This federal government’s anti-democratic, self-aggrandizing, increasingly-costly behaviour makes one seriously consider: is this all just a giant practical joke on the Canadian people courtesy of Trudeau and gang?
When you look at the current state of affairs in Canada, it is getting harder and harder to believe that most Canadians are not being punk’d by the federal Liberal government. There has been much discussion in recent months about Canada being “broken”, but maybe it’s all just a giant practical joke, albeit a very expensive one for those of us who pay the ever-increasing taxes for continually worsening government services. Consider the evidence.
For starters, you may recall that this government claimed it would be “transparent by default” in its early days, as stated by none other than Trudeau himself, yet has from the outset been the most secretive government Canada has ever seen. There are numerous examples with Parliamentary committees, where Liberal MPs filibuster for hours doing such things as reading newspapers into the record to kill time so that issues that will embarrass the government do not get discussed and Canadians are denied essential information.
Also consider August of 2020 when Trudeau prorogued Parliament, shutting down parliamentary business including committees, to avoid more disclosure of the WE Charity scandal. Inquiries by opposition parties and external organizations via Freedom of Information requests into various problematic government actions are routinely answered by completely redacted documents, if they are answered at all. Gotcha, Canadians!
The carbon tax is another prime example. After the Liberals declaring for years that the carbon tax would put more money into Canadians’ pockets than it took out, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault finally recently admitted that no, most Canadians would pay more in tax than they received in rebates. We’ve been lying to you for years, but never mind. Oh, and by the way, we haven’t seen any of our emissions reduction goals achieved either! Just another tax grab. Punk’d again.
Working hard to kill the oil and gas industry, which contributes more to the nation’s wealth than any other industry sector, is another bad joke on Canadians. With President Biden’s recent visit to Canada, there was much comment about how our two countries were in sync on climate policies. Yet the US has not been foolish enough to leave their natural gas resources undeveloped as has Canada.
The US is rapidly becoming one of the largest exporters of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) in the world, while Trudeau claims that there is “no business case” for exporting our abundant resources of LNG. Of course, this Liberal policy is a great way of punishing Alberta and Saskatchewan, which have the nerve to not vote Liberal. Sadly though, it ends up punishing the entire country by foregoing opportunity that could greatly benefit all Canadians, not to mention help other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian gas and contribute to stabilizing the geopolitical environment. Hilarious!
Perhaps the most recent punk’d incident was the April Fools’ joke once again inflicted on Canadians the weekend before last when the carbon tax was increased by 30 per cent and taxes on liquor also experienced an automatic hike, while all federal Members of Parliament received a nice salary bump to account for inflation. This was the fourth pay increase for MPs since the beginning of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the line ups at food banks across Canada continue to get longer as food inflation continues in the double-digits. Fooled again, Canadians!
Speaking of inflation, the recent federal budget included another surprise. While Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland promised to balance the budget by 2027-28 in previous documents, the $4.5 billion surplus planned for that year had morphed into a $14 billion deficit in the 2023 budget. But never mind, all is well despite our rapidly climbing debt and the fact that Freeland’s so-called fiscal anchor – the debt/GDP ratio that was supposed to never increase – did exactly that in this year’s budget. Many billions were spent on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies though. The budget also included a major boost in government spending, which anyone with an economic brain in their head knows will merely perpetuate inflation and motivate the Bank of Canada to increase interest rates even more to try to get inflation under control.
And to think, I have not even touched on the massive issues of foreign interference in our elections, the preferences given to undemocratic labour unions or the ongoing ethics challenges that Liberals continue to have, including appointing a family relative of a Liberal cabinet minister as the acting Ethics Commissioner. It’s getting hard to keep a straight face.
When I say that most, not all, Canadians are being punk’d by this government it is because there is clearly a minority that are doing very, very well courtesy of we generous taxpayers. It seems that every organization that has anything to do with the climate, diversity, gender, or racial issues – no matter how legitimate – and large crony capitalist corporations looking for a government handout for an electric vehicle project or other “woke” cause, have their hand deep into our pockets without our consent.
Although Liberals always pretend that they oppose the large corporate community, they actually have a much longer history of corporate welfare than do Conservatives. This Liberal government has also been consistently punitive to the small- and medium-sized business community, who are very rarely the recipients of subsidies from government yet represent about half the country’s GDP and the majority of job creation.
It’s gotten to the point that I can just imagine Trudeau and his cronies sniggering away in some backroom, contemplating what their next punishment will be for average Canadians, one-upping each other with ever more outrageous suggestions, and asking “Do you think they’ll put up with this and still vote for us?” Hardy har har – hilarious, eh? Perhaps the most outlandish notion of all is why so many Canadians continue to support this mistreatment. And that’s not the least bit funny.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
