It seemed like a no brainer to me. Justin Trudeau is heckled by the anti-immigration white supremacist bigot Diane Blain.
He tells her firmly but politely that racism has no place in Canada.
Only to be accused by Andrew Scheer of using "vile personal insults" to "shut down legitimate criticism of his government."
And, if that wasn't enough, of doing more more to divide Canadians than anybody ever has.
I thought that even our grubby Con media would be able to tell who was standing up for our values, and who was playing cheap politics.
But sadly I was wrong.
For here is the CBC's Neil Macdonald, not only rising to the defence of the bigot Maxime Bernier, but also accusing Trudeau of bullying the poor little bigot Blain.
I don't know if the woman at the political rally in Quebec on Thursday — the one who shouted questions at him about the costs of accepting "illegal immigrants" — is a person of good will, but she surely did not deserve the brusque bullying treatment she received from the prime minister.
And without even mentioning Blain's background, either because he didn't know it or didn't care, managing to sound more like Scheer than Scheer himself.
It is the Liberal way. If you don't agree with us, we'll smile and explain our policies more slowly, and if after that you still disagree, well, you're a climate change denier, or a racist, or an ideologue not worth the effort of engagement.
When in fact anybody who saw the video of what happened knows that this is one loud, ugly, hate monger...
Who wasn't there to ask questions, but simply to provoke.
And it's Scheer who deserves to be criticized for hitching his wagon to a far-right extremist.
According to her social media activity, Blain not only appears to hold racist views but is connected with a number of far-right extremist groups, including groups called the Front Patriotique du Québec and Storm Alliance.
Who wasn't there alone.
According to Le Troupeau and independently verified by PressProgress, multiple members of far-right groups were in the crowd during the Prime Minister’s speech last week – researchers suggest it was a coordinated effort to disrupt the event.
The real scandal is why all those extremists, some of whom have called for Trudeau to be shot, or the staging of a fake terrorist attack, were allowed so close to the Prime Minister.
And why Andrew Scheer is being allowed to confuse free speech with hate speech.
Bernie Farber, chair of a newly-formed non-profit organization the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, warned Scheer away from defending the rights of those linked to groups with neo-Nazi and white supremacist ties.
“This has got nothing to do with free speech — she was engaging in hate speech, that’s what this is all about,” Farber said.
“I think Mr. Scheer should be careful of who he chooses as a champion for free speech. You don’t want to choose the alt-right, you don’t want to choose white supremacists and white nationalists and anti-immigration racists as your flag-bearer for free speech.”
For if Scheer is allowed to get away with that, the next election won't only be the dirtiest election in Canadian history, it could also set this country on fire...
We have seen how the bestial Cons tried to do that in the last election campaign.
It was the ugliest thing I have ever seen.
And it must never be allowed to happen again...
I think I heard something on Ontario Morning today where some fwit was saying that Trudeau should have engaged the bigot in respectful discussion. I did not hear exactly what she was saying but I wonder if whoever on CBC (some non-CBC reporter at a guess) had any idea of who she is?
ReplyDeleteWell, at least la Muette was not there, or were they?
As far as I could see Justin's response was quite appropriate.
Ha, it would be cute to call La Meute (pack, as in wolves or wild dogs) la Muette (seagull)!
DeleteHi jrkrideau...If the CBC is to be a serious journalistic operation they should have known just from the pictures that something was not right. Blain was using white supremacist language, like Québécois de souche, and then there were all those Patriote flags at a Liberal rally. As for whether members of La Meute were there I wouldn't be surprised, because Trudeau was surrounded by hardcore extremists, and birds of a feather flock together...
Deletehi lagatta...seagulls can be dangerous too. I had a monster one steal an egg sandwich practically out of my mouth two years ago in Scotland...
DeleteNeil Macdonald is usually better than this. He should know that even opinion pieces need a bit of research.
ReplyDeleteUU
Hi UU...I agree, Neil is an excellent journalist, and a very nice guy. But when he is now only allowed to do "Opinion" pieces, his Libertarian tendencies come to the fore, and a lack of research makes even him look like a fool...
DeleteNeil should try his hand at comedy like his brother.
DeleteScheer has banned the Rebel from the Convention this weekend, but with Hamish guiding the media ship, is this mere posturing?
ReplyDeleteWhen Charles Adler is the voice of reason, you know things are going askew. Living here in Ottawa there really are few reasonable voices. CFRA is full reactionary, not a single person has a conscience. Not Lilley, not Snow, not the clapping seals that surround them, and they fired Michael Harris because he used reason and asked questions.
It's time for Team Trudeau to send them over the edge, once and for all...only then will they re-form and be a legitimate, conservative alternative.
From Anti-Racist Canada's latest post:
Delete"If Paul Fromm agrees with you, you are definitely on the wrong side of history."
http://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2018/08/more-on-diane-blain-trudeau-heckler-and.html
Conservative Party motto: "Because it's 1933!"
Hi Pierre...yes I saw that, and it means nothing. With the stench of racism hanging over them, the last thing the Cons need is to have The Rebel at their convention making them look even more like bigots and fascists. Or reminding people that Scheer once called the Rebel a daily news source, and that Hamish Marshall once worked with Ezra Levant. And I agree they do need to be defeated for Canada's sake and their own...
DeleteI just saw Rempel announcing the Cons are going to make immigration the main issue in the next el cation campaign. You are so right Simon, they are going to try to fight the same divisive campaign they did last time. They will not be satisfied until they have ruined this country.
ReplyDeleteThe Conservatives may try to make immigration the issue this time again, having been encouraged by the American election, however, in my opinion it didn't work last time and it won't work this time. First, we have too many Canadians in Canada who were immigrants, Secondly, this country has a very large First Nations population and they won't like the Conservatives approach either.
DeleteHi anon @5:09 PM...yes, I saw Rempel in action, pretending to be pouring oil on the troubled waters, but blowing a dog whistle as hard as she can. The Cons know that racism and xenophobia is running wild all over the place, and they want to use that to help them win the next election. That's why I call them Trumplings, and why they must be defeated...
Deletesad very sad. instead of trying to build a better country the cons hope to win by destroying one of the most enviable countries in the world.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve...Ever since Harper formed them in his own image, the Cons have never been able to build anything, just try to destroy the work of others. As yourself what the Harperites built during their time in office, and you'll see what I mean...
DeleteBlain's comments about Trudeau not being Quebecois and her reference to Quebecois de Souche (French colonists) are similar to Harper's comments about old stock Canadians. Some citizens have special overriding values based on origin. Although the Cons and the Quebecois de Souche are strange bedfellows Scheer does not care as long as Hamish can use edited clips to produce a few more targeted attack ads. Frenemies today enemies tomorrow, a potential source of perpetual political power for both groups.
ReplyDeleteA problem with the divisive media campaign the Cons are running is that unlike Trump they cannot create news to exploit so must work with existing trends and build momentum over an extended period of time. As Harper, the great economic leader found with his oily vision and the sudden collapse in the price of oil these trends can suddenly change leaving nothing to offer their followers. The immigration issue could disappear overnight if Trump lost some control over his punitive deportation policies. Hopefully Scheer will follow in big daddy's footsteps in his choice and timing of the divisive issues he plans to capitalize on a year from now.
RT
Hi RT...yes that's true. And there is another danger. The stench of xenophobia may be in the air, but the Cons could still overdo it. Don't forget that during the last election their grotesque old stock/cultural barbarism campaign did gain some traction, before they overdid it and they all went went down in flames. And then there's the demographic iceberg. That grubby racism may appeal to their older supporters, but it's a complete turnoff for most millennials, and they will almost certainly decide the result of the next election...
DeleteChrist on a unicycle, you guys are headed for a full-blown race war. Scheer should show up at the convention in a white polo shirt, khaki pants and a Make Canada White Again dunce cap. Ezra will probably sell Rebel-branded tiki torches and Faith Goldy will do her best Laura Ingraham "She-Wolf of La Meute SS" routine with a Nazi salute on stage. This isn't a legitimate political summit. It's a fucking Klan rally.
ReplyDeleteI have a bad feeling about this. The cons have been radicalized by Trumpism, Brexshit and their own searing hatred finally bubbling to the surface like a monster from the abyss. They're encouraging outright savages calling for death squads for brown people and who want the prime minister and his family to meet the fate of the Romanovs in the basement of 24 Sussex Drive.
God Save Justin Trudeau.
Jackie I'm more hopeful about Canada. The Conservatives may try, but will fail. In my opinion the conservatives have not been radicalized by Trumpism, etc. but rather some of their strategists, think this will be a winning strategy. If we see a lot of this, my money bets, its Russian involvement. They will not stay out of the Canadian election next year.
DeleteMost Canadians like Trudeau and regardless of skin colour, there is one thing Trudeau does every month that no one with children wants to give up, sends a federal government cheque to those who need it. No tax deductions, etc. just a check, well direct deposit and there isn't a family in the country who wants to give that up. There are thens of thousands of families who are working/middle/upper middle class who receive these cheques each and every month. it makes a difference.
A lot of people who voted for Ford in Ontario were people of colour, but they weren't voting for Ford so much as against Wynne's sex education program. it did not go over well in a huge socially conservative community. they will vote Liberal federally, because, hey Trudeau didn't bring in a sex education program and the Cons don't favour immigration, which includes family reunification immigration.
hi Jackie...yes, Christ on a unicycle indeed. The Cons are going off the deep end, and are sounding more like Trumplings than Canadians. And you're right to have a bad feeling, racism is a mighty political weapon these days. It brought us Trump, and Brexit, and it's destabilizing countries all over Europe. And if those Cons are not stopped, they could damage this country beyond recognition. On the positive side, if they muck things up as Cons almost always do, it will be the death of them, and we might be rid of them once and for all...
DeleteHi e.a.f....I hope you're right. But who Cons start walking like fascists, and talking or quacking like fascists it's usually because they are fascists. The election of Trump has had a huge influence on them, and while Trudeau is holding his own in the polls, the amount of support Bernier is receiving should trouble all decent Canadians...
DeleteFYI: Good read about the (misnomer) Liberal Party of Australia, where Turnbull is Scheer and Dutton is Bernier and Sky News is Postmedia. The governing party that doesn't know how to govern for anything besides White Australia (aka Old-Stock/Pure-Blood Canada), but it's called Liberal because, well, everything is upside down in the land Down Under.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/22/whats-the-point-of-the-liberal-party-if-it-just-panders-to-an-ever-narrowing-base
What the right really seems to like about Dutton is that he has been willing to run with the culture wars, not just having a debate about population, but whistling out loud about African gangs making restaurant dining unsafe and attacking refugees on Manus and Nauru for allegedly wearing Armani and spending their time “enjoying themselves … by the beach”.
The evidence suggests this insurrection is not about preserving the Liberal party as a broad church, or slightly course correcting from a moderate tilt to a conservative tilt, or rebalancing between economic liberalism and social conservatism. It is about an internal shift to follow the global trend towards the nativist far right.
Can we get another pay-per-view prizefight with Scheer vs. Trudeau as the title card, and the opening act being Bernier vs. a boxing kangaroo?
Australian liberals are like BC liberals. They are neoliberals in that they are socially liberal but they put a price tag on everything that is government owned and claim the 'free market' can do everything better.
DeleteI read the Neil MacDonald article. I agreed, perhaps it is time to have a discussion in the country regarding what are Canadian values. However, what this woman was going for was not a discussion, but rather a way of trying to egg the P.M. into saying something which wasn't going to work for him and the federal Liberals.
ReplyDeleteP.M.s don't go into crowds without knowing who is there. They have people who check these things out. The question today on CBC was did he know she was associated with a racist group when he answered the question. My response would be, most likely. You see if you work with the public as a politician or a sales person long enough, you know just by looking at most people 90% of the time, whether you should spend time with them or not. Like in way waste time on a none sale.
I saw the picture of the woman and you could tell. Don't ask me how, but at my "advanced" years and the time I spent working with people, you learn to make "judgements" quickly to either get out of tight situations or ensure you don't waste time. As a politician Trudeau knows what he is looking at. He wasn't disrespectful, he gave the right answer.
The Conservatives are desperate. they have seen what has worked in the U.S.A. and what they think worked in Ontario. However, in the case of Ontario there were other factors at play.
The Con's immigration statement with Rempel today, said nothing. The Cons are going down this avenue without looking at B.C. We're a tad on the mixed side of things. The Cons are also then starting a less than stellar conversation with First Nations and we know they helped elected Trudeau last time. It will be interesting to see what the Cons. have to say about First Nations. They aren't "white" and boy are they Canadian.
The only reason the Cons are on about the refugees, is yes you guessed it, the refugees coming right now are people who aren't "white". If the refugees started coming from the U.K. perhaps Norway, Australia, I'm sure the Cons would be out there greeting them.
Hi e.a.f.... Why wold be want to have a discussion about Canadian values, when we are such a successful country, and raising the subject risks leading us down the path Kellie Leitch once trod. There are so many other more important issues we should be discussing. But as you say, the Cons are desperate and desperate people do crazy things...
DeleteMore likely the "White South African farmers" Drumpf is on about now.
ReplyDelete