Check It Out: We lived to see the day Trudeau promised to resign

By Joan Janzen

There’s a tall tale about a Canadian senior citizen who encountered a Genie who told him he would grant him one wish. The Canadian senior told the Genie he wanted to live forever, but the Genie told him he wasn’t allowed to grant wishes like that.

The senior citizen thought of an alternative and told the Genie he wanted to live to see Prime Minister Trudeau resign. The Genie looked at the Canadian and said, “Oh, you’re crafty.”

Yes, even though we thought it would never happen, we’ve lived to see Trudeau promise to resign, but the granted wish comes with strings attached. He will continue as interim leader, and Parliament will pause for three months while the Liberals pick a new leader and avoid having an election. And since the Liberal leadership election must be at least 117 days long, a new leader will probably not be chosen before Parliament resumes, so Trudeau will be around for a while.

However, there is some good news resulting from his big announcement. Bill C63 (the censorship Bill), and Bill C65, which would have moved the election date back a week so 80 additional MPs would get pensions, are now stopped. It’s a huge win!

Meanwhile, taxes and the cost of living will rise because a week after Parliament resumes, the carbon tax will increase once again. Crime continues to grow, along with wasteful government spending and crippling debt.

According to a study by the Fraser Institute, Canada’s debt is worse than the government claims because it counts the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan as assets in its budget. The two pensions account for $716.7 billion and should not be counted as assets because they can’t be used to pay off debt.

A few days before the announcement, many Canadians listened to Pierre Poilievre being interviewed on Jordan Peterson’s podcast, and Liberals quickly voiced their disapproval. Rachel Gilmore, a former Global News journalist, said the interview should send “alarm bells” to Canadians. However, most Canadians are hearing alarm bells from much more pressing matters than listening to a leader provide articulate responses.

Peterson asked his guest how he would handle various challenges if he were Prime Minister, mainly negotiations with the new US president. Poilievre observed the new president likes to negotiate and win but doesn’t seem to have a problem if his counterparty also wins. “I think we can make a great deal that makes both countries safer, richer, stronger, and that’s my goal,” he said

Then, he proceeded to explain the core issue. Refusing Germany and Japan when they came asking for increased natural gas resulted in Canada maintaining low-cost contracts with the US. He continued to explain that we export to the US at an enormous discount because bureaucrats have refused to give Canada a way to refine and transport our own energy to world markets. Therefore, we sell it cheaper to America, who then upgrade it and resell it at an enormous profit.

Likewise, we export natural gas to the US at a massive discount because we don’t have an operating liquefaction terminal. They, in turn liquefy it and ship it off to world markets. Therefore, we need refineries, LG plants, and pipelines approved in order to become energy independent.

“Because we blocked plants, pipelines and energy infrastructure we’re throwing money out a window. It’s a pathetic story, and it’s our fault, not the Americans’ fault,” he said.

However, he also proposed a solution: “I would encourage him to approve the Keystone pipeline and create jobs for American workers who want to build and install it. This would also create more wealth for Alberta and Saskatchewan, have their product reach Tidewater in the US Golf coast, and get world prices up, so there’s enormous opportunities for both of us to get vastly richer and deepen our trade relationship.”

So here we are, with no sitting parliament until the end of March, and the opposition parties blocked from having a no-confidence vote. The proposed candidates for the Liberal party all endorsed everything Trudeau proposed, so there won’t be a significant change on that front. If they manage to hang on to power until summer, an election will be held in October as originally scheduled.

Meanwhile, Peterson asked Poilievre why Canadians should believe his intentions are sincere. Poilievre’s answer was that he’s been speaking for years about reducing the size of government, firing costly government consultants, and slashing foreign aid and corporate welfare.

But a change in government won’t be a genie in a bottle wish come true. Poilievre told Peterson, “Canadians can’t assume that all the problems are going to reverse instantaneously. People who want the changes will have to stay politically active to push them through.”

He said it’s going to be a big fight because there are so many vested interests that will try to hold them back when it comes to promises such as scrapping the carbon tax, defunding the CBC, and cancelling the firearm seizure.

Participation involves both Canadians and government leaders. We need government leaders who will actually listen and take into consideration what Canadians have to say. Meanwhile corporations and energy companies need to be willing to silence inefficient lobbyists, and Canadians need to keep putting pressure on the Senate to make wise decisions on their behalf.