For as bad as Justin was - and he was bad - he was merely a symptom of a much larger problem.
The problem being that decades of cultural Marxism (yes, it is true, it happened, stop denying it) and imposed stagnation and weakness, created a culture of dependence on the government and contempt for a successful and more powerful neighbour.
Canada did not spring up and become even a middling power, technologically advanced, financially stable, politically respected. It became weak, deliberately resentful of more successful entities (oh, hi, America), a swamp for successful citizens and a crash-pad for those who saw Canada's lax policies as an invitation to sponge off of the country's largesse.
Canadians saw in Justin a Peter Pan whose financial acumen resembled their own: short on foresight, naive, wasteful.
Gone were the innovators, the tradesmen, the intelligentsia who knew that Justin would be the worst thing that could happen to Canada.
They were right.
Today, the cost of living has risen and the standard of living is low.
We are meant to be proud of a country that was called "post-national" by a moron who couldn't coin a phrase for how his manufactured prop family handles its own trash. But this is only in relation to the Americans, mind, a group of people on whom we base our flimsy identities.
How do we send conscripted men to fight in Ukraine with little materiel and no national purpose?
Vanity war, anyone?
There are so many other scribes who ably recount how bad the Trudeau government (and its dreadful length) was so I will simply leave a few quips here:
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to leave office, the best way to assess his political legacy is to judge the expectations he set for himself when he won his first election in 2015.
By that standard, he has clearly failed to deliver what he promised.
Here’s what he told Canadians in a campaign video from that time about what his years in office would be like.
With Parliament Hill in the background he said:
“This place belongs to all Canadians. It belongs to you. But after a decade in power, Stephen Harper thinks it belongs to him. So now, this place is broken. Today, I’m presenting a real plan to fix it …
“I know Harper and his government are the problem and the way to fix this place is to change the government … Replace this government with a better one. That’s what real change starts with.
“Our plan creates a truly transparent and open government that will put an end to the secrecy and scandals of the Harper decade …
“Our plan will modernize government and bring it into the 21st century. We’ll open this place up so you can see what’s going on, hold us accountable, and contribute more directly to what happens here.
“We’ll shift power away from the back rooms, to make sure your MP will be your voice here in Ottawa instead of Harper’s voice in your community …
“But most of all, real change means we’ll give our Parliament, our government and our democracy back to you.”
A decade later, what Trudeau criticized Harper for is part of his own legacy – scandals, secrecy and excessive power centralized in the the Prime Minister’s Office.
An emotional Trudeau elaborated on what he hopes Canadians will think of him in the years ahead at an announcement last week that the government is working on an expansion of his $10-a-day child care program with the provinces, during which he appeared near tears.
“On a personal level, I’ve made sure that every single day in this office I put Canadians first, that I have people’s backs,” he said.
“And that’s why I’m here to tell you all that we got you. Even in the last days of this government, we will not let Canadians down, today and long into the future.”
But that’s not the assessment of ordinary Canadians, according to an Angus Reid survey released last week of 1,850 adults taken from March 4-6.
It found while 63% believe Trudeau tried to tackle the country’s biggest problems and 30% said he made progress on them, 70% said he either tried to solve these problems but failed (33%), didn’t address them at all (15%) or made them worse (22%).
(Sidebar: when did he allegedly tackle these problems? Give me a timeline. I know that he has had nine years to actually show up for work.)
“Trudeau’s legacy is … more negative than positive in most regions of the country – aside from Atlantic Canada,” the survey said, “though many in each region also feel he will be viewed as average.” ...
But most Canadians described as failures Trudeau’s rapid increase of immigration levels (64%), response to inflation (55%) and introduction of the carbon tax (53%).
“After nearly a decade of governance by the Trudeau Liberals … initial optimism has given way to more criticism than applause,” the survey concluded.
“Majorities of Canadians believe the Trudeau era has had a negative impact on Canadians’ trust in the federal government (63%) and housing affordability (61%).”
Were Canadians even paying attention?
Smart money says no.
Look no farther than one's monthly expenses.
**
The Justin Trudeau era is ending, after nine-and-a-half years as prime minister. His exit coincides with the onset of a trade crisis with the United States. Trudeau leaves behind a stagnant Canadian economy crippled by dwindling productivity, a long stretch of weak business investment, and waning global competitiveness. These are problems Trudeau chose to ignore throughout his tenure. His successors will not have that luxury.
It‘s no exaggeration to describe the Trudeau years as almost a “lost decade” for Canadian prosperity. Measured on a per–person basis, national income today is barely higher than it was in 2015, after stripping out the effects of inflation. On this core metric of citizen well-being, Canada has one of the worst records among all advanced economies. We have fallen far behind the U.S., where average real income has grown by 15% over the same period, and most of Europe and Japan, where growth has been in the range of 5-6%.
Meanwhile, Ottawa’s debt has doubled on Trudeau’s watch, and both federal government spending and the size of the public service have ballooned, even as service levels have generally deteriorated. Housing in Canada has never been more expensive relative to average household incomes, and health care has never been harder to access. The statistics on crime point to a decline in public safety in the last decade.
Reviving prosperity will be the most critical task facing Trudeau’s successor. It won’t be easy, due in part to a brewing trade war with the U.S. and the retreat from open markets and free trade in much of the world. But a difficult external environment is no reason for Canada to avoid tackling the domestic impediments that discourage economic growth, business innovation and entrepreneurial wealth creation.
In a recent study, a group of economists and policy advisors outlined an agenda for renewed Canadian prosperity. Several of their main recommendations are briefly summarized below.
Return to the balanced budget policies embraced by the Chretien/Martin and Harper governments from 1995 to 2015. Absent a recession, the federal government should not run deficits. And the next government should eliminate ineffective spending programs and poor–performing federally-funded agencies.
(Sidebar: DOGE!)
Reform and reduce both personal and business income taxes. Canada’s overall income tax system is increasingly out of line with global best practise and has become a major barrier to attracting private–sector investment, top talent and world-class companies. A significant overhaul of the country’s tax policies is urgently needed. ...
Finally, take a knife to interprovincial barriers to trade, investment and labour mobility. These long-standing internal restrictions on commerce increase prices for consumers, inhibit the growth of Canadian-based companies, and result in tens of billions of dollars in lost economic output. The next federal government should lead a national effort to strengthen the Canadian “common market” by eliminating such barriers.
In short, undo nearly ten years of ruin.
Good luck with that.
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