OP/ED: A Trudeau insults the West--so what else is new?
By Harvey Oberfeld
At least his father waited until he was in power before he gave the West the finger! But, just as I had suggested, Trudeau the Younger is so arrogant, so self-absorbed, and so dumb he has already insulted–and politically dismissed–an entire Western province, well before seeking the Liberal leadership, let alone becoming Central Canada’s prime minister.
And I suspect that if he feels the people of Alberta aren’t worth courting,or even respecting, his views of BC and Saskatchewan aren’t much different. As key Liberal strategist Keith Davie once said: “Screw the West; we’ll take the rest”.
In case you missed it, at issue now is an interview Justin Trudeau gave to Tele Quebec back in 2010 when he was not yet seeking the Liberal leadership (people are often so much more open and forthcoming when they are not seeking office).
Trudeau told what I assume he expected would be a Quebec audience, that Canada was struggling “because Albertans are controlling…the social democratic agenda”.
When the Tele-Quebec interviewer asked if he meant Canada would be better off with more Quebeckers in power than Albertans, Trudeau said “as a Liberal, of course I think so.”
Think carefully about that.
It was actually a rare, candid and open admission that federal Liberals believe power should lie with Quebec (and Ontario ..ie Central Canada), not the yokels out here.
Our role is apparently to remain in Trudeau’s view just as it has been for a hundred years: to send back East the billions they need to spend on people and projects and well-connected friends and supporters down there.
And, in my view, Trudeau the Younger’s remarks made that view very clear–and still current.
But wait! Now he’s running for the Liberal leadership! Ooops!
Trudeau now says that what he said isn’t what he meant to say, although he said it, because he was only referring to that Albertan, Stephen Harper, and his policies. Yeah, sure!
He didn’t mean to insult or dismiss all Albertans (or Westerners), although he did.
What about his other quote in that orginal interview: the Canada’s great prime ministers were all from Quebec: like his father, and Brian Mulroney, and Jean Chretien and Paul Martin?
Does that sound like someone who would give Westerners positions of power in his cabinet? Or even representation in the corridors of power or senior cabinet posts even close to Westerners’ portion of the population? Or economic power and contributions?
No.
And no apology and no spin will cover up the truth of Trudeau’s self-stated views of the Alberta and the West’s proper place in his Liberal philosophy.
Harv Oberfeld is a retired journalist and broadcaster. This column originally appeared in his blog, Keeping It Real. Reprinted with permission.
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