Politics of Hope and Reality
TORONTO – Almost suddenly, tariffs have been shoved to the sidelines. Thanks to Donald Trump, the urgency of the imminent threat has been “deferred to a later date”… maybe April 1st; what irony. Federal Ministers anxious to appear relevant to the incoming “boss” have been busy trying to tell the country they are still in charge and that they are custodians for what matters to Canadians.
For readers who still care, that would include coming to the defense of Bill 21 in Quebec, the protection (via inaction) of tariff and non-tariff barriers to inter-provincial trade and, via Court action, the defense of religious freedoms (non Catholic) and the concept of “denominational rights” guaranteed in our Constitution against the secularization decrees of the Quebec government. It is all noise. Seems that the slumber of the last ten years needs justification so that it can continue.
The federal Parliament has become an empty shell since the PM decided to ask the Governor General to prorogue/dismiss Parliament (she acquiesced). A Federal Court will listen to arguments to declare [the charade] illegal on February 12-13. What happens then? Nothing goo, I bet.
Contemporaneously, the PM’s Party has just declared illegal/invalid the candidacy of one Chandra Arya. He is a duly elected Member of Parliament. He is eligible to seek elected office, take his seat in the House of Commons but cannot aspire to leadership positions… because he apparently is not from the correct South Asian community, not bilingual and gender indifferent. Only in Canada, you ask?
The “decision-makers” appear to be deferring to the absentee PM who has dangled the carrot of three Senate vacancies he is about to fill, any decision on the federal Court February 12-13 hearings not-withstanding.
So, who speaks for Canada (the Ontario variety)? Judging by the blizzard of notices coming from the Legislature at Queen’s Park since Thursday (Jan 23) of last week, that would be the government headed by Premier Doug Ford. He has not yet asked for a prorogation of the Legislature (it will happen as you read this), so HE is still completely in charge. Armed with a sizeable majority, he says he needs support of the electorate to sustain his leverage against any external threat – especially USA-based one.
On January 27 alone, the day after his Party’s super caucus retreat, there were no less than twelve announcements involving at least fifteen Ministers and multiple billions of dollars in expenditures allocated to defend and improve the quality of life and needs of the province’s residents. Health, Education and Transportation files would be the primary but not exclusive beneficiaries.
These followed up on the pre-caucus “flurry of press releases” involving at least eight (by my cursory tally) and an $800 million investment announcement by a Pharmaceutical company.
If there is any in-fighting, the Premier seems to have his troops and agenda firmly under control.
In the pic above, MP Chandra Arya welcomes young newcomers from China and Ukraine who are participating in the Youth Leadership Project organized by the Ottawa Chinese Community Services Centre: the photo was posted in December on the MP’s Twitter X profile (@AryaCanada)