An Angus Reid poll reveals growing disillusionment among Canadians towards parliamentary proceedings, with 54% viewing MPs’ work as ‘posturing’ and 46% deeming it ‘useless’. The Trudeau government faces accusations of eroding accountability within Parliament and weakening the country’s sovereignty over its eight-year tenure. Photo credit: Reuters/Patrick Doyle
Through eight years, the governing Liberals have methodically undermined the authority of Parliament and strategically weakened the underpinnings of the country’s sovereignty. The Trudeau Liberals are operating today as if they are unaccountable to the Canadian citizenry; they are too intent on transforming Canada into a post-national state that can efficiently implement and regulate global agreements.
It was the twentieth-century American philosopher Robert Hutchins who observed, “The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.” Canadians’ indifference for the federal Liberals’ regular assaults on parliamentary traditions and procedures is putting Hutchins’ statement to the test. Today, according to a recent Angus Reid poll, one in two Canadians view MPs’ work in Parliament as simply “posturing” (54 per cent) and “useless” (46 per cent), and a majority of those who closely follow the parliamentary drama say the proceedings are “dishonest” (58 percent). Canadians have seemingly lost faith in Ottawa politics.
The Trudeau Liberals have been very effective degrading Canada’s cornerstone institution of democracy: Parliament. The PM’s backroom has been exemplary in systematically eroding the accountability that is core to the Westminster parliamentary system that Canada’s democracy was modelled after. Consider the increasing irrelevance of the country’s national Parliament:
- The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) staff dictates legislation and manages the parliamentary agenda instead of elected representatives, thereby negating the check and balance that would exist with separate executive and legislative branches of government.
- MPs are increasingly disciplined to vote along partisan lines, deaf to their constituents’ views.
- Voluminous omnibus financial bills have become the norm, effectively limiting detailed reviews of government expenditures – a fundamental right of a representative democracy dating back to the Magna Carta.
- Government officials, cabinet ministers, and MPs all have an increased penchant for avoiding accountability, as most recently highlighted by the ArriveCAN debacle (and also clearly evident in MPs’ probes of foreign influence, SNC-Lavalin-PMO relations, WE Charity scandal, to name a few).
- Government transparency has worsened in eight years, as the auditors’ and ethics commissioners’ offices have been underfunded, and Canada’s freedom of information system has been allowed to deteriorate to the point of collapse.
Additionally, Justin Trudeau has flagrantly abused Parliament. There was the Liberals’ pandemic powerplay in 2020 when they attempted an underhanded maneuver to usurp Parliament (recall Liberal’s Machiavellian Power Grab “Defeated”). There was a 15-month period when MPs sat for only 40 days, while the Liberals were spending historic amounts and printing an unprecedented amount of money. Remember Justin Trudeau’s daily addresses from his garden home as the shuttered Parliament remained dark? To this day, the Liberals are managing a hybrid House of Commons.
There is also the PM’s dubious work record attending to the issues of our nation, having taken 680 personal days (and counting), which amounts to a full quarter of his time since assuming office.
The Trudeau Liberals have also shaken Canadians’ inherent trust in the country’s democracy. Today, Liberals govern with a parliamentary majority based on a political alliance with the NDP, which defies the fact they formed a government with the smallest percentage of support in Canadian history.
More significantly, the Liberals have brought into question the independence of our electoral process, cagily avoiding a legitimate review of foreign influence for years. If it was not so serious, it would be farcical to review the Trudeau government’s doubtful responses to the serious allegations about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) activities in Canada: the former Trudeau Foundation CEO Morris Rosenberg Report, the Trudeau-family friend David Johnston inquiry, and now the proceedings marshalled by Marie-Josée Hogue, Trudeau Sr.’s former law partner and Jr.’s defence lawyer for his West Point Grey Academy scandal.
As detailed in this space in multiple columns, Justin Trudeau’s continuous efforts to avoid any clarity on the CCP’s undue influence in Canada essentially brings into question the country’s own self-government. It remains the elephant in the room.
But what is the endgame to the degradation of Canada’s Parliament? Manifestly, it is a post-national country which can effectively adhere to global policies and implement global programs. Trudeau is marching towards this end by stripping away the accountability within Parliament and, at the same time, centralizing power within his office to command the government’s course.
Does this sound conspiratorial? Let’s review how the Trudeau government is eroding our nation’s sovereignty by championing the global agendas of the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Economic Forum (WEF). Trudeau’s dealings with these international agencies expose an unmistakable pattern of calculated submission and strategic collaboration relating to Canada’s sovereignty. The Trudeau Liberals:
- signed the UN Global Compact for Migration in 2017 to establish Canada as a “safe, orderly and regular” destination for migrants; the UN now touts Canada as the world’s number one recipient of its organized 3rd World migration – a large percentage from the African continent
- adopted the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People with a 131-point action plan for the country to legally bind Canada to the UNs indigenous rights interpretations and rulings
- committed Canada as a lead country in developing a global central bank digital currency (CBDC) program (and the dark side of this initiative Canadians experienced when the government froze and seized bank accounts during the Freedom Convoy)
- also committed Canada to participate in a digital global ID pilot program
- are championing and actively involved in drafting the new Pandemic Treaty, which will establish the WHO as the sole authority to direct member countries during a health crisis (as well as other issues that can be declared a “health” crisis)
- are committed to the UN’s global climate change program of net-zero emissions by 2050 and to the unfolding targets and new program objectives as set out by the UN
- are committed to the WEF agenda to “build back better” as set out in its “The Great Reset” documentation
Regarding the UN’s climate change agenda, this has provided the pretext for the Trudeau government to stifle industrial and resource development in the country and impose the punitive carbon tax on Canadians, making all facets of life more expensive. The Liberals’ obsession with the UN goals, led by the Quixotical environmental zealot Steven Guilbeault, has many ironies; the most obvious is that Canadians’ efforts will go unnoticed given China, India, Russia, the U.S., and now the U.K. are not committed to the UN’s emissions targets.
Regarding the WEF’s “The Great Reset” agenda, this column does not permit the space for a suitable review of the serious implications for Canada in subscribing to the WEF objectives of “reinventing capitalism” (read the details here, here and the most recent developments here). Remarkably, Canada factors large in the WEF: its head Klaus Schwab bragged “he has penetrated” the Trudeau cabinet, and the WEF trustees include deputy PM Chrystia Freeland and, until recently, Liberal insider Mark Carney.
Every week, there is news of the Liberals unceasing drive towards implementing the global agenda in Canada. This week, Guilbeault used an international assembly in Dubai to announce the country’s commitment to new emissions targets before gaining a national consensus back home. Last week it was PM Trudeau announcing a new Canada-European Union digital ID program that will develop an international database system that will manage individuals’ personal, financial, and potentially health records.
For Canadians keeping track of the federal government’s actions, we are witnessing the undoing of the country’s democratic foundation, the realization of Justin Trudeau’s post-national vision.
This is the fourth of a six-part series that takes account of Justin Trudeau’s eight-year record pursuing his “post-national” vision for Canada.
Chris George is an advocate, government relations advisor, and writer/copy editor. As president of a public relations firm established in 1994, Chris provides discreet counsel, tactical advice and management skills to CEOs/Presidents, Boards of Directors and senior executive teams in executing public and government relations campaigns and managing issues. Prior to this PR/GR career, Chris spent seven years on Parliament Hill on staffs of Cabinet Ministers and MPs. He has served in senior campaign positions for electoral and advocacy campaigns at every level of government. Today, Chris resides in Almonte, Ontario where he and his wife manage www.cgacommunications.com. Contact Chris at chrisg.george@gmail.com.
