write with one hand on your sticky keyboard and the other hand up yours? You Cons are such perverts I wouldn’t be surprised. But then the idea of an early election must have you in such a panic I also wouldn’t be surprised if you’re running out of toilet paper, and a Con must do what a Con must do...😀😀😀
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DeleteLordy the cat came back, or make that the Con hog. Why are you trying to make my day. I enjoyed deleting your first comment, but deleting your second one was even more enjoyable. I guess you’ll never get it. The sound of Cons screaming with frustration is like music to my ears.🎵🎶🎵 But I have a question, when you wrote this:
Delete“Trudeau fvcks up and all you can do is go "b-b-bb--bb-b-b-b-b-ut Harper", "b-b-b-b-b-b-b-but Scheer", "b-b-b-b-b-bb-but the Opposition" and so on”
Were you so angry you couldn’t type properly, or do you really talk like that? And would it be b-b-b-b-b-better for you if I spoke the same way? So you m-m-m-m-m-might understand that your p-p-p-p-pain is my p-p-p-p-pleasure. 😀😀😀😀😀
Wait until the fall when the stuff starts hitting the fan with Ford. But not too long. People will feel like they've slept with a really awful tequila-induced STD-laden partner from the night before and will go running to Red on the federal level.
ReplyDeleteHi anon...Actually, the Ford situation is in my opinion a reason not to go for an early election, if only because that Con clown might need a little more time to convince even the dumbest people in Ontario that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. However, the good news is that whether or not we have an early election, the stage is being set for another Liberal majority...
DeleteUnfortunately, this will hurt Trudeau in the long haul. When the economy begins to contract and mass layoffs start happening right before the 2019 elections the Cons will exploit the matter in their favour. The cons want to suck up to the Dotard as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteHi anon...which is of course yet another reason to have an early election. For after that the Liberals can ignore anything the Cons say for at least three years. And by that time old Schmeagol will be back in some rural church spewing fire and brimstone out of every orifice. And what a relief that would be...🐷
DeleteCanada's tariffs in isolation wouldn't have a major impact but the tariffs are being imposed in conjunction with the EU which has a bigger economy and a larger population base than the US. China has announced reciprocal tariffs and so has India. This is where it is going to bite the US considering they do not produce enough to meet their own domestic demand. Mexico's tariffs on US agriculture is going to hurt US farmer ( who voted for Trump) We live in an interconnected world and a global economy. Trump is using babies and children as pawns in his game to extract concessions for his border wall. Child abuse is not even beneath him. How do you deal with that thing?
ReplyDeleteHi anon...Trump is a beast, but as you point out he is only shooting himself in both feet. All that you say will come back to haunt him, and will hopefully first cost him his slender majority in the Senate, and then the general election. And that’s on top of the charges Mueller is expected to file against him in a few weeks time. The beast is a dead man walking, and he doesn’t even know it....💒
DeleteThe cons would do it, all the more reason not to do it.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve...If the Cons had faced a similar situation they would have done it in a shot, and if it suits our side, we shouldn’t hesitate either. The time for playing nice is over...☠️
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question: NO it will seem like opportunism and may back fire. Yes, the cons would do it, but the Liberals are better than that and I hope my party the NDP is better than that and that the Greens are also better than that. Now I'll go read the rest of the article.
ReplyDeleteRead the article, changed my mind. Yes, there is the dear old Max, lost my papers with my girl friend thing and Yes, Trudeau could campaign on this is what I want to do with the tariff war and I need your support. He can take the position this is about our country and we need to take a stand and that stand could be painful so he wants a majority before the shit really hits the fan. would work. If my riding was going to be tight I'd change my vote to Liberal on this issue because the Cons are not something to be wished upon this country. We have only to look south at the alt-right ring of terror.
ReplyDeleteIf the economy is hit very hard, yes an early election would impact in 2019. On the other hand the economic turn down will happen fairly fast if the tariffs hit the auto sector by summer's end. At that point people will be angry at Trump, not Trudeau. the job losses will be here but there will be a few years to recover before 2019. As to the falling house prices, well in Vancouver that would be welcome. You see if you can make your mortgage payments then it doesn't matter what the house cost and how much its worth because real estate always goes up and down. In Vancouver a regular home is going to cost at least $4M. Even if the house falls to 25% of that, houses will still be unaffordable for those who work in Vancouver because you need approx. an income of $145K to pay a $750K mortgage. And yes condos and townhomes are going for $600K and up in the burb in the Lower mainland.
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