Michael Higgins: How can Canadians trust Trudeau and Joly when they don’t trust you?
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Nobody said governing was easy, but nobody told Canadians it would be this indecisive and shady
Published Jan 24, 2024 • Last updated 21 minutes ago • 4 minute read
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly claim to know Canadians, but what they don’t do is trust the very people they serve.
In the last two days, neither Trudeau nor Joly when asked about a specific issue or a matter of vitally important policy would give an honest answer.
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They both think that expressing faux sympathy with Canadians is a better alternative.
On Tuesday, during a press conference in Montreal, Trudeau was asked once again, because the issue refuses to go away, about his Jamaican vacation over Christmas. This is when he stayed at a luxury resort which would have cost $84,000 had he paid for it.
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Here lies one of the major problems. Originally, the Prime Minister’s Office said the Trudeau family was paying for the vacation. When questions were asked, the PMO contradicted itself and said the family was staying at “no cost.”
Now, Trudeau says he was staying with friends.
For a prime minister who has run afoul of ethical concerns before in relation to his vacations, it is incumbent upon him to be as clear as possible.
When asked about the vacation Tuesday, his reply was: “As many Canadians did, I stayed with friends over the holidays.”
A follow up question received the exact same reply. Which was the exact same answer he gave last week.
No clarification, no new information and no trusting Canadians.
As has been said before: it’s not that the prime minister doesn’t deserve a vacation, that he has rich friends, or stays at posh resorts. It’s that Canadians should expect from their prime minister an explanation that clarifies conflicting information about who paid or didn’t.
Plus, to continue with Trudeau’s Christmas theme, Canadians may wonder: if he got an $84,000 “gift” from a friend, what did he give in return?
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And yet as Trudeau shrugs off Canadian concerns with vague answers, he pretends to empathize with them in these “tough times,” a phrase he used very often in the press conference, as well as in these “challenging times,” a phrase he used quite often. And twice he sympathized with people who were being “squeezed” between paying for rent or groceries.
Still, at least the government is “rolling up” its sleeve this time. Only a month ago, Trudeau complimented Canadians who were facing “tough times” but were “doing what we always do as Canadians: we roll up our sleeves.” Days later, he was able to take off the whole shirt because he was at the luxury resort.
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And this attitude, combining repetitive obfuscation with pained expressions of empathy, is infectious.
Joly on Monday was asked about her statement on the South African case before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.
This is the statement that is so oblique it has been interpreted in different ways by different people. Before Monday, Joly had been urged to clarify that statement. Did Canada support South Africa or Israel in this case?
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When asked to clarify on Monday, Joly said, “My statement is my statement.”
There is a fine line between political rhetoric and total BS, but Joly appears clear on which side she stands.
Like Trudeau, Joly doesn’t trust Canadians enough to give them an honest answer, in this case on a matter of important policy that people have every right to know where their government stands.
So, her statement being her statement, Canadians are left with a vague, ambiguous, deliberately nebulous policy because the government is too frightened to craft a tough, honest and forthright response.
Nobody said governing was easy, but nobody told Canadians it would be this indecisive and shady.
After her “clarification” Joly put on her warm and fuzzy mode: what is happening in the Middle East is “heartbreaking”, she said. The tensions, the violence, the antisemitism in Canada is “heart wrenching,” she added.
Then the zinger in the form of lecture. “My point is we need to be able to talk to one another, we need to be able to listen to one another. At the end of the day, we need to be able to trust one another.”
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But Trudeau and Joly aren’t talking to Canadians. How is repeatedly saying “I stayed with friends” or “my statement is my statement” talking to people? You are not really talking to people if you are not sharing information or being honest about your intentions.
How about listening? Has Joly listened to any of the people that have called on her to issue a clear policy about where Canada stands on the South Africa case? No, she hasn’t.
And when Joly calls for trust how is that not beyond parody? Trudeau obviously does not trust Canadians with a definite, unequivocal explanation about his vacation. And Joly, with her “my statement is my statement” is just pouring scorn on people.
It’s all just a sham. Joly and Trudeau say they understand what Canadians are going through. But do you trust them?
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