The resignation of Jane Philpott is a big political blow to the Liberal government.
And a sad day for me, since she was the cabinet minister I most admired.
I'll never forget this story about the death of her young child Emily in the Niger Republic.
And for that and other reasons, she'll will always remain in my Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
But having said that, I don't believe that her resignation will breathe much life into what is still a fake scandal, for the following reasons.
Firstly, it's clear that the main reason she quit is because she is a very close friend of Jody Wilson-Raybould, and decided to put that friendship before cabinet solidarity.
Which since she is still more of a doctor than a politician, is perfectly understandable.
Secondly, I think she was afraid that Gerry Butts' testimony tomorrow might blow a few holes in her friend's story, and her resignation was a way to try to soften the impact.
Which is definitely more political and less excusable.
And lastly but not leastly, I believe her resignation was also a way to escape her new job as President of the Treasury Board, which after being Minister of Health and Minister of Indigenous Services, must have seemed like a dreary grey cage to a person like Philpott.
But whatever the real reason, her resignation still does not make the SNC-Lavalin controversy more than a fake scandal.
Or as Barbara Yaffe writes, anything more than the wimpiest of controversies.
The SNC-Lavalin controversy, if truly a scandal as so many pundits would have us believe, is one of the wimpiest I can recall in more than 40 years as a journalist covering federal and provincial governments.
Justin Trudeau only did what any other prime minister would have done to try to save thousands of jobs. So did the others.
The others who pressed or pushed or harangued Ms. Wilson-Raybould – including the Finance Minister’s chief of staff, the Privy Council Clerk, seniors staffers in the PMO – were doing his bidding. That’s how our system works.
The director of public prosecutions Kathleen Roussel's decision was based on an interpretation of the law. But an interpretation is not written in stone.
Lawyers in courtrooms argue different interpretations of law every day of the week. Perhaps Ms. Roussel’s decision is based on one particular interpretation. Maybe, probably, there are others.
No laws were broken.
Ms. Wilson-Raybould, in having accepted the justice job in the first place, was never destined to be a law unto herself. She was part of a team and should have been open to PMO input – as long as any entreaties did not force her to do something unlawful. And they did not.
So nothing changed, and this is the bottom line:
When all is said and done, history will record that Ms. Wilson-Raybould stood firm, telling those who nagged her to buzz off. And her decision stands. Mr. Trudeau et al. have not overruled her. In the end, SNC-Lavalin is still facing criminal prosecution. Some scandal.
Which is what I have argued all along.
I regret that a decent person like Jane Philpott could allow herself to be used by the filthy Cons.
Who would strip away the rights of women, native people, and dismember the medicare system she loves so much and has served so well.Justin Trudeau’s government is in chaos. He wouldn’t allow the former Attorney General to speak freely, so we don’t know her full story. Trudeau’s story changes daily and won’t come clean with Canadians. He needs to fully cooperate with any RCMP investigations and resign. pic.twitter.com/Qw0yfx9fj9— Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer) March 4, 2019
But it's still a fake scandal, it's still a media creation.
It still will not affect the results of the next election.
And its days are still numbered...
48 comments:
JT has to cool it on women's empowerment, gender balance etc. The bottom line is he elevated two women to political power who were ill prepared for the realities of political life. Philpott's conduct is no less egregious than JWR's. In her resignation letter she states she didn't like how JWR was "pressured" She like the media are accepting JWR's truth as the truth. If she had issues why didn't she inform JT personally? Why didn't she discuss her issues with him? No she decided to inflict maximum damage for what purpose? The pair of them are an embarrassment to women. If JWR and Philpott believe the CPC care about indigenous and women's issues as well as LGBTQ rights they are delusional. The whole thing seems coordinated and it is selfish selfish selfish.
I think he sincerely believes in minority and women's empowerment, only to see it backfire on him.
He looks like a moose caught in the headlights at the climate rally now. I'm not a math expert; what's the equivalent of a thousand-yard stare in metric? The more this drags on, the more I am seriously getting concerned about his mental health.
If this palace coup takes him down, I'm afraid he'll end up having a breakdown like Margaret did. I don't want to see that happen at all. I really am worried for him. My heart is breaking over what all of these people have done. A pox on all their houses.
The criminal charges against SNC in the Libya affair are against the corporation and not individuals. The 8 business executives involved were all charged separately and with the exception of the last trial in progress the other 7 were not convicted. Zero out of 7 convictions combined with the time lag suggests that it is unlikely the company will be found guilty of fostering a criminal attitude that allowed crime to flourish. Companies cannot be put in jail so even if they are found guilty the punishment is usually a large fine and potential disbarment from government contracts for a period of ten years including the multi million dollar contracts they currently have with the government. A DPA agreement saves the government legal fees, provides for large fines and oversight, prosecution can be reactivated if required and is much better than the zero out of seven odds they currently have of obtaining a conviction. Unless the prosecution has air tight evidence that the company is rotten to the core they will likely walk leaving us poorer and with a weasel in charge or the hen house. Really sad!
Company penalties if convicted:
"Corporations are liable to a fine in the discretion of the court. To date, the largest fine imposed on a corporation under the CFPOA is $10.3 million. In that case, the corporation self -reported.
In addition to criminal penalties, companies that breach the CFPOA may be liable to debarment from bidding on public sector contracts in Canada, and potentially, abroad."
Background on conviction rate: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-bribery-snc-lavalin-case-1.5031712
RT
I think you’re too generous with Philpott. Her motives have nothing to do with principles, or she would have resigned from cabinet at the same time as her darling Jody did. She has put personal considerations before the interests of her country and deserves nothing but contempt.
What's making me the sickest is the schadenfreude people seem to have about Trudeau's misfortunes. I agree with this person:
https://twitter.com/Scribulatora/status/1102649280798576640
Why bother with good fundamental journalism about the SNC Lavelin scandal when you can just write another pompous piece about how "Canada's golden boy (middle aged man) has lost his shine"?
It's really disturbing and not because it disturbs some weird Pollyanna sense I have of things, but because the naked glee evident in crashing and burning someone they never liked.
Like, seriously, why won't people stop salivating for him to fail? Stop treating him like some kind of comic book villain. He's a human being! He doesn't deserve the rabid sadism being flung at him from the press and anonymous cowards on social media!
What the hell is wrong with people? Report the results of an election, I don't care but STOP the sadistic triumph about "bringing him down"!
Montreal Simon sees reality but doesn't recognize it. Neither do some of these commenters who turn out to be as demented as the blog owner hisself - Philpott deserves contempt for standing on basic ethical principle? Which moon of Mars do you hail from, citizen?
So what do we get here in this post? Not a reasonable assessment, just more horse manure pulled out of the vacuum in his head. Good god man and people, I'm in my seventies, and had a long career, managed all types of people. The crazy ones living in unreality I eased out, the hollow-eyed stunned people unable to adjust to changing circumstances, stuck in a mould, and not only unwilling to see that but to furiously argue for the old way against all odds. All for NO APPARENT COGENT REASON. As here.
So Simon says: Blah blah blah, blahedy blah, blahedy blah blah blah.
I know some people will argue the hind leg off a donkey for no apparent reason, and sir, you take the cake for abject obliviousness.
Want to read about people who indulge in hero-worship against all odds?
https://dissidentvoice.org/2019/03/the-fascinating-spell-cast-by-weasels/
BM
Thank you again Simon for a great post. This all feels ‘staged’ — some kind of pre-meditated manufactured scandal to take down Trudeau and the Liberals. The hysteria is out of control on this ‘non scandal’. The scandal is that this is exactly how the media can destroy democracy. These women are close friends and hate to say it but acting like high school BFF’s. Until we hear from the other players everyone should reserve judgment. Why do people take JWR at her ‘truth’ or ‘word’ automatically? Frankly, these women just set women back. Why put women in cabinet when they can’t play on a ‘team’. They both have a heightened sense of false virtue —oh my— so ‘pure’ when politics is messy and difficult when so many interests are always competing. Neither belongs in politics. Too soft for the rough and tough and reality of it vs. some kind of Disney world view of it. Back stabbing is never acceptable so who is ethically challenged here? Taking a disagreement in cabinet to a defacto public political lynching of the only PM that tried in earnest to put women and minorities in cabinet to allow them to excel is pure disgust. This is their gratitude? They are not the PM. They need to both quit caucas and stop earning a paycheck as they no longer serve Canadian’s best interests. If this takes down the Liberals to the alt right idiots this nation will be set back a generation on climate change action, poverty and investiment in the tech sector etc.. Companies will stay far and away from a backwards thinking country governed buy those who happily rally with racists. Women will never get anywhere politically when they can’t handle the heat. They need some lessons from Teresa May — now there’s a tough politician facing an truly untenable situation. What we’re witnessing is so ‘high school’ and lacking professionalism. Very worried for my country’s future if a good PM who wants to build a country based on equality of opportunity can be destroyed for nothing but one anonymous source. It seems pretty evident who the source was. There’s an agenda at play.
...and you're jumping to your own harsh conclusion of JP's motives.
So what if her resignation refreshes the doubt voters have about the LPC and Trudeau?
The LPC is not to be directly equated with the country. Save your contempt for more worthy people.
In addition to you not being a math expert, you not much of a psychologist either.
You're getting overwrought over a distant celebrity with lousy political judgement.
JB, I think he was just a little surprised by Philpott's actions. She released a letter and didn't have the guts to resign face to face. Simon has been a tad generous about Philpott. She was juvenile and unprofessional and it appears she is standing in solidarity with JWB because they were both shuffled out of their portfolios. They coordinated to inflict maximum damage. They both need to go. Enough of this bullshit.
I don't think so, JB. I often compare Trudeau to Trump. They have certain things in common, and I believe they work together to create drama between them for each one's benefit. Every time they meet face to face where nobody can overhear (not even translators, unlike when Trump meets Kim or Putin), some spat ensues and I believe they work together on that. Trudeau will no more have a breakdown than Trump. Can you imagine anything that anyone could say to Trump that would send him crying int the fetal position? I think not. Trudeau is of the same mould. Externally not what he seems (like Trump) but internally tough as nails.
Wow, have a little empathy, "PR Guy." I don't really care about his political judgment. He's a human being and I'm disgusted by the way people have been gloating over his professional demise.
The man is a husband, a son, a brother, and a father of three, and he's been faced with threats of assassination and now bottom-feeding tabloid "pundits" calling him a rainbow prince impaled on a unicorn. I don't care your opinion of his political prospects; anyone who isn't outraged and disgusted by the treatment he's been receiving as a PERSON is a callous sociopath. If Barack Obama had been a "lousy president," would you not be concerned for his well-being considering all the lynching, monkey, and terrorist memes made about him?
Sheesh, man, have you no heart? If anyone deserves credit for holding up for as long as he did in the face of "undue pressure" it's Justin Trudeau! Are you one of the trolls who makes vile comments on the YouTube video of Pierre's eulogy too?
It is staged. We all know who is orchestrating this, and I'm sure he and his wife are right now busily trying to dox anyone who points this out so they can be intimidated. I wonder if Gerry has the phone records showing calls between them and the former ministers. Like they always say, you don't need recordings of the calls (illegal without a prior warrant) but the who called who and when info tells the story of who is pulling the strings.
I think there's a problem with know it all doctors going into politics. Remember the orthopedic surgeon, Kellie Leitch?
Mercenary Stephenson is a sociopath. Trudeau will be better off without these scumbags following him around.
https://twitter.com/MercedesGlobal/status/1102765447139770368
A "Cynthia" responds:
You are joking about people’s lives. This isn’t a game. But great you guys see it as gotcha journalism.
Sick for the press to rejoice about bringing a good man down. Sick.
BM, you make two very good points. One, this is a blog and two, it's Montreal Simon's. Other than that, your comment is little more than the ramblings of a spiteful old Trudeau hater clinging to something, anything that would tarnish or destroy his reputation and career. In classic Reform-a-Con fashion, you not only want to see him fail, you want to rub his face in it in perpetuity as this is what truly warms your hateful old bones.
That you would continually follow this blog and attempt to shoot down any defense of JT is very telling and suggests that the demented ones are not the JT defenders on this blog, they are those who despise everything and everyone he stands for and cant control their urges to lash out at anyone who would defend him.
JD
A at 1:06 a.m. please get a grip. No one has to defend Trudeau. He is doing a good job of that himself. His actions don't need defending. He did his job as he sought fit and JWR did hers as she saw fit.
You don't have to be a Trudeau hater to be of the opinion what he did was "wrong". It is possible to be a Liberal, Trudeau supporter and still disagree with what JWR felt was pressure. She is entitled to her feelings. No one has the right to tell her she can't. We are in 2019 not 1919.
My take on it is people are lashing out at JWR and Trudeau. Perhaps it might be better if they separated the person from their actions.
A. 8:20 p.m. suggesting the P.M. turn the clock back any amount of time is sorely out of touch with the times. Women are entitled to positions just as men are. Women have the right to disagree with the P.m. just as men do. Ms. philpott's "conduct" is not agregious nor was JWR. They both acted on what they believed is their right. We might want to stop using the phrase, "truth to power". JWR resigned over her feeling of being pressured by the P.M. and other cabinet ministers and their staff. That is her right. Your estimation of what political realities are, may not be what every one else considers political realities. If JWR felt she was being bullied, then perhaps it is time for politicians to re consider how they do business. Many men and women communicate differently and that difference needs to be recognized. Women are not men with different genitals, they are separate and distinct biological entities and are usually socialized in different manners also.
there is no evidence to support your allegation that JWR and Ms. Philpott are an "embarrassment to women". Haven't heard that line from a single woman. You may be of the opinion "she decided to inflict maximum damage" but what have you to support your allegation. Are you mind reading or just mind fxxking?
To question whether JWR and Ms. Philpott believe the CPC care about indigenous and women's issues is down right silly. Well perhaps not if you're right wing. However, you can disagree with Trudeau and others and still believe in all sort of other things and support Trudeau and the Liberal party. In a healthy environment. people ought to be able to disagree and get on with life and not start some sort of internal war on the left.
truly A. 9:03 p.m. and how did you come to that conclusion? In, what I consider an attempt to vilify, Ms. Philpott you also may be vilifying the Liberals in general. Ms. Philpott may want to run in her riding again, so why try to cast her in a negative light. Remember the person who replaces her, could be a Conservative. Lets try to row the boat in the same direction. Disagreement is health.
eaf, let me assure you, I have a firm grip on reality but have to wonder how you feel JT doesn't need defending in the face of the media onslaught and rude, vile commenting this situation has unleashed on him.
You may be able to ignore the rants of a bitter old homophobe but for me, BM crossed the line of decency a while back so please don't chastise me for standing up for JT or Simon. That's my right and I've exercised it.
JD
RT : You may be confused. The internet is no place for truth, facts and logic. On the other hand no good prosecutor would bring a case with no reasonable chance of conviction to trial. A negotiated settlement with a fine and an oversight clause can turn a loss for the crown into a win.
When I saw this my first thought was that JWR/JP were getting out in front of Butt's impending testimony.
This morning's ( Tuesday ) Current . seemed to me be be much less strident than coverage has been. Maybe the pundits are worried that Butts' testimony will reflect poorly on their commentary .
Interesting though was a comment that with JWR/JP gone the rest of the Cabinet stands firmly behind Trudeau. In caucus, only about a third of the caucus supports JWR/JP.
Also on the current, an expert opined that the old time liberals do not like the power wielded by the PMO. I heard that said about Pierre Trudeau. I heard that said about Brian Mulroney. I heard that said about Jean Chretien. I heard that said about Stephen Harper. It seems to be a fallback for whenever a political pundit runs out of thoughts. I am tired of hearing it.
Timing is everything isn't it? Just when this mole hill starts to fade from the headlines and Butts prepares to testify, ba-bam!! Philpott resigns. Just a coincidence? I doubt it.
This would make a great drama infused episode of "Degrassi" if it weren't true or a Canadian version of "Mean Girls" starring Jody-Wilson-Lohan and Calamity Jane Philpott.
If these two bffs don't voluntarily leave the Liberal caucus then JT needs to remove them ASAP. I'm sure Scheer would welcome them with open arms at least until their political usefulness has worn out.
JD
Agree. This is a non scandal about a company who broke international law which calls for a prescribed punishment of A) a fine and disbarment or B) a dpa in the form of a fine and monitoring. JWR decided on A) and ignored requests to obtain outside expert council on the matter which then escalated into a shit storm. There are no corporate criminals walking free, its about a Canadian company and we are presented with the option of using valuable tax dollars to try and destroy it with an unknown outcome or monitor it. All of the rest is just political spin. We really need to get a grip on the issue rather than join the Cons in the emotional swamp.
RT
I gotta say, getting up every morning, opening my Toronto Star and seeing this crap on the front page is just absolutely soul-crushing because it just serves as an example of all the failures of the Canadian press, failures that are mirroring those south of the border from eight years ago:
- The driving need to take the Golden Boy down, regardless of the potential consequences. Now me personally, I've been disillusioned with Trudeau in a lot of ways, but I've defended him as being the best option for the nation in comparison to the Tories, who would strip-mine the place for their rich friends. But seemingly since Day One, there's been this urge for columnists to find any misstep of Trudeau's any little thing, like the elbow or the India trip, and parlay them into feet of column space in a desperate attempt for eyeballs.
- Zero sense of perspective. The media only knows how to shout in 72 point font, so every little thing gets lumped in with big things and is shouted from the rooftops. So what is some pretty rudimentary political strategy suddenly becomes some enormous "gripping" "crisis" "threatening to topple Canada's very democracy" and
- There's too many bad actors surrounding this. Everyone sounding off on this, from columnists to politicians of all three major parties, all have a vested interest in taking their pound of flesh from Trudeau that they can burnish and use to build themselves up. Objectivity is nowhere to be found in a sea of opportunists.
I say all this because there's conversations we all *could* be having. We *could* be talking about DPAs, what they represent and how we should be handling corporations behaving badly. We *could* be talking about the role of these enormous companies and their interactions with government. We *could* be talking about the opacity of the PMO and the need to decentralize the power that was accumulated during the Harper regime. But instead our media has made this some kind of soap-opera drama where they're lauding "performances" and reacting to "plot twists" as if this was Real Housewives of Ottawa.
If there's any throughline here, it strikes me that aside from the obvious bad faith of the right, it's like everyone else is disappointed that Trudeau is a politician, as if they interpreted his charm and "sunny ways" motto as some indication of naive sincerity in everything he said and did. To which I can only smack my forehead and reply "Are you that gullible? No, 'sunny ways' meant 'I don't do attack ads like the Tories.' It didn't mean 'I just do stuff that I think is good for Canada and never think about the political calculus involved.'" Gerald Butts was his advisor! Of course his decisions were political! I'd actually be shocked if a politician *didn't* concern themselves with re-election.
Thanks for keeping some badly-needed perspective on this, Simon.
-KM
"We all know, in our heart of hearts, that, much as our elites protest that we live in a mature democracy and under the Rule of Law, Trudeau, his government and any other government we are allowed to choose, know that their primary job is to advance the interests of capital; everything else, all that Rule of Law and electoral responsibility stuff, is secondary." https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/trudeau-and-snc-lavalin-of-hosts-and-parasites?fbclid=IwAR1QI3f7TWyVBsLfFlNfAMGCBlxtHtOMxqed8nAw7z64gb2GKHSwyxQRiTs
This whole SNC Lavalin affair is getting stupid. There are virtually no real journalists left.
This whole thing revolves around a difference of opinion. And, it has allowed the Conservatives, boosted by the MSM, to change the channel on their multitude of nothing-to-offer.
UU
Peter MacKay was on something or other last night wagging his finger at the PMO about abuses of power. What was it Alanis Morrissette sang? "Isn't that ironic, don't you think?"
CBC News new slogan: "May the Farce Be With You."
Hi KM
Great summary especially about how the media and cons created a bigger than reality Trudeau caricature. Welcome to the world of emotional unreality where we willing chain ourselves to the rack.
RT
I've been saying that this is a coup d'etat from the word go, with Warren Kinsella doing the dirty work and doing it well on behalf of Jody, just as he did for Chretien, remember Kinsella is a veteran at running war rooms and he had Lisa are tight with Jody. When Jody takes over he and Lisa will be richly rewarded for it if Jody's gambit succeeds. Warren has wanted a way back in for a long time, Jody offers that to him.
Everyone here who thinks the cons are playing Jody are wrong, Jody is playing both the Cons and NDP (but especially the cons as the NDP has little to lose that this point).
This is House of Cards/Game of Thrones grade poluticing here and as both an NDP voter and an MRA its hugely entertaining for me (although I still hope Andrew loses to Jagmeet or Jody).
The "Trudeau Derangement Syndrome" exhibited on the part of the press is maybe the most soul-crushing aspect of it all. I'd love to meet him someday and tell him how disgusted I am by this whole tabloid-level state of affairs, how supportive many of us are of him in the "been there, done that" USA. You're right, and I've said it here before: It really is reminiscent of press coverage of Barack Obama and perhaps more so Hillary Clinton, the level of bloodthirsty misogyny aimed at her -- whereby somehow the bizarre conspiracy theory that she was a cannibal witch hosting satanic rituals in the basement of a pizza parlor that had no basement, made it into the NY Times -- is comparable to the "presumed" homophobia leveled at Justin Trudeau. All to make a quick buck and massage insecure bullies' egos, treating him like he's some sort of depraved dictator in need of a coup. Scheer and his Ceausescu fetish again comes to mind. Charles Adler was jawing on with the anti-monarchist sentiment likening Trudeau to Prince Charles. Again and again there's no actual consideration for the policies of the Trudeau Liberals or even the humanity of Trudeau himself, just a disturbing Game of Thrones video-game fantasy of LARPing as revolutionaries to take down the tyrannical boy prince. The press gallery needs to get a life or go cosplay at a Renaissance Faire. This is Parliament, not playtime.
You can tell this whole "scandal" is a contrived PR blitz and subscription drive in an election year by the fact that they keep talking about his "brand." Have to say I've become disillusioned with the "brand" of cynical pseudo-feminism being practiced by the DipperCons, the media, and the self-serving ministers who know they can weaponize Trudeau's earnest, if ultimately self-defeating, belief in priority hiring. If this was a gambit to turn off organizations from affirmative action altogether it worked, because hindsight is 2020 (or 2015) and in retrospect now I think it's a shame nobody saw this staged warrior-princess coup from a mile away. Watching that video now makes me cringe and clench my fists in anger because I want to give a few people in that 50/50 cabinet a good-old-fashioned slap in the face.
Anyone who's ever been in a wedding party or a college sorority knows how conniving packs of women can be, even against each other. I went to high school; we all did, and I'm sure a lot of us have plenty of horror stories to share about the cheerleaders picking on the geeks. Trudeau, the well-intentioned geek, can't do anything because he's caught up in the meme-warfare minefield du jour of "branding" exercises about "mansplaining" and the weaponization of #MeToo language by Kinsella lackeys comparing this to that cheek-brush "incident" that was blown way out of proportion last summer. All it's done is to make me, a woman, less trustful of, and cynical about, politics in general and in particular the motives of "Resister Sister" she-wolves in sheep's clothing. If anything it's even more of a feminist statement to acknowledge that ego and the thirst for power knows no gender, no race, no checkboxes on a census form. Perhaps while living in undeserved exile outside "Canalot," Trudeau will have a holiday watching a few Monty Python films to unwind, because one important lesson learned here seems to be that strange women in cabinet distributing backroom deals is no basis for a system of government. And again, I say this as someone who was "With Her" in 2016 because being OfDonald was so much worse. Now I'm "With Him" (#BetterOffWithJustin) because the women of the TruGrits and their handmaids in the Mean Girls press gallery have condemned 38 million people to being OfAndrew, OfJason and OfDoug. Funny, I thought Australia, not Canada, was the country that did everything upside-down.
Deposing Andy and putting Jody in charge of the Cons would be the best Hail Mary pass the Liberals could get. They could run Trudeau, Freeland, Ed the Sock, the House Hippo, a cardboard cutout of Lester Pearson, or Kenzie the dog at the top of the ticket and it wouldn't matter, because for all their virtue signaling, the racists and misogynists comprising Scheer's base would flock to Max's party in droves. But you are right about Jody, she's a (wo)man without a country as she's a thorn in everyone's side who's put herself up for a bidding war, which only belies her holier-than-thou preaching about "integrity" and reveals her for the political sellout (for lack of a less polite word) that she is.
If she takes over the Dippers it's a gift to Andy by splitting the Liberal vote. Heck, if Trudeau resigns (which appears increasingly likely by the day and I've reached a point where I think he'd be foolish not to), and she takes over the Liberals, it's a gift to Andy for the same reason, because the majority of Liberals hate her guts for what she and her pathetic little "sisterhood" did to Trudeau. So clearly nobody really gives a shit about "peace, order and good governance," because a Con government would be disastrous for everyone, and all it seems anyone cares about -- the Kinselli creature couple in particular -- is petty shivving of Trudeau. So much for sunny ways. What a pathetic and "sorry" lot.
Hi RT
There's a tell in the way that a media outlet puts their photos of Trudeau and JWR. I noticed this during the Obama administration; whenever he was handed a setback in any way, any publication I went to would carry a photo of Obama looking down and pursing his lips dejectedly. Any photo of Trudeau with relation to SNC-Lavalin he has that facial expression 90% of the time. Meanwhile with JWR, her photo is always looking steely-eyed and sincere.
Even their choices of image are meant to reflect the narrative they're trying to sell. Once you pick up on it, you'll see the trends everywhere.
-KM
Hi KM
Yes I noticed the photos, same messaging style as the ones on the Con website and likely the Rebel as well, although I have not checked it out recently.
RT
If SNC-Lavalin had cut a large cheque to the prosecutor to drop the charges against the company, everyone would agree this was morally and legally wrong. But cut a series of large cheques to the Liberal party to get the law changed to avoid a criminal conviction and now it's a "fake scandal." Simon, you're sounding like the Harper apologists you used to ridicule.
Hi anon@8:20 PM....I’m starting to feel you may be right. I’m a huge supporter of gender equality, but appointing the wrong people to the wrong jobs can do more harm than good. And this whole feminist martyr number aimed at the most feminist prime minister ever is starting to grate on me. What they are effectively doing is favouring a Con bigot who would rollback indigenous rights and dismember medicare, and that’s crazy...
Hi RT....I echo what rumleyfips says. What a quaint notion, trying to introduce facts into an internet argument. But I’m still grateful, for the facts are on the side of the government, and they should serve to take the hot air out of this absurd fake scandal. But facts don’t seem to matter these days and that’s why this country is in such a desperate state....
Hi BM....why do you always sound like a broken record you arrogant old Con. I am at least three times as educated as you, and judging from the tripe you write at least ten times more intelligent. I made it clear in my post that I have a lot of respect for Philpott as a doctor which is important to me. But I believe that her decision to resign was caused more by her close friendship with Jody Wilson-Raybould than with any principle. So blah, blah, blah yourself, kindly eff off, and don’t come back...
Hi JD...thanks for sticking up for me, the grumpy Con BM seems to have made it his business to come here and talk down to me, as if he was the font of all wisdom and I was a mere child. So I’m grateful to you for putting him in his place. And try to ignore e.a.f, he’s a good fellow, but these days he’s fallen for the cult of Saint Jody and he can’t be reasoned with...
Hi anon@9:44 PM...I agree with most of what you have to say, i too am starting to think that it does have a staged feeling, and that Jody and Jane May be playing some kind of game which as you say would be totally irresponsible. For it could result in the most fascist government this country has ever known and destroy everything those two women profess to believe in...
Hi KM....I feel exactly like you, so much that I have stopped watching political shows on TV and reading most of the tripe that the Con media is writing about this fake scandal. I am sure that one day it will be used by journalism schools as an example of a feeding frenzy to be avoided at all cost. In the meantime I can’t believe how exhausting it is to try to keep your head when all around you others are losing theirs...
Hi UU....This take scandal is more than stupid it’s madness. And as you say thanks to the MSM’s obsession with it, it’s allowing Scheer and his gang are being allowed to get away with all their far more serious crimes against decency and democracy...
Hi Gyor...please, are now so deluded that you believe that St Jody is ever going to become prime minister rather than an increasingly bitter loser like Kinsella himself. It’s just not going to happen, only Trudeau can beat the Cons, and Jagmeet will be lucky if he still has a party after the next election...
Hi Jackie...please don’t be such a defeatist, it doesn’t sound like you, and it could demoralize other progressives. I am from the Scottish highlands, I had to fight bullies from and early age, and I firmly believe in that old cliche which I have written in blood, when the going gets tough the tough get going. Justin will have to learn that being decent is not good enough, he will have to put his boxing gloves on again, but he will batter the Cons with our help, and he will win the next election. We’re counting on you, so stay calm and take no prisoners....
Hi anon...nobody cut any big cheque’s to the Liberal Party to bring in remediation agreements. The idea was to give our companies the same advantages that American and European companies enjoyed. And the process as started by the Harper government so that’s how much you know i.e. nothing...
Read this simpering apologia while searching Trudeau’s “legacy”.
So now that Trudeau is ending another term in office having accomplished incredibly little (other than more handouts to the parasitic corporate behemoth) and again promising things he promised a hundred years ago and never intended deliver, do you think maybe letting him off from any criticism was ill advised? The man is Harper in nice socks with the exception being that Harper would never have bought an end of life pipeline for far too much money. Have fun screeching impotently at O’ Toole as he ratchets us rightward another notch. Trubama. Our very own do-nothing-except-for-Wall-Street-leader. Just remember to blame the left and not Trudeau or yourselves when he loses. You wouldn’t want to actually learn anything.
Trudeau’s “legacy” : Picture his fancy stockings kicking a can of promises down a long road.
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