EDITORIAL: PM is not a Marxist but he is something else

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We wouldn’t go as far as Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre did in calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his father “Marxists” while door-knocking with Conservative candidate Jamil Jivani for the upcoming Durham byelection.

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But the amount of pearl-clutching going on about it is silly.

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Poilievre made the comment while talking to a woman who told him that in her view, Pierre Trudeau “started putting this country down” and Justin Trudeau, “is going to put the nail in the coffin”, to which Poilievre responded, “not if we can help it … they’re both Marxists.”

To be clear, that’s inaccurate.

But it’s true Pierre Trudeau had an affinity for communism and communist dictators that he passed down to his son.

While Liberal leader in 2013, prior to becoming PM, Justin Trudeau declared he admired China’s “basic dictatorship” after he was asked at a Liberal fundraiser, “Besides Canada, which nation’s administration do you most admire, and why?”

Trudeau’s flippant reply — in a response criticized by Canadians of Chinese origin who had suffered under Beijing’s communist dictators — was that China could invest in solar energy faster than other nations, presumably democracies.

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In 2016, Trudeau’s official statement on the death of Fidel Castro was widely mocked for its over-the-top praise of Cuba’s communist dictator.

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“While a controversial figure”, Trudeau said, “both Mr. Castro’s supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for ‘el Comandante.’”

Trudeau added it was “with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cuba’s longest serving President” describing him as a “legendary revolutionary and orator” whom his father was “very proud to call … a friend.”

Unsurprisingly, given such views, Trudeau’s cabinet ministers praised China, before and after it jailed innocent Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in retaliation for Canada honouring its extradition treaty with the U.S. in the Meng Wanzhou affair.

Trudeau also thought it would be a good idea to partner with China to produce a COVID-19 vaccine for Canadians, which fell apart not because of Canada, but Beijing.

Today, Trudeau keeps ragging the puck on holding a public inquiry into foreign interference by China in the last two federal elections which he doesn’t want.