At the end of George Orwell’s political fable Animal Farm, Clover the weary cart-horse finds she can no longer tell the difference between her former human oppressors and her current pig masters, who once claimed to be her liberators. She “looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
Canadian voters are likely experiencing a similar sensation these days. While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strode to victory in 2015 on a promise to do things differently than his predecessor, former prime minister Stephen Harper, it has recently become impossible to say which is which—particularly when it comes to their abuses of parliamentary democracy.
Omnibus bills were once a major point of distinction between the federal Conservative and Liberal parties. During his minority years, Harper frequently threw numerous pieces of legislation into one catch-all bill and then dared the Opposition to defeat his government over it. As political gamesmanship, this tactic worked quite well. So much so that Harper continued to rely on omnibus bills even after winning a majority. Of course, lumping many disparate bits of law-making into one bill makes it impossible for Parliament to properly consider each individual piece of legislation. It also denies the public the ability to focus or speak out on items of significance to them, since so many things are going on at once. And this allows governments to avoid the necessary scrutiny that democracy demands.
Trudeau vowed to change all this. As the 2015 Liberal platform declares: “Stephen Harper has used omnibus bills to prevent Parliament from properly scrutinizing and debating his proposals. We will . . . bring an end to this undemocratic practice.” Despite such a clear and unambiguous platform promise, however, Trudeau is now making liberal use of omnibus bills himself. And for all the discreditable reasons he once threw at Harper. Mimicry, meet hypocrisy.
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See Also:
(1) No amount of amendments can fix bills C-69 and C-48
(2) Justin Trudeau made ‘huge mistake’ in damaging ‘Robin Hood’ policies on Canada economy
(3) Provincial ads target Trudeau government’s carbon tax
(4) Journalist Jacques Poitras conducts post mortem on Energy East
(5) Chief of defence staff, DND deputy minister brief federal cabinet (This should be interesting)
The short list. Just two…
Harper enacted legislation forcing aboriginals to be accountable for how they spent federal tax dollars. Trudeau eliminated that requirement almost as soon as he was elected.
Harper enacted legislation revoking citizenship of Islamic terrorists. They’d be the ones who voluntarily left Canada to join our nation’s mortal enemy and who rejoiced when their roadside IED blew our Canadian soldiers, men and women, to bits. Trudeau revoked that legislation. “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian”
Even though more than one legal expert calculated that even if successful a civil suit might end with a $250,000 settlement, Trudeau gave up without a fight. He awarded $10.M taxpayer dollars to a terrorist who besides being convicted of killing an American army medic was also captured on video manufacturing roadside IED’s. Bombs that nobody can dispute very well may have killed or horrifically maimed Canadian let alone allied soldiers.
Trudeau is not Harper.
First sunny – now dirty. Justice system became Justin system in Norman case.
Observe how Trudeau used the justice system and compare to how Obama did likewise. Two morally, ethically corrupt individuals.
As the truth comes out about the government’s persecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, a chilling suspicion emerges with it: Justin Trudeau used the legal system to punish somebody he considered a political ‘enemy.’
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/poilievre-justice-system-became-justin-system-in-norman-case