Right in the centre - It’s really, really hard
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- Published on Friday, August 20, 2021
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
Yes, it is really, really hard to not descend into the profane, to crawl around in the gutter in choosing words to describe where we are as a country right now. With so many good things and so much to be thankful for, why are we ruining ourselves so quickly?
Surely, compared to Afghanistan, we are very well off. Even compared to the United States, we are doing well. But, we are forcing ourselves through some turmoil and despair that we should not even consider, let alone embrace.
The 2021 election is being called to satisfy the ego and career plans of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He doesn’t need an election, he had one less than two years ago and the parliament is working as a minority parliament. The government has to get the support of an opposition party to pass legislation. They don’t need an election.
Trudeau needs an election to satisfy his needs. If he wins a majority, he will resign soon and go on to something that pays better and is less work. This prime minister is allergic to actual work, by the way. Maybe he will get on at the UN or some corporate boards, whatever. If he gets a minority, same story, he will move on. If he loses, he will move on.
The only question in voters’ minds should be: do they want another Liberal government? The answer should be a resounding, “No.”
The Liberals have dumped barrels of money into some very sketchy projects, often associated with companies like SNC Lavalin. Just about every big spending decision they have made has been associated with a benefit to SNC or Bombardier.
The Liberals have crushed the oil industry, even though it finances a large part of the economy, and is still very much needed to transition Canada to its totally electric never-never land. I say transition, as it is doubtful if Canada, with its sparse population stretched over thousands of miles, will ever be able to go totally electric for heavy transport or air travel.
The Liberals botched the COVID-19 crisis. Too late on banning travel, too late in obtaining vaccines and way too late on protecting the vulnerable. We will never know how many people died months, or years, earlier than they would have otherwise died due to neglect.
Canada does not have a national food and agricultural policy, a national transportation policy, no national housing strategy and certainly no policy to export our resources to countries that need them.
In spite of all the good things that happen in Canada, the things that make us a place where the majority of the world’s population would love to immigrate to, we fall so far short of our potential and that it is very discouraging.
We don’t take the concerns of our First Nations people seriously, never really have. We can’t even get proper water supplies located in a lot of communities and health care is almost non-existent in some areas.
Some say water and health care are too expensive, but if we matched our promises, our hopes, with our wasted money, we could do so much better than we do now.
We do very well, but when you compare our performance with our potential, we fall sadly short.
In a confederation, we expect great leadership based on integrity, honesty and hard work from our federal government. We aren’t getting it. With the track record of this government and previous Liberal governments, don’t expect it to change.
It has been hard to write this column without descending into the profane. Maybe if the government would exercise the same restraint, Canada might reach its potential.
The Conservative Party has made its share of stupid mistakes over the years, but their track record is better. It’s time to elect a conservative government to give Canada a chance at fulfilling its potential. Canada needs it and the world needs us and what we have to offer.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the Banner & Press staff.
