Sometimes I think that Justin Trudeau is too decent and too nice to be the leader of a big country with so many little people, and so many dirty old men.
But at least he didn't apologize this morning for this grotesque scandal.
For he has nothing to apologize for.
As I said on Twitter this morning, these are the ones who are entirely responsible.
And as Bob Hepburn points out, while Trudeau and his PMO might have handled the situation better, Judy Wilson-Raybould is no hero.
Wilson-Raybould, who used her appearance to “tell her truth,” is also not a “hero” in this messy affair as some commentators and supporters are portraying her. Indeed, there are a number of issues and questions they have either forgotten, ignored or overlooked.
Read this and weep.
First, did she quietly approve of the leak to the Globe and Mail of alleged PMO efforts to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin case? If so, she did it while she was still a cabinet minister. Where would be the integrity in that?
Second, although she says she felt inappropriately “pressured” to suspend the criminal proceedings against SNC-Lavalin and instead have the firm pay a fine, the “pressure” turns out to be just 10 meetings and 11 phone calls over a four-month period. Some pressure!
Or read this and vomit.
Third, she seems to have made the story about herself and didn’t really care if she threw her fellow Liberals MPs under the bus. Many of them could well lose their seats and their jobs because of her damning testimony against Trudeau.
A Liberal defeat would mean First Nations communities, which Wilson-Raybould has fought for throughout her legal and political careers, may ultimately suffer under a Conservative government. Trudeau placed First Nations issues at the top of his personal agenda. Does anyone believe Tory leader Andrew Scheer would do so, too?
And what's this from the deputy minister of justice?
Some Minister of Justice. Some hero.If accurate, this suggests JWR’s people didn’t want PCO to get information from her department that might be adverse to the decision on the SNC-Lavalin DPA that she had already taken. Hmmmm. https://t.co/tnbzncfwT1— Glen McGregor (@glen_mcgregor) March 6, 2019
You know, I struggle to find any good in this ghastly fake scandal, that has consumed this country for almost a month. It all seems like madness to me.
Whatever you think of Jody Wilson-Rayboult her sudden elevation to a status resembling a secular Virgin of Lourdes should trouble every Canadian.
But at least now we have seen the true face of the Con media how ugly it is, and why we must do what we can to make them pay for the contempt they have shown us.
At least now we know who are those dirty mostly male toxic Trudeau haters, including those in our own blogosphere.
The ones who dare to call themselves "progressives" while selling out the rights of women, gays and others to this filthy monster, and his kooky gang of right-wing extremists.
Who would tear our country to pieces.
And the good news?
The damage caused by the fake scandal seems to be rapidly healing...
And it won't be long before the Trudeau Liberals will be back on top again.
And hopefully now our decent leader will not be so nice...
For we have seen the enemy.
And for the sake of our beautiful country.
We must help him to destroy them...
With the statements of the Prime Minister today this should pretty much be the end of it. All of the key players have had their say and there really is not much more the media or the Opposition can sink their teeth into.
ReplyDeleteCertainly the Opposition will make some noise when the Liberal majority on the Justice Committee decides not to call any more witnesses and proceeds to writing a report. That is almost two weeks away, however, and virtually all of the heat and light will have gone out of this particular political bonfire.
As well, the NDP will continue to call for a public inquiry for a little while longer until they realize that it will not happen and they realize it is not gaining them anything politically.
There might be another brief flareup when the Opposition Parties decide they will write a dissenting Justice Committee report, but that will not happen for months, when virtually everybody has moved on to other things.
When all is said and done a great deal of wind, ink and newsprint and bandwidth will have been used to accomplish nothing of value.
Hi ottlib...I hope you're right, this "scandal" has gone on way too long. I note that the Cons have turned down the volume on their Twitter feeds so maybe their polling is telling them that they have overplayed their hand, again. Scheer already was considered too negative and divisive by many Canadians and the fake scandal may have only reinforced those negatives...
DeleteIt looks like JWR sucked her " friend " Jane Philpot into a web of lies that led to Philpot resigning. Some friend: willing to wreck the career of one of Canada's best to satisfy her own ego.
ReplyDeleteNope Philpott does not belong back in cabinet. She placed personal friendship over the interests of the country and that is inexcusable. She drew the conclusion that JWR's truth was the truth before all the facts were even known. I don't want someone like that in cabinet or in the party for that matter. She has very poor judgement and she simply cannot be trusted not to throw another hissy fit.
DeleteHi rumleyfips...It's entirely possible. I have a huge amount of respect for Dr Philpott but I think her idealism may have let her down, and she may have been fooled into believing everything her friend told her. Others have said the JWR cares only about herself, and Dr Philpott may end up as this fake scandals main casualty...
DeleteListening to the Rabid TO talk radio, I heard a sigh of resignation, nothing burger but Canadians will remember the fries.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve....i avoid any program that talks about the fake scandal. But as much as I like friss I doubt this fake scandal will be remembered by anyone but the small group of Canadians who follow politics as closely as you and I do...
DeleteBob Hepburn is just another drama prince carrying on without knowing what the facts are but he goes at it like several of those attacking JWR, by asking a question to which there is no answer right now. Its like asking do you still beat your spousal unit. So the question in fact suggests JWR was the source for Robert Fife. Not nice.
ReplyDeleteIn B.C. others take a different view, some like RossK at The Gazetteer has his opinion up and one the commenters, Glen Clark, 3rd comment he made, "At the heart of the issue I do think there is a huge difference in leadership between women and men......As I stated before, I'm struck by this being a 'process dispute'. In other words, how decisions are made in many cases is more important to women that what the decision actually is. This is not a criticism ....far from it. A deep faith in respecting and valuing...." (Glen Clark was the NDP Premier of B.C. in the late nineties and became the C.E.O. of the Pattison Group a $3B privately held company headquartered in B.C. and lord knows the man understands having your career destroyed by a right wing media to such a degree the only job offer he had, right off the bat was from Jimmy Pattison, who owns The Pattison Group, a $5B. company in B.C. Today Glen Clark is the CEO and Chief Operating officer.)
Perhaps if we read Glen's comment and then go back and look at the whole situation. When people talk about 10 conversations, etc. to some that is huge, to others nothing. It comes down to communication styles, decision making styles. No one is right and no one is wrong.
We need to put this behind us before the progressives divide the house and loose the up coming election because we were too busy fighting each other instead of the Conservatives and the PP party.
All of us are entitled to our opinions, but some of the progressives have had a real wack at JWR and Philpott over something no one really knows the truth about. Every one has an opinion, but after all is said and done, did it make any positive difference. We can expect the MSM to do this, but some of the comments I read here really left me wondering. the result, the only group who has been happy about what has been written here and else where are the Conservatives.
This may all destroy JWR and Philpott's careers and we as citizen commenters may have helped. However, as with Glen Clark they will rise because there will always be some one who believes in the righteousness of the "accused". Robert Fife is old but that doesn't make him a great journalist. He is no Marjory Nichols. (yes most of you are too young to remember her.)
Simon, it IS a fake scandal and JWR behaved disgracefully, even though I was initially drawn in by her considerable presentation skills. But, all that said, the PM botched it today. He made it all about himself. It was a terrible speech. He needed to apologize today - not because he was mostly in the wrong (he wasn't) but because he was probably 5% in the wrong in that he did not address this whole misunderstanding/communication breakdown personally, and instead left it to his staff. A Minister deserves the attention of the PM. I understand that that is an outdated notion, but damn it, JT's promise was to do better,to listen to and empower his diverse "because it's 2015" cabinet, the one he laudably constructed. Implicit in this was a need to blow up the decades old PM centralization of power that keeps Ministers at arms length and empowers un-elected PMO appointees to really run the show. That is NOT what his words implied. Also, he hired and supported this (former) Minister. Do we nail Trump for the people he has hired? Yes. And rightly so. That's part of the deal when you are the boss. Don't let JWR's unprofessionalism and overwhelming guilt in this affair cloud you from the fact that the PM made mistakes too! It is incumbant upon all of us progressives to be bigger than the Cons are, meaning, that, unlike rightwing cowards, we have the mettle and confidence to admit our own mistakes. On that front, JT skated today. He was not equal to the man he said he was.
ReplyDeleteHi Brian...I hear you, but I still don't think he should have apologized. He did say he was sorry at the way things turned out, which does reflect on him. But considering how he has been treated by the media I can understand why he will not apologize when it would suggest that those jackals were right. Remember he had to put together a cabinet after the Liberals had been out of power and reduce to a rump for a long time. He has a lot of good things in just over three years, some I have no problem cutting him some slack. And I wish others would too...
DeleteMedia, schmedia, Simon. Who cares how they treat him? It is, what it is. It is REALITY. To build his political response on the basis of righteous indignation on how the media have coalesced against him is precisely what he should not do! Corporate media bias is built in to the system, into the cake. We, of course, do care, but crying about corporate, big finance media control is futile! It is here and it exists and progressive leaders have to deal with it as it is. Crying "not fair" doesnt work. This is reality! The goal here, to advance the progressive vision, the ideals we share, is to be honest and beat these corporate controlled media jackals back with honesty and TRUTH! This is the only way. The deck is stacked so much against us that we must be pure, reflective, and open to self examination beyond what the Cons could ever imagine. Canadians can, and will, see this, if we are truly honest, despite what that corporately corrupted Con media spins. But, they will also easily pick up on weaselly rhetoric that seems to evade our own failings, the likes of which JT settles on. Doubling down and playing the Alpha-male who admits no wrong is what Cons do. We must be better than that, otherwise, we're cementing a PM Schear and the loss of everything we hold dear.
DeleteSeems JWR is chomping at the bit for round 2 and would like the client-attorney privilege lifted beyond SNCgate. Wonder what other nuggets of enlightenment are to come. At this point in time it would seem logical to encourage the ethics commissioner to report as soon as possible and decide follow up at that time or alternatively if crimes were committed JRW should present her truth to the authorities and demand an investigation. Enough with the spin and accompanying propaganda.
ReplyDeleteAlso the notion that a political appointee operates in a 100% pure ivory tower totally independent of the party that appointed her and their stated agenda is scheer fantasy. If that were the case the AG would be selected from a pool of qualified personnel, possibly following a vote in proportion to the voter support for each party. Another option to eliminate any possibility of influence would be to appoint an AG that politically leans opposite to the party in power. That should be as effective as an aloof AG in bringing our legal system to a stand still.
RT
I agree with RT 10:21. No MP /cabinet minister operates completely independently of the party they represent and were voted in to represent and they sit at the PM’s will. I suspect as rumour has it she’s gunning for the top job — her boss’s job and will have the angry ‘worm’ K here on prog. and his wife who are BFF with JWR as her campaign team. That guy is right out of control - is it 10 blogs a day he writes about this attacking JT or more? He’s clearly pathological. He’s so obsessed with Trudeau — is he jealous as he’s just an angry old guy now and a no one?
DeleteIt is best both JWR and Philpott be removed from caucus as it is too risky keeping them there when they claim to have ‘no confidence’ in cabinet thus the PM. Game over. They may just spend 8 months organizing against Trudeau and dividing the Liberal party as under the Chrétien/Martin years and Kinsella was in the heart of all that working for Chrétien so knows this game well. JWR has hurt the Liberal party and her actions were beyond unprofessional. Perhaps she just couldn’t handle the high pressure of the ‘dream job’ so found 2 meetings a month ‘pressure’ because she is a rookie and has little experience in this. Sitting on a report on SNC and keeping it from the PCO should be investigated. Was she ensuring there was no evidence to challenge her quickly made decision?
At the end of the day no one looks good stabbing their own team in the back let alone their boss who entrusted them to this highly privileged postion for a rookie MP. Like a spoiled teenager who lacks humility to understand just maybe they’re not the smartest lawyer in the room and consulting others on a new law would be advisable. Frankly, she practiced law for a mere 3 years as a CP out of law school then had a consulting company with her husband. That does not make an ‘experienced lawyer’ to navigate complicated law. Trudeau’s fault was putting a rookie MP in that cabinet role — let alone one driven by her own agenda and ideology — viewing the world as black and white and incapable of nuance and balance regarding the big picture. JWR just came across as an angry vindictive person. Of all the Liberals have done she has to hang him on this one thing. No perspective.
I hope we can now just get on with real issues impacting Canadians. Talk about a waste of band width. All JWR was throw a life line to the dim witted Con leader lacking any vision to move the country forward. Just hate and anger is what lies ahead if JWR is successful in sinking the Liberals. Unforgivable — remove her from caucus please. She will only continue to hurt the party and Trudeau if her actions to date are any indication. Not to be trusted.
Warren isn't pathological, he is functionally running Jody's war room against Trudeau, its all business, all politics. If Trudeau and his PMO is out Jody will likely replace him as the cure for the Liberaks problems, who will take Warren and Lisa with her as a reward, giving Warren what he really wants, to be back in the game, instead of commenting from the sidelines.
DeleteAs an NDP voter this Game of Thrones/House of Cards action is entertaining.
Warren is a non-entity he hasn't been relevant for years. Now he is just a demented bitter old man trying to recapture past glories. JWR will never be the leader of the LPC her house of cards is collapsing around her ears. Her only option is to go join the NDP because she will never be elected as a Con in her riding. Shame she had to take Philpott down with her.
DeleteIt's glaringly obvious that this whole fake scandal was a nothing burger for months up until she was removed from Justice. Then the knives came out. I would bet money that JWR was behind the leak and now here we are, up to our eyeballs in this petty, vindictive payback scheme blown way out of proportion by the Cons and their media. That is the real scandal here.
ReplyDeleteThe only apology JT should have made to Canadians was that in his haste to assemble an inclusive cabinet, he erred in appointing someone to justice who clearly did not have the years of experience required for such a complex portfolio. That's his cross to bear.
As for JWR, I don't want to hear her repeat her sudden shock over the "pressure" she received over SNC. That narrative was effectively shot down by Mr. Butts. I want her to explain why she would put thousands of good jobs at risk when other avenues were at her disposal to keep SNC in check and keep those jobs in Canada. Was it incompetence or something else?
If JWR thinks she was treated so badly and was so hard done by then I would suggest she give Jeff Sessions a call and get his opinion on what constitutes undue pressure.
JD
Hi JD...I agree with you, it all sounds very familiar. And if Trudeau was to be brutally frank he should say exactly what you say. Whatever qualities JWR possesses she does not have the skills or the temperament to be part of a cabinet. He can't say that, or he would be accused of being a sexist bully, even though gender and race have nothing to do with this "scandal" and I would feel exactly the same way about any man who had behaved as she did...
DeleteI wish people would stop saying " her truth ". JWR made this up to cover her purpose. Someone told a Repubican that everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not to their own facts. JWR is not entitled to make up stories and claim they are " her truth ". There is only one truth and she ,as shown in her Chateau texts , is on the wrong side of it.
ReplyDelete"The “pressure” turns out to be just 10 meetings and 11 phone calls over a four-month period. Some pressure!"
ReplyDeleteSomeone should tell Montreal Simon, "No means no!"
#MeToo
Anonymouse:
DeleteCheck her text. She did not say no so there was no no to mean no.
Hi anon 9:48 pm...Please stop demeaning the very serious problem of sexual assault by comparing it to this fake scandal. This is not a women's issue, government is a tough game where pressure is normal, and JWR does not strike me as a wilting flower. She could have easily held her own without going crying to Robert Fife....
DeleteI completely agree with you Montreal Simon. You hit the nail on the head. Andrew Smear will be very disappointed this October.
ReplyDeleteHi Al...thank you, I'm not an arrogant person but I do think I managed to express what a lot of Canadians were thinking. And yes if we work hard together we will make Scheer and his grubby gang very disappointed in October..l
DeleteWith every fresh "revelation" from the players involved, I can't help but think about a line from that woefully underrated 2001 film The Score where Marlon Brando is trying to convince Robert De Niro to break into the secure Montreal Customs House:
ReplyDelete"There's too much bullshit around it!"
Sums up my feelings. Like I said on Monday's post, there's too many bad-faith actors involved in this affair to conclude anything about anyone. It's pretty clear Trudeau's team didn't handle this well, but as Simon's pointed out, there's questions remaining and a monumental lack of perspective on the part of everybody sniping at Trudeau. Frankly, a lot of the commentary in the press reflects more on those commenting than on any of the players and not in a good way.
-KM
Hi KM....I agree with you, there is way too much bullshit surrounding this fake scandal, and enough bad faith actors. I could forgive them though, to be that way is human. But what I can't forgive is how the media has covered the story, blowing it up into a humongous monster that gobbled up far more important stories. At times I have felt like I as living in a totalitarian society where the same party line is parroted every day, and Trudeau is always the villain. As I have said several times, that's the real threat to our democracy, and the real scandal...
DeleteIts a classic executive whistle blower saga that plays out in the corporate world all of the time. It starts with a mixture of corporate culture usually brought about by a merger or the introduction of change agents. Someone looses trust, a scenario is developed and covert information is gathered, management recognizes something is amiss but misdiagnosis the problem, the classic promotion to Abu Dhabi emerges as the solution, the blower refuses and the rest is history. There are no winners but some learn from the experience and move on ... some do not. Its time to move on.
ReplyDeleteOn the positive side this type of event is a few levels above appointing lieutenants to key positions, actual crimes are committed and when the going gets tough the rats jump ship. The next lower stage is the rats get shot rather than face legal consequences. Canada's most recent brush with a rat eviction was the Duffy scandal but Canadians are just too reserved to really mix it up. Some are trying to change that by waving nooses but have a way to go.
RT
Hi RT....I have found the whole thing so crazed I hesitate to try to come up with any logical explanations. At the end of the day I believe that we are witnessing a case of media hysteria, and that the very unpleasant winter they have experienced in Ottawa has also played a role. I suspect that only a warm Spring will save us from this nightmare...
DeleteAnother great perspective from Heather Mallick.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2019/03/08/maybe-philpott-and-wilson-raybould-could-have-taken-one-for-the-liberal-team.html
JD
*I wish people would stop saying " her truth "*
ReplyDeleteI wish people would stop saying "the Con media". Especially when at least 80 percent of all news media leans left (and always has...and even ADMITS it). Seriously, people? The Toronto Star (affectionately known as the Red Star by many Conservatives) is the "Con Media" to you? What's your idea of "balanced" coverage, then....Slate? Salon? The Tyee? Rabble.ca? Pravda?