California Governor Gavin Newsom may not be the only one dealing with increasing pit stains on the campaign trail. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not exactly been feeling the love of voters on at least two whistle stops around the country. Hecklers have been showing up at his events. The voters have apparently had two words for Trudeau. And they are not “Let’s dance,” “Merry Christmas,” or “Happy birthday.”
The PM caught some heat in British Columbia this week and took a little punishment in Ontario on Friday. You can view a whole series of videos of the receptions he has received here, here, and here. Be advised that while the content is amusing and definitely worth a watch, it is NSFW and probably not appropriate for younger ears. But by all means, enjoy.
The voters’ ire is understandable. As PJ Media’s Kevin Downey Jr. reported, Trudeau called a halt to Canada’s evacuations from Afghanistan, saying that his government may work with the Taliban to extract as many remaining Canadian citizens as possible. And then there is his move for snap elections on September 20 to maintain his grip on power. Canada’s draconian approach to COVID-19 prevention has not sat well with everyone, and on Friday in Ontario, Trudeau announced that he intended to spend $1 billion on vaccine passports. Ostensibly, the funding is to help provinces that are concerned about the cost of implementation. In his statement, Trudeau said in part: “Vaccines are the best way for Canadians to beat this virus, grow the economy, and keep everyone, including our kids, safe and healthy….That’s why we’re ensuring anyone traveling on a plane or a train must be vaccinated — but Erin O’Toole won’t listen to the experts on this issue. He can’t even convince his own candidates to get vaccinated. We need leadership to get us through this crisis and get the job done on vaccines. The Liberals are the only ones who can deliver that.” O’Toole’s Conservative Party currently has a lead in the polls over Trudeau and his Liberals.
For further proof that the Canadian Emperor may be in need of a decent tailor: During the Friday stump session in Ontario, the number of people in the room was allegedly at least over 30. Ontario’s rule for indoor gatherings limits the number of participants to 25. Yes, you read that right. Trudeau’s announcement that he would fund limiting activity due to COVID-19 was made in a gathering that may have exceeded the province’s COVID-19 regulations.
Christopher Nardi, a journalist who covers the Canadian Parliament, was on hand and tweeted his observations. Among those observations, Nardi noted that a reporter asked Trudeau twice about the potential violation. Trudeau gave a non-answer worthy of Jen Psaki:
“Canadians are facing a really important choice right now. Cutting over the past number of months, Canadians saw what kind of big decisions, big choices, their government had to make to keep people safe, to make sure we got through this pandemic better than most other countries around the world. And our ability to do that and to continue to do that is what’s at stake here in this election. The Conservatives have made it very clear they might even be going to tell their candidates to get vaccinated.…That’s not how we get through this pandemic. So we’re going to continue to remind Canadians of the big decisions about our future. They’re being made now and in the coming months, by your government. And that’s where Canadians get to weigh in, because these decisions aren’t getting made a year from now or two years from now, they’re going to be made right now.”
It’s enough to make you wonder if Trudeau will be joining Newsom for a quick nosh at French Laundry sometime soon.
Canadians are stereotypically known as polite. It seems that politeness may be taking a backseat to pragmatism. One wonders at what point the American population at large, which is not known for being polite as much as being self-indulgent and compliant, will decide it has had enough as well.
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