You know, I think maybe something has changed. Look at this. It’s Marco Mendicino, the minister of public safety. In eight years of Trudeau government I have never seen the mainstream media scrum a Liberal in this way, never. Just watch:
https://twitter.com/McfarlaneGlenda/status/166940511344881664
Have you ever seen that before? I mean, Mendicino is particularly goofy, he skipped a press briefing yesterday, he has been caught in so many lies, he’s become a bit of a scapegoat. But still — have you ever seen the Media Party act this way with anyone in government, in the eight years since Trudeau took office?
That’s what it’s like when literally 81% of the population thinks the government has overstayed its welcome. Oh, don’t get me wrong — every single one of those journalists is still going to vote Liberal. Of course — they’d never vote for the Conservatives, it’s a matter of taste and class and tribe. But by the same token, they’re done pretending that everything’s fine.
So what do Liberals do when they’re in trouble? Well, one thing is to talk about abortion and about how the Conservatives are going to force every woman in Canada back into the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant, or whatever.
Like this:
Later today, @ourcommons will vote on the Conservatives' latest attempt to reopen the abortion debate in Canada.@PierrePoilievre's decision to fast track this bill shows where his priorities lie. pic.twitter.com/evpYZxs6P9
— Rachel Bendayan (@RachelBendayan) June 14, 2023
But look at the new Twitter feature where ordinary people can correct lying politicians. It’s called a “community note”. So it’s a weird lie, but anything to frighten people back into voting Liberal.
That works a bit, to be sure. But the go-to for the Liberals is really to call names — far right, racist, whatever. It’s what they did to the truckers, it’s the default for Conservatives.
But usually Trudeau saves that insult for people who aren’t in the centre of power — he says it about journalists he doesn’t like, or opposition politicians he doesn’t like. He generally doesn’t say it about provincial premiers — even Danielle Smith — because he knows he has to work with them collegially; and he will want their cooperation in some matters. He doesn’t want premiers whipping up their provinces against him, politically or even in court.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t think Trudeau has shot any rhetorical cannonballs against Alberta’s Danielle Smith; in fact, I think he sort of absorbed her criticisms without replying in kind. Which is smart — because if he had attacked her, she would have immediately got an extra 5% on election day, I’m sure of it.
But look at this. Blaine Higgs is the premier of New Brunswick.
I’m going to read from the Toronto Star, but this is from a Canadian Press story that was published in many places:
Higgs is pushing changes to sexual orientation policy in schools, known as Policy 713, that would force children under 16 to get parental consent to change their names or pronouns at school.
The previous version of the three-year-old policy required teachers to get a student’s informed consent before discussing names and pronouns with their parents, and was meant to make schools inclusive and safe for LGBTQ children.
I love that language. It would “force” children to get parental consent. A child’s informed consent — that’s the thing, though; a child can’t consent to many things. That’s why children can’t get tattoos; can’t be bound by most contracts. That’s why we have statutory rape laws — you can’t have sex with a minor. That’s the source of the saying, taking candy from a baby — because children of tender years cannot consent, and if they say they do, they’re being manipulated.
That’s what’s going on — if parents are shaping their own young children, then someone else is shaping them. And whoever is telling students to keep secrets from their families is likely the manipulator.
It’s fascinating to watch the showdown. Of course the left-wing opposition is appalled by putting parents in charge of their children — they support the Communist idea that children are the property of the government.
On Thursday, eight Progressive Conservative members, including six cabinet ministers, sat out question period and other legislative business to protest the changes, which are set to come into effect July 1.
Wow.
In a statement they expressed “extreme disappointment in a lack of process and transparency” in the policy’s review.
Got it. So they want a process and transparency — but parents can’t ask for the same. And Justin Trudeau jumped in — demonizing Higgs, a sitting premier, as far-right. What laugh:
Later that evening, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at a fundraiser for the LGBTQ charity Rainbow Railroad in Toronto, saying “trans kids need to feel safe, not targeted by politicians.”
“We’re seeing that angry, hateful rhetoric rise on our continent, particularly targeting trans people,” he said.
“Far-right political actors are trying to outdo themselves with the types of cruelty and isolation they can inflict on these already vulnerable people. Right now, trans kids in New Brunswick are being told they don’t have the right to be their true selves, that they need to ask permission.”
Children cannot decide things for themselves. They are children. And teachers are legally in loco parentis — in the place of parents, they’re parents’ agents. They’re not the actual parents; they must do what the parents want them to do; that’s the contract, that’s the agreement. They are not the deciders; they are agents for the parents who are the deciders.
Oh but it’s turning into a showdown! Except it turns out that quite a few Canadians are “far right”:
Majority side with N.B. premier on gender identity: poll
57 per cent agree schools should have to tell parents about their child’s desire to change their gender or pronounsOTTAWA — A national poll suggests that 57 per cent agree that schools should have to tell parents about their child’s desire to change their gender or pronouns.
Meanwhile, less than a fifth — 18 per cent — feel schools shouldn’t tell parents.
So even most Liberals, most progressives, think it’s really creepy to keep sexual matters a secret from young kids parents. Trudeau is on the wrong side of that. No wonder he’s so sensitive to questions about why he left a Vancouver school suddenly, mid-semester, so many years ago. Yeah, the media hated that — and they never asked why Trudeau did leave school early that year as a teacher.
Higgs doesn’t seem to be backing down, which is a miracle, and I wonder how long it will hold out:
Susan Holt & Justin Trudeau don’t believe parents need be involved in such critical discussions as gender identity, even in children as young as 4.
— Blaine Higgs (@premierbhiggs) June 11, 2023
In New Brunswick, we’ll have a safe learning environment & better mental health supports, while still respecting the parent’s role. pic.twitter.com/uaLlitqmOi
Wow. And the media is furious with him:
N.B. premier ‘doubling down’ on LGBTQ2 policy changes in Trudeau social media attack
And the CBC can’t believe it! He can’t actually mean it! Who wrote that tweet?
Derek Robinson worked on 2019 campaign to unseat Prairie Liberals, citing threat of western separatism
Yeah. If you support New Brunswick parents, you are a western separatist. Desperate, much?
But here’s what’s interesting. There are lots of skirmishes going on in the legislatures — I think they were voting on various amendments even today. But would the Liberals — and Liberal-minded PCs — actually vote non-confidence on it? Would you actually want to run an election in N.B., a fairly conservative place, socially speaking, on having gender extremism at school without even a heads-up to parents?
Well, the media and the Liberals are a bit nervous:
PC rebels, Liberal opposition seem unsure how to push Higgs on Policy 713
Ministers who broke ranks won’t force the issue, Holt uncertain if non-confidence vote would have any effect
I really like this story:
The uprising against Premier Blaine Higgs last week over Policy 713 was a very New Brunswick rebellion. There was that remarkable expression of "extreme disappointment" by eight Progressive Conservative MLAs — including six cabinet ministers — who refused to take their seats Thursday morning.
But there was no firm, sustained pressure to force the premier to back down or quit.
The opposition Liberals, meanwhile, seemed unsure how to leverage the turmoil to inflict maximum damage on Higgs or compel him to reverse course.
It's probably a symptom of decades of top-down, leader-driven, party-line governance that elected members of the legislature are so uncertain of the powers they have and the best way to use them.
"Obviously, it was certainly breaking the conventions of the British parliamentary system," Higgs said last week in Question Period of the statement by six ministers and two backbench MLAs.
Ministers Dorothy Shephard, Trevor Holder, Daniel Allain, Arlene Dunn, Jeff Carr, Jill Green, and backbenchers Ross Wetmore and Andrea Anderson-Mason said in a statement last Thursday morning they refrained from participating in routine business and question period as a way to express their 'extreme disappointment in a lack of process and transparency.'
The premier was right: normally, ministers who disagree with a government policy resign.
But the six ministers breaking ranks last week identified themselves as members of caucus — trying to distinguish between their cabinet jobs and their roles as ordinary MLAs, who have more leeway to disagree.
Yeah. I mean, of course they don’t want to quit as cabinet minister. They like the money and the power. And if they quit, it’s likely they’d trigger an election.
Do you really think any place in this country would vote in a general election, where this was the central issue, would vote or the kind of extremism we’ve seen — and by that, I mean the sexual extremism, targeting children, that has exploded into the public square in the past few years.
I really wish they would quit, and force an election. Let’s put it to the people. In a public campaign. Let's have Justin Trudeau come to campaign in New Brunswick. Let’s have the parties say their views, clearly. And let’s vote.
Or — maybe — Higgs isn’t far right. Maybe it’s just… right. And Trudeau knows it.
GUEST: Andy Lee, Rebel's China affairs reporter joins the show to talk on the suspicious connections behind Toronto mayoral candidate, Gong Xiao Hua.
