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Trudeau’s views about transparency: His beloved middle class just isn’t as important as he pretends it is

Justin Trudeau’s disdain for his beloved middle class



Federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has come under fire for maintaining his wish for transparency while at the same time, indicating a future Liberal government would repeal the First Nations Financial Transparency Act that became law at the end of July.
Under the new legislation, Indian bands must post the audited statements of their previous fiscal year online, including the salaries of chiefs and other band member executives. Trudeau doesn’t like this although he maintains his desire for more transparency in government. The fact that Trudeau Junior doesn’t make sense is not really the issue. He’s the guy who previously said that governments need not worry about balancing their budgets because “budgets balance themselves.” Economists and governments around the world are waiting with baited breath for Trudeau lite to explain exactly how that works. Trudeau is also the guy who was interviewed by CBC’s Peter Mansbridge a couple of hours after the Boston Marathon bombing. Mansbridge asked him about that, even providing a strong hint Trudeau could avoid answering the question because nothing at that point about who did it or why the bombing occurred. The lightweight didn’t take the hint and answered the person or persons who perpetrated the bombings did so because they felt “excluded.” But then Trudeau doesn’t see anything wrong with visiting a Wahhabi mosque in Montreal. Although his defense of his trip to the al Qaeda-related mosque predated information about it released by the U.S. State Department, the mosque and its relationship to terrorism had been written about by the Canadian media long before the State Department report.

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Trudeau’s reasons for legalizing marijuana also makes no sense. While there are valid arguments for legalizing or decriminalizing the possession of a small amount of marijuana, once again his reasoning lacks common basic sense. He wants to decriminalize weed so it can be taxed just like cigarettes are, organized crime will be driven out of marijuana trafficking and it will be better kept out of the hands of children. Has the man child never heard of black market cigarettes? Tax and spend liberals love to raise so called “sin taxes” because it is not as unpopular as raising other forms of taxes. As a result of the high taxes, it has been estimated more Canadians consume illegal cigarettes than legal ones. The same will happen with legalized weed that will see organized crime sell undoubtedly better quality marijuana for less money so consumers can avoid the high taxes. And they won’t ask purchasers for proof of age. So Trudeau’s inconsistency between being in favour of transparency while scrapping the legislation making First Nations accountable and transparent is nothing unusual for the Liberals wonder boy. It’s the way he thinks. After the law came into place, Canadians learned Ron Giesbrecht, chief of the Kwitwetlam First Nations, earned $1 million last year. The bulk of this money, $800,000, came from British Columbia for Giesbrecht’s role as his bands economic development officer. Speaking in Vancouver last weekend, the boy leader made a statement about aboriginal accountability that only he could make. While he was in favour of Giesbrecht’s income being made public, he’s against the new legislation that required it and will scrap the law if his party comes into power in 2015. The Liberal Party line, expressed by Trudeau and his trained seal, Aboriginal Affairs critic Carolyn Bennett, is the legislation has to be scrapped because Harper and the Tories were heavy-handed when bringing it in. They didn’t “consult” with First Nations before bringing in the First Nations Financial Transparency Act. Bad, Steve, bad Steve! And of course the left wing media chimed right following the Liberal Party talking points. They focused on how awful the Conservatives were in ensuring Canadians in general and band members in particular, where monies targeted to reserves were going. But the issue of transparency is unlike the other nonsensical statements Trudeau has made over the years. In this statement he shows utter contempt for ordinary Canadians, the middle class he has championed since becoming leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. The kid, who was brought up with family money his grandfather made and his father would never have thought of spending, was criticized for never having been a part of the middle class and therefore not qualified to represent them. This was unfair because you don’t have to be a woman, a child, a poor person to be able to effectively represent the interests of people who fall within these categories. Trudeau understands the middle class; he just doesn’t care about them. While he says he’s in favour of transparency, such transparency doesn’t trump consultation. But if more consultations were to be held, it wouldn’t be with ordinary band members or ordinary Canadians but with chiefs such as Giesbrecht whose income dwarfs that of the prime minister. Many reserves in Canada are exactly like third world countries. People live in abject poverty while monies provided by the federal government goes to chiefs and council members. Ordinary band members would never be consulted about whether they think they have the right to know the salaries of those who are running their reserves. Many members of Kwitwetlam First Nations are calling for Giesbrecht’s resignation after his income was revealed. These ordinary members are the ones who are adversely affected by funds going to chiefs and council members. But Trudeau would scrap the law. Ordinary Canadians, the ones whose taxes go to pay these ridiculous salaries, also have a right to know where their money is going. But politics trumps the rights of middle class Canadians. Trudeau’s views about transparency was far from the usual nonsensical and entertaining statements he has come out with in the past. His beloved middle class just isn’t as important as he pretends it is.


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Arthur Weinreb -- Bio and Archives

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. Arthur’s latest book, Ford Nation: Why hundreds of thousands of Torontonians supported their conservative crack-smoking mayor is available at Amazon. Racism and the Death of Trayvon Martin is also available at Smashwords. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com,  Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.

Older articles (2007) by Arthur Weinreb


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