The other day, Cathie from the excellent blog Cathie From Canada, left this comment on my blog:
I have never been more proud to be Canadian than I have been since this crisis began. Even Ford is rising to the occasion. Someday I hope to read the story of how Trudeau did it, how he organized the government to put the right people in place to meet this crisis.
And I have to say I feel the same way.
These are dark and desperate times, but unlike many other countries we've got a great Team Canada to help get us through this nightmare....
The Team Canada Justin Trudeau wants us all to join, so we can show that we are all in this together.
"This must be a Team Canada effort. Governments of all orders across the country are stepping up to fulfil their responsibilities to Canadians," he said.
"Canada hasn't seen this type of civic mobilization since the Second World War."
For that is so important if we are going to beat that dangerous bug, and stop it from causing our hospital system to collapse.
Trudeau has had some success trying to unite the country, or at least keeping it from flying apart. His old enemy Doug Ford is now acting like a real Premier, and working with Trudeau. And his old boxing opponent Senator Patrick Brazeau is now fighting alongside him.
But unfortunately Andrew Scheer, just can't rise to the occasion. He's too rabidly partisan, too much of a toxic Trudeau hater to change.8 years ago today, this happened. Today, I am fighting alongside many Canadians, including @JustinTrudeau to beat #COVID19. Listen to expert advice! #StayHomeStaySafe #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/Txj3YtVfs2— Patrick Brazeau -Algonquin 🇨🇦 (@senatorbrazeau) March 31, 2020
So he is still trying to undermine the battle against Covid-19, for crass political purposes.
Accusing Justin Trudeau of lying, even though what the prime minister said was true.This is simply not true. In a time of crisis Canadians need a leader who tells the truth. The reality is that Trudeau’s sky high taxes, wasteful spending and massive deficits put Canada in a weak and vulnerable position BEFORE this crisis ever hit. pic.twitter.com/cqm1B4NfMN— Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer) March 30, 2020
So is this:
And even though the Ugly American is the worst serial liar in modern Canadian history...This is such a bad look for the Conservative party. I can't think of a worse time to put partisan interests ahead of public interests.— Amanda Alvaro (@amandaalvaro) April 1, 2020
We're in this together. That's the only way through. #cdnpoli #covid19 https://t.co/1o3bKPwKsG
And only a man as morally diseased as he is, could behave this way in the middle of a murderous pandemic.
It's beyond belief, but the good news is it's not going to do him any good. On the contrary, it may well finish him and his party off.
For as a recent Ekos poll suggests, Canadians strongly support Trudeau.
His government has an approval rating greater than any other federal government has enjoyed in more than TWENTY-FIVE years.
So if Scheer is seen to be playing cheap politics, while the fate of millions of Canadians hangs in the balance, he'll end up in the garbage can, or the toilet bowl of history...
He's always been heading there of course. His morals have always been dubious.
An internal audit of outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's expenses has found he spent $18,000 a year of party money on private parochial school for four of his children.
The special examination also determined Scheer spent party funds on hiring an extra housekeeper for the Opposition leader's residence of Stornoway, clothes for his family, their minivan and private security, a senior Conservative source told The Canadian Press.
But still I am left to wonder, how the Ugly American could behave like that in the middle of a deadly pandemic?
Or why so many Cons can't seem to understand that we are all in the same boat.
And that if that boat goes down, we'll all go down with it....
I can verify that as an American there are many of us who look north for what leadership in times like this could and should look like. Did you see that PMJT is putting his teacher hat on again, and giving a special Q&A session for children? Perhaps the press can sift through that for explanations delivered at their level. Because I am disgusted by the petulant "are we there yet, dad???" media demanding raw numbers and deadlines from the feds, as they're clearly just looking for an angle to undermine confidence in the government and sow distrust in public health officials at the worst and most dangerous moment. I suppose they'd prefer Trump who pulls numbers out of his ass, pits states against one another, and outsources his "strategy" to his sleazy son-in-law and a pillow-infomercial salesman, then calls it a victory. But hey, it makes for good ratings, and that's the only "modelling" that counts. Where's all the coverage of Kenney's war on teachers and nurses? Or Orbán's actual "power grab" and his connections to Harper and IDU? What was it Goebbels said about accusing your enemy of things you're guilty of?
ReplyDeleteThe low-info pundits and armchair/keyboard stable geniuses seeking to make themselves relevant at all costs are not being team players. They should either move south to the pandemic central of Floriduh or be quarantined on an ice floe, and so should Scheer and his terminally untrustworthy Trumpian party of corruption, malfeasance, populist ignorance, and Trudeau derangement syndrome. Just look at how they treat scientific modelling of climate change. No wonder he failed at becoming an insurance broker if he has no concept of statistical risk. Sorry Andy, we're happy with Trudeau. Memo to the Yank wanker: The world needs more "Team Canada," the perpetually short-sighted U.S. perhaps most of all.
Hi Jackie....Sorry to you and the others for not answering your excellent comments, but I have been too exhausted to do anything in my spare time but eat and sleep, especially the latter. But I will try to do better in future especially since we are all going through a scary time, and we can encourage each other. As far as Team Canada, I've hated the way the name is used for cheap thrills and selling things. But this is the best test ever of who we really are, and whether we really are in this together...
DeleteThe blogger and food writer The Angry Chef makes a good point, though it in the British context.
DeleteI still cannot fathom why political rather than science journalists are left to ask press conference questions on our behalf, when they are clearly floundering and out of their depth.
The bump in the polls is a by product of the crisis, when Trump has rcieved a bump in approval rating and he has been aweful, although previous presidents and governors share the blame as a Private Health-care system is not designed for this kind of crisis. Trump certainly deserves a good chunk of the blame, but so does Obama and Biden and Clinton and Bush, ect... Why can't America figure out universal health-care.
ReplyDeleteBut I will give credit where credit is do, Trudeau has done okay, although many of the policies being implemented came from the NDP, such as covering 75% of wages, but Jagmeet Singhs contribution is being ignored unfairly by the media IMHO.
From south of the 49th, I can give you an honest explainer as to why the U.S. does not and will probably never have universal healthcare. The first reason is because of a long-forgotten, "red baiting" lobbying effort by the American Medical Association when then-president Truman wanted to push for it after WW2. The second is arguably more insidious and hits at the heart of America's original sin(s): quite simply, there are far too many white Americans, particularly white men, who don't want to share an equal playing field with people of color, women and the LGBT community (and people who check more than one box).
DeleteClass reductionists like Sanders ignore or downplay this dynamic as "identity politics" and a distraction by Democratic-establishment "power players" to "divide" the electorate against "the wealthy" as a monolith. The problem with this approach is that it's myopic and doesn't take into account the very real and intersectional discrimination faced by marginalized people beyond mere "economic insecurity." Simply addressing funding issues does not force the long-overdue confrontation of the underlying psychological motivation perpetuating the existence of a certain racialized and gendered status quo.
An example of the kind of third rail that gets in the way of truly universal healthcare would be the right-wing outrage over the middle-ground Obamacare plan, whereby religious groups fought tooth and nail not to have to pay for birth control, or the fact that federal funding of abortion under Medicaid (public healthcare for the poor) has been illegal since 1976. The Covid-19 relief bill got held up in Congress by Republicans who staged a tantrum over abortion, which wasn't even an issue in the first place but was made into one because that's what Republicans use to fundraise and throw meat to their base. Other items on the list of healthcare taboos considered "icky" by Republican voters, and which Democrats are unfortunately forced to compromise on to some extent or another, include: HIV/AIDS testing, PrEP medication, transgender surgeries and hormonal treatments, gynecological examinations, prenatal care, mammograms... basically anything that even remotely hints at "sex" in some way or another. The tragically laughable caveat is that Medicare (public healthcare for the elderly) 100% pays for Viagra and penis pumps. Shows you where their priorities are. After all, who makes the laws? Mostly old, conservative white guys. It's not truly universal if you're not including 50% (or more) of the population. But then, this is a country that still basically considers black Americans to be 3/5 of a vote.
So: Why can't America figure out universal healthcare? In short, because America can't figure out that black people and women are people, and because religious puritanism heavily influences that mentality. And that doesn't even get into geographic racialized disparities (i.e. "redlining", the "urban/rural divide"), undocumented or irregular migrants, our dreadful stigmatizing of the disabled and especially the mentally ill...
Basically, what we in the States can look forward to instead of Covid-19 being the great equalizer, is 6 months to a year (or more) of hoarding guns as the solution to all our problems, shooting each other over toilet paper, bloody domestic violence incidents, and an eventual death rate numbering in the hundreds of thousands or even millions, because for the past seven decades we've regarded Canadian-style healthcare covering everyone regardless of color, gender, or language, as creeping communism and the wages of sin. There was only so far that Obama could go, and now Trump is undoing it all. It's blatantly obvious as to why, but that's identity politics for you. God bless Amerika.
Well said JB. Canada is far, far from perfect, but I've always found the famous most boring headline ever poll of journalists published in 1986 in the New York Times to say more about the rest of the world than Canada. The headline so crowned was, "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative". Conscious, rational, dedicated to good governance... boring. Just think about that. I'll let the other countries have their excitement.
DeleteHi Gyor....I'm saving this comment for posterity, or the Plague Chronicles. The day Gyor gave Justin Trudeau credit for anything!!! 😉 However, I'm afraid I can't agree with what you say about your man Singh, because so far at least he has been a huge disappointment. He should be promoting the idea of Team Canada, instead of criticizing the government all the time and sounding like Andrew Scheer. If Doug Ford can join Team Canada, and hopefully put cheap partisanship aside until the pandemic is over, so can Jagmeet. He could be an inspirational figure at a time like this one, but instead he sounds like an annoying Con baby rattle, and who needs that?
DeleteYour first picture of Justin and Scheer is quite profound in that it sums up completely their behaviours throughout this ordeal, Simon. Justin is calm and mature while coolly staring down the petulant child Scheer. The drama teacher versus the drama queen as it were.
ReplyDeleteI knew it wouldn't be long before the Harper party Cons and their usual media hacks would turn into armchair quarterbacks. Devoid of any useful ideas themselves, they micro-analyze everything the libs are trying to do to slow the spread and get money out to needy Canadians. A gargantuan task to say the least and these useless Cons have opted to criticize after the fact instead of working in a bi-partisan effort to fight the spread. Pathetic. Even more pathetic is their once again flogging of the dead horse carbon tax in a vain attempt to disparage the libs even though 70% of Canadians agree with it. So make that pathetic and stupid.
I keep hearing how impressed everyone is with DOFO and I must admit he's done his pressers well (though he should get Ms. Elliott to get treatment for her stink eye and snarly face). However, what is it with these Cons that when faced with an existential threat in the here and now, rise to the occasion, but when the existential threat of climate change will happen without serious cutbacks, they're as dumb as a fence post? That is what I cant forgive DOFO for. When he bragged about the millions it cost to kill the green energy initiatives I was livid and that is what I'll remember when we go to the polls. We will get through and recover from this Covid 19 but once we pass the tipping point of climate change(if we haven't already), there will be no vaccine that will stop it.
JD
Same here. I have a Tory friend who did the same thing crying that Scheer would have closed the borders two weeks earlier (and who I am social distancing from for now.) I am glad that DOFO actually listened to experts (for once.)
DeleteBased on how things have gone, closing the borders two weeks earlier wouldn't have made a single difference. Two months maybe, but then they would have shrieked about how the Libs would have killed ordinary Canadians travel plans, the travel industry and WHY LIBS DON'T CARE ABOUT THE ECONOMY!!!!!!!!111111!!!1!
Based on Andrew's reaction post reactions/tantrums, I thing we have seen a PM acting with Trump's indecision, panic and tantrums.
Hi JD....I like that picture a lot. Trudeau, who Scheer always tries to portray as weak, looks strong, while the Ugly American looks all hopped up like a religious fanatic, or a maniac. The fact that the Cons haven't been able to form a common front with the Liberals at a time like this one shows that they care more about themselves and their ugly ideology that they care about Canadians. As for Doug Ford, I don't forgive him for anything, but I will give him credit for the way he is behaving. I also think Ford is sincere. I think he has been shocked into trying to be a better person. His stirring declaration to go and enjoy Spring Break, All those dead, all those bad polls, must have been too much for Dougie. He's now a good or better person. Or so it appears. Good for him. Never in my grimmest nightmares did I imagine I might be living in Doug Ford's Ontario in the middle of a pandemic. It's still a scary thought, but I'm hoping for a happy ending....
DeleteHi anon....Scheer is in such a state, that I shudder to imagine what might be happening if he was prime minister. He'd be a nervous wreck, tortured by having to channel all that money out of the door. And making all kinds of religious references to convince his rabid base that he is one of them, and that only their Godzilla can save us. We dodged a bigger bullet than most people imagine....
DeleteWeak Andy does not deserve public housing
ReplyDeleteHi Steve....I think Scheer is so bitter and broken he doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. He is only obsessed with Justin Trudeau, and he would do anything to destroy him. I think it's about time the MSM asked why Scheer sounds like wants our country to fail. And who is he serving Bad Jesus or Donald Trump?
DeleteCanadians in general seem to be handling things well and our politicians so far are setting an example. Where I live in BC we just had our education minister on TV. Not sure how much of it was scripted but I'm pretty sure they're taking all aspects seriously.
ReplyDeleteHi anon....I agree, I think Canada has so far handled this pandemic well. But unfortunately the worst is probably still ahead, and trying to keep millions of socially distancing Canadians from exploding, or imploding, is going to be quite a challenge. If Team Canada can hold it together, it will be quite an achievement, and one we can ALL celebrate....
DeleteThe one thing I am angry about now is this: that our society had never been told that "social distancing" was the only possible way to control a virulent pandemic, and that meant everyone would lose their jobs. We were not prepared for the huge and terrible impact on the world economy, how devastating it would be to the economic condition of millions of innocent Canadians.
ReplyDeleteEven in January, when we first started hearing about the epidemic in China, I got the impression that locking down Wuhan would likely be sufficient to deal with it.
I realize in retrospect that nobody wanted to tell us -- and, maybe, like Trump, we wouldn't have listened anyway. But by mid-January, once it spread beyond Wuhan, that's when we needed to know what that would trigger.
we are all going to have to live in a Star Trek universe, where an engineer and a goat header earn the same pay. Society depends upon so many inputs and you can not live a 21st century existence without the whole package. The distribution of that package has not been correct.
DeleteHi Cathie...I don't think many people wanted to even think about a pandemic. It makes humans feel helpless like herds of animals instead of the Lords of the Universe. We're are being taught a great lesson in humility, let's hope we can learn from it to make a better world....
DeleteAnd by the way, thanks for the compliment about my blog!
ReplyDeleteIf you go to my blog you can see the picture
ReplyDeleteAs is sit today with great unease
I see the vista of the past
with great authority
Pierre Elliot Trudeau
was prescient
with his NEP and
NO FREE TRADE
and Mulroney was
a bag man
That can not be changed now
but Canada knows now
that the USA
will break every promise
so we need to
be promise keepers
to ourselves
This means that food and medicine
no matter what the cost
must be in the hands of Canadians
for Canadians and without restrictions
Secondly we must know
that if times get tough
the Americans are cumming for
what they need
and like Switzerland
we should prepare.
If America can not invade
IRAQ or Syria
there should be
no problem for
Canada to make
them think twice
or three time before
crossing the border
Traitors who IMHO
have littered Canadian history
and more every day
need to be sent
back to the USA
You're welcome. I enjoy your blog immensely. It's a splash of colour and humanity, in the wall of grim old men who now write for Progressive Bloggers...
ReplyDeleteThank you for the endorsement;) Yes I agree, Cahtie has her hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road/
DeleteIf you read comment sections of the globe for example, it seems the trolls are again out in force. One of the drawbacks of everyone staying home. Some of them say the solution to the supposed mask holdup at the US border is to send Ms Meng home. On the other hand many of the St Petersburg crew are telling us how incompetent "CCP Tam" is and presumably she should be fired and replaced by a white man.
ReplyDeleteA lot of them are telling us how the science about wearing masks was known years ago, and why are we only now using it. The same people who tell us the evidence is still not in on climate change.
Fact is, government never said not to wear a mask, but rather we need them for health care providers who are exposed to lots of sick people all day.
They might not all be from St. Petersburg. They might be followers, friends or employees of the Wexit war room in Calgary or the pundit class in Toronto. Just like in the States, for every Dmitri Duma there's a Dixie Dumbass posting QAnon bullshit on Facebook and in the comment sections of Breitbart and the Gateway Pundit. Sadly, the M$M gives their hostility oxygen and legitimacy when the supposed Very Smart People™ like Urback, Fife and Solomon gripe on Twitter and spread disinfo that Tam is a quack and a spy, Hajdu is incompetent, and Trudeau is involved in a power grab, a cover-up and an extramarital affair. Anyone notice Barbara Kay this weekend, nasty old biddy with her dime-store gossip about the Trudeaus' living situation? They should all be immediately fired and have their propaganda rags shut down, and be forced into hard labor sterilizing PPE and sewing Hazmat suits. Non-essential employees who deserve no gratitude whatsoever. If anything they're hazardous to the public health, speaking moistly and spreading fecal droplets through the air.
Delete