3 days Ago By Jerry Agar
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is tanking in the polls in part because he is an ineffective leader. The Sun carried a piece by Bryan Passifiume headlined, “ FREQUENT FLYER: Trudeau flies 92,000 kilometres in just three months .” Wait! Isn’t he the guy lecturing us about carbon emissions and hitting us with a massive carbon tax? Isn’t he the one promising (threatening?) to grow that tax exponentially if he remains in power? Wasn’t it Trudeau’s Health Minister Mark Holland who told us not to take summer road trips? Yes, it was.
Holland said, “What is the cost? It is to give up the future of the planet! Kids do not have to worry about climate change. They do not have to worry about taking action on the planet. They can enjoy their 10 hours in the car and let the planet burn.
” So far in 2024, the PM has logged 181,950 kilometres. To be fair, a prime minister has to go places. But none of us has to go as many places as we used to when meeting with people.
Can someone get the PM a Zoom account? All the cool prime ministers have one. And about those summer road trips. Trudeau took a July 21 flight from Ottawa to Tofino, B.
C., for his summer vacation. We know he loves Tofino.
I hear it is terrific. Maybe some day I will walk from Toronto to Tofino to save the planet and see a whale. But what happened to the concept of leading by example? Imagine how our Canadian hearts would swell with patriotic pride if the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement telling us, “We all know how Mr.
Trudeau loves Tofino, B.C., but this year, due to carbon concerns when a jet flies across this great country, the Trudeaus will be spending their summer vacation on a walking tour of Ottawa’s fine parks and museums.
” I would personally frame a photo of him hand-in-hand with the family in a park. OK, you can find such a photo online already, but an update is due. How about one of him on a Slip ‘N Slide out behind Rideau Cottage? That would project not only carbon concern, but the youthfulness he tries to project.
He could have organized one of the Liberals’ retreats this year by Googling “meeting places Ottawa.” Polls show the Liberals behind Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives by 42% to 24% of the vote. Those numbers have stayed stubbornly the same for more than a year now.
And what is Poilievre’s main message? “Axe the tax.” The Conservatives are aggressively seeking an “axe the tax election.” They are sure Trudeau can’t win that one.
Conservatives point out that the carbon tax adds to the cost of everything. Lowering prices sells. The Liberals assert that carbon’s damage to the planet is the existential threat of our lifetimes.
But hypocrisy is a loser. Last week, exasperated by the NDP’s step back from its support agreement, Trudeau said, “I know there’s a lot of people really disappointed with the NDP playing simple politics, walking away from progressive values, walking away from the fight against climate change and totally caving to the political pressure from Pierre Poilievre.” In 2014, Trudeau captured hearts and votes with good looks and charm.
A decade later, some leadership would be nice..
