It would be ironic if Premier Jason Kenney’s baseless claim a week ago that Ottawa’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers had led to empty shelves in Alberta grocery stores ended up causing real shortages.
Mr. Kenney’s tweets of photos of empty grocery shelves and his tendentious assertions that “with a quarantine rule for unvaccinated truckers, Ottawa is making a bad situation much worse,” were obviously intended to undermine Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal federal government – which appears to be the premier’s principal policy goal these days.
Whether the tweets did Mr. Trudeau any harm is an open question. But they certainly emboldened the far-right organizers of the protest convoy to Ottawa that dominated the news over the weekend. As blogger Susan Wright argued last night, Mr. Kenney was in effect telling the unvaccinated truck protesters and vaccine holdouts generally that his United Conservative Government has their back.
This may have contributed to the federal Conservative Party getting caught on camera handing out coffees to protesters who clearly had a bigger and uglier agenda than just resisting COVID-19 vaccinations. A number of Conservative Members of Parliament will rue the day they ventured up to Parliament Hill to mingle with that crowd.
But it also seems to have inspired the copycat convoy in southern Alberta that is now blocking the high-traffic U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Coutts, Alberta, and Sweet Grass, Montana.
If this situation is not dealt with swiftly by police – who so far are handling the blockaders with kid gloves – it could lead to actual shortages for which Albertans will have no one to blame but their premier himself.
While this was all shaking out, of course, Mr. Kenney had already bugged off to Washington D.C. to hobnob with the participants in a convention of state governors. Maybe that was why it took him so long to issue a strangely hesitant statement yesterday afternoon condemning the Coutts blockade.
Inconvenienced motorists and local politicians had been screaming about the situation for almost a full day before Mr. Kenney came down from Olympus in Washington to weigh in on the situation, tweeting almost hesitantly, “if participants in this convoy cross the line and break the law, I expect police to take appropriate action.” Arguably, they are breaking the law now.
This from the tough-guy politician who brought in the draconian and probably unconstitutional Critical Infrastructure Defence Act as his government’s first bill to crack down on civil disobedience, including rail blockades, after protests against the Coastal GasLink Pipeline through Wet’suwet’en First Nation territory in B.C. To hear Conservative politicians in 2020, you would have thought the blockades threatened to bring Canada’s economy to its knees.
“The current blockade of Highway 4 at the Coutts border crossing violates the Alberta Traffic Safety Act,” Mr. Kenney said meekly. “It is causing significant inconvenience for lawful motorists, and could dangerously impede the movement of emergency service vehicles. This blockade must end immediately.”
He went on: “Operational enforcement decisions are the responsibility of police services, and enforcement at the border crossing itself is in part a federal responsibility. Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act gives police and prosecutors additional penalties to levy as a tool to address blockades and other infrastructure when and where they deem appropriate.” In other words, don’t look at me!
For their part, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police tweeted they “continue to act to preserve the peace and maintain public safety at the #Coutts border crossing. Extensive efforts have been taken to engage with all stakeholders in the hopes that a peaceful resolution can be reached.” (Emphasis added. In hopes? In other words, no camo-clad RCMP stormtroopers with assault rifles, dogs and snipers as on Wet’suwet’en territory.)
Two hours later, though, Mr. Kenney found time to publish a photo of himself standing somewhat adjacent to Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, a Republican of course. “I have raised with him our concern about the Coutts border crossing blockade,” the premier said – oddly, since the blockade is entirely on the Alberta side of the 49th Parallel.
Well, as Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips, who served as environment minister in Opposition Leader Rachel Notley’s NDP government, tweeted in response to Mr. Kenney’s claim he was talking to the governors about supply chains, energy security and trade, “pretty tough to have any of those things with one of your own MLAs blockading the border.”
This was a reference to Cardston-Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter, who showed up with his grandchildren at the blockade on Saturday to, he boasted on Facebook, “show them the importance of standing up for freedom and liberty.”
Glen Motz, Conservative Party of Canada MP for Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner and a former police officer, also tweeted his support for the highway blockade.
By contrast, Ms. Notley said “the Alberta NDP unequivocally condemns the blockade of the border near Coutts as well as the many examples of hateful symbols and vandalism seen across Canada this weekend.”
“The blockade of emergency vehicles to Albertans in need, and the disruption in the flow of vital goods through our major transportation corridor, is both dangerous and disgraceful,” she said in a statement yesterday morning. “It puts lives at risk, hurts our economy, and hurts families.
“A small group first claiming to be concerned about the possibility of grocery shortages have now most assuredly caused them,” she continued, calling on Mr. Kenney to “formally direct his MLA for Cardston-Taber-Warner to end his participation in this blockade of Alberta’s economy.
“The border must be reopened,” she concluded. “The Premier must take action for the families in southern Alberta who depend on open roads to travel for their jobs, their health care and plainly, to go about their lives.”
As my wife pointed out at breakfast yesterday morning, what would happen if some environmentalists were to block a highway in protest right now?
All that is needed is 2 old Caterpillar D 9’s. One at the front and one at the back of the blockading semi pushing them clear of the road and into the ditch if necessary. The driver’s wouldn’t even have to leave the cab of the truck. If the cleared truck returns to block the highway, the Driver is fined and/or arrested and the truck is towed. Go ahead and protest all you want but not at this busy crossing.
The hypocrisy and unmitigated gall of these so called “Freedumb” protesters is beyond the pale. All their lame arguments could be completely debunked and exposed for the selfish and self centered B.S. that they have deluded themselves with.
Again, true to form our cunning Premier is AWOL, furtively trying his best to pin the blame on someone else. His idea of taking things in hand is to go on twitter. All his tough talk and bluster about critical infrastructure is just that…talk. He maybe many things but a leader he is not.
I’m pretty sure the blockade would be over before the D 9’s even warmed up.
Last Fridays fraudulent comment on empty shelves in Alberta as he quickly ran to Washington to posture and preen is this weeks main story as those empty shelves will start to appear! Bad truckers!
Bill of blocking infrastructures only applies to Indigenous people! Send in the “Tip of the Lance” RCMP Squad with their Snipers and Assault Weapons!
Section 3 of the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act empowers the RCMP to hand out fines of up to $10,000 per day to anyone participating in the illegal border blockade. They could start with MLA Grant Hunter who outed himself as an illegal participant on Facebook.
Don’t forget that UCP MLA Shane Getson was photographed in his Kenworth truck in the convoy too. What will Kenney do with both him and Grant Hunter?? Perhaps there are even more!
This protest looks like it is blocking critical infrastructure so why isn’t RCMP invoking Bill 1? Perhaps UCP MLA Grant Hunter and family can be the first test case since there is strong evidence they were there. Or does this law only apply to those not on the ‘right’ team.
It will be interesting to see how much if any sympathy is given to these truckers who are adding to the supply chain problems.
Finally will there be a spike in CV numbers with in the protest groups? It will be interesting to see the numbers out of Public Health in 10 days or so.
None of the protests, be it in Ottawa or Edmonton, were about the truckers. People “demonstrating” in Ottawa behaved like a bunch of hooligans. There are people on twitterverse contrasting the police actions against the protest of indigenous people defending their land and their action (or rather a non-action) against these hooligans in Ottawa.
One has to wonder how is this all going to end.
And Jason Kenney trying again to straddle two fences at once. Egging the protesters on and then condemning the protesters when they do what everyone with some insight figured they will do.
The Great Canadian Reality show continues. Who is more absurd? The unimaginably ignorant and hypocritical Kons, who, in 2010, seemed quite content to have the police conduct the most egregious assault on Canadian civil liberties in 40 years, or the “progressives” who are wailing about the threat of the “vaccine hesitant” when 80.3% of the population has had two shots, and they’re approaching 40% triple vaccination.
The French get a hard time, but they did figure out that the three pillars for a civil society were freedom, equality and brotherhood. Kons and the identitarian progs could never quite get the math right, possibly because that last part seems to leave them totally bewildered.
Progs could be counted on for a degree of intelligence in their discourse, but they seem to have firmly latched onto the pandering that was the hallmark of the right for so many years. I guess abandoning dialectical materialism and taking up the battle against every kind of oppression except the actual oppressive economic system which produced all the other ones has induced an insanity that looks a little like Goldwater Republicanism.
Kons rail against latent communism in any manifestation of collectivism, except in the current inside-out, upside-down world of Covid, and can’t see the inherent contradictions in their views.
We now live in a world in which life is approached through the long-term perspective of the fruit fly.
Can any Covidians explain the importance of getting the last “dead-enders” to submit to the vaccines when 70% of hospitalizations with Covid are among the vaccinated, and 81% of active cases in the province are vaccinated? What precisely is it that you people believe is accomplished with the vaccines?
Perhaps you should fully explore your contention that “70% of hospitalizations with Covid are among the vaccinated, and 81% of active cases in the province are vaccinated”.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/ng-interactive/2022/jan/28/the-simple-numbers-every-government-should-use-to-fight-anti-vaccine-misinformation
Deaths?
Agreed. It’s hard trying to be a centrist… Just be glad you’re not a Libertarian I guess.
Oh. And in answer to your question the Cons are still more absurd, but I agree the Progs are making gains. It really is a “Great Canadian Reality show”….In fact, that’s all it feels like sometimes. What do they do again?
So, the lack of products on the shelves could be considered as a anti-vax grocery tax?
Get their licence plates on film as they leave and try that no contest ticketing being promoted .
$1000 a pop …. simple .
IN our non racist society this all white event would never be actually held to the law whereas others have laws specifically made against them.
PUBLIC SERVICE NOTICE
Join society and get your vaccine
The more battles with a weakened dose the stronger you get
The shot doesn’t have nanobots, stuff that eats your DNA, baby parts, NWO programing, time release death bombs, magical elixirs to steal your soul from Jesus or population control sterilization.
It can get you to have enough resistance when you get covid (and yes you will) you are only inconvenienced not drowning to death on a respirator.
The masks and distance and avoiding crowds, closed spaces and close conversations are about flattening the curve, relieving health care and getting some other life threating procedures back in que.
Or you can roll the dice avoid the vax and the health rules and make this whole process as long and painful as possible cause talk show radio made you an expert in epidemiology…. Freedom!!!
The shot does have mRNA which delivered into the cell via a lipid nano-particle. This lipid nano-particle proved an insurmountable obstacle to mRNA vaccines until Covid appeared. The pharmaceutical companies have been pining for a chance to use mRNA vaccines because they cost nothing compared to traditional vaccines that require cultured virus. You can watch an entertaining video with a New York Times mouthpiece confabbing with various US government officials on the subject of getting us to agree to take mRNA flu vaccines, and accept their notion of the threat posed by seasonal influenza.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?465845-1/universal-flu-vaccine
Now the Americans had a seasonal influenza problem that absolutely dwarfed the situation in Canada. That is because they have an even fatter, sicker population than we do. What you may or may not notice is the absence of a concerted effort to improve the general health of people. Instead, the idea is to leave them sick but give them vaccines for the ailments that produce severe illness at high rates in those who are already unhealthy. It’s a groovy formula.
We know that the vaccines cause myocarditis in a portion of those who receive it. Although, like all things Covid, the significance of myocarditis can be turned on it’s head. Myocarditis went from spelling the end of a professional hockey player’s career if potentially a result of Covid, to being not such a big deal if it was acquired from the vaccines.
Now anybody who ends up on a respirator from Covid is a highly anomalous case. The use of ventilators with Covid began when it was detrmined that Covid was so infectious that delivering oxygen with constant pressure would spread the bug and kill everyone on earth in a matter of minutes. What the unfortunate people subjected to this procedure die from is bacterial pneumonia that is caused by intubation.
But back to your vaccine magical thinking. Less than 35% of the population is triple-vaccinated in Alberta, a very recent phenomenon, but already 24% of hospitalizations with Covid in Alberta are triple-vaxxed.
Another “conspiracy theory” is to question the decision to let Pfizer use an Emergeny Authorization product on significant swathes of humanity. Pfizer is, without question a criminal entity and the notion of entrusting such an organization with people’s lives on the scale hundreds of million seems rather silly.
https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/pfizer
Some great logical fallacies in your post, though. Great job.
I’d bet my next 3 paychecks that the “Critical Infrastructure Defence Act” will never apply to anyone who isn’t indigenous, an environmentalist, or both.
So Kenney, nor his gang of merry UCP clowns didn’t even have the proactive kahonas, or brains, ( to be crass) to even do what it took to prevent a blockade at the border, ahead of time. Kenney, et al, continue to drop multiple balls every single day. Unreal. Let alone not invoking Bill 1, and dumping the decision onto the police who are handling this with kid gloves. Racist chickenshitism all the way.
Ayeamaye made an interesting suggestion. Maybe seize, sell, and use the proceeds to pay for policing costs and recompense for earnings lost by law abiding truckers caused by these fools.
Karma is bad dude, sometimes it will really bite you in butt. Isn’t it ironic that Kenney, who encouraged the Ottawa protests (lets not use the word the truckers anymore to describe it, as most truckers are vaxed and actually working now) likely as a way to cause problems for and embarrass the Federal Liberals, is now faced with his own embarrassing protest?
Even worse, they are blocking the main Alberta US border access road, an important and busy trade route. Oh, but Kenney could invoke his critical infrastructure law to stop or arrest the protesters, but he doesn’t seem in any hurry to do so. Likely the law was only meant to be applied against environmentalists and unions, just as critics of it originally claimed.
So, Kenney has a law it seems he will not use against protesters he encouraged. He may be away in the US talking to the governors, so at least has the luck of not being around to be fully embarrassed and hoisted on his own petard. However, I can imagine some of the US governors that have an interest in Canada (ie. mostly those states who have borders with us) quietly thinking to themselves “what an idiot”. It seems even the Republican Governor of Montana does not want to get to very close to Kenney in that picture. Don’t worry Mr. Governor, stupidity is not quite as contagious as COVID is.
Take your pick.
Tweedle dumb in Ottawa. Tweedle dumber in Edmonton.
Pity the poor dyed-in-the-wool Conservative voter who has to make place his/her X on the ballot in the next election.
I haven’t commented much anywhere on the truckin’ convoy and the dolts participating in it, because my words soon become sarcastic in the extreme as I type and then discard immoderate sentences. I’m mad as hell. Just like all my friends, oldsters all. The situation is really the revenge of the greaseballs, as we call the fringe of the city and rural yahoo element here in my home province of Nova Scotia. Pickup truck drivin’ fools. Yeehaw.
If, and I say IF, they are not white racist supremacists, then they’re pretty close to it. Moreover, they don’t seem bright enough to realize that the real goose-stepping fake brown shirt brigade of racial bigots epitomized by the Soldiers of Odin and Faith Goldys of this world are smart enough to easily highjack their convoy’s intent. Which is what’s happened.
Then there are the police, often a subset of the greaseball brigade. They are now prevented in many cities from conducting random street checks of anyone not lily white and don’t like it one bit. They’re pretty damn racist. Two years ago, just before Covid, there were several episodes of random First Nations people beatings–up. The one that got my goat was in Kelowna, where a bully boy Mountie charged an elderly person pushing a shopping cart across a supermarket parking lot, and then while two other “officers” held the poor man steady, he administered a beating in broad daylight. That episode wasn’t investigated and the prime assaulter was let off by his sergeant. Of course. Lesson: treat your local friendly cop with ultra respect, or else. He got himself a big gun and an attitude.
Anyone who relies on the “cops” to protect average citizens is living in hope only. Both they and the “truckin’ protesters” are in the main, thugs. The police prove it time and again. Bill Blair cracked more than a few heads in Toronto back in 2010, but they were lefties and students, prime grazing territory for bullies wearing uniforms and carrying weighted batons, and he’s supposedly a Liberal these days. A damn cabinet minister, no less. In case we forget, the Liberals also work for the rich as well as do the Cons, but in a more urbane way. Aren’t they nice?
The Ottawa police have posed for selfies with the truck driving fools and haters, and done bugger all to keep downtown Ottawa clear of threatening greaseballs driving/parking 10 to 40 ton semis, blasting their airhorns like seven year olds on a sugar high. People who p!ss and sh!t in the open and raid soup kitchens have basically got off scot-free. Anyone believe the Ottawa police will conduct thorough investigations into the mayhem? Any more than the RCMP have done in the kenney take over of the UCP leadership-by-probably-illegal-means “investigation”? Fat chance.
Adding to the police hands-off pussy-footing around with the mostly white trucking lawbreakers are the intellectuals of the Conservative Party of Canada and Slow Moe from Nowhere SK on official letterhead, no less. Apparently Cons now want to be regarded as anti-social sh!t disturbers of the lowbrow “I’m looking for votes among fools” variety. What an in-depth plan and a stroke of genius! Let’s scare little old ladies into thinking the supermarket shelves will be empty if a few hundred trucks are parked in Ottawa, occupied by adult crybabies who can’t face a needle. These truckers deserve special attention as they sob their little hearts out at being badly done-by, say the Cons holding their big paws in commiseration, without providing any justification beyond babble, but who cares about the docs and nurses and society at large? They don’t. Has Ford, Moe or kenney given a speech of praise for healthworkers? Ford feels pain for business first, as he says time and again, and the two prairie monsters can’t look a real doc in the eye, let alone give them credit for a job well done. How dare docs become more prominent in the public eye than jumped-up egotistical pols! They should all act like Henshaw and remember who pays their wages!
No amount of lying horse manure uttered by unCanadian pols like Poilievre and his fellow traveller Con MPs like Cooper from Edmonton and the wobbly Old Foole hisself can change reality, but Cons somehow feel they have to apologise for fools. What a strategy! They try to incoherently justify why some truckers can’t be bothered to NOT be social misfits and get vaccinated. Why? Does supporting louts really now form the basis of Con philosophy? They’re usually deriding “inefficient” government and when in power pouring public money into private coffers while lowering taxes and thus not having enough funds left to run government properly. A prime example of how they make their pronouncements come true on the backs of citizens, proclaiming austerity is abroad in the land. And most people are so incurious as to the actual working of government, they don’t even realize they’ve been “had”. Which is my generous way of saying a lot of Albertans who voted UCP last time weren’t awake enough to see they were shooting themselves in the foot by doing so.
Overall, I’m forced to the conclusion that the plutocracy of Canada, who have emptied even further the pockets of individuals during Covid, actually approve of the racists, the truck-drivin’ fools, and the lax policing of snarling hating white people in the current charade in Ottawa.
Tell me I’m wrong.
As for the border tie-up at Coutts, well, reap what you sow, kenney and Albertans. With any luck it’ll get so bad he’ll have to order their physical removal. Should make him even more popular among the hairy-armpit-scratching brigade. His style of oily backroom dealings relies on a passive populace who are easily cowed, conned and don’t protest his machinations. But now he faces some real winners in the charm stakes who think protesting is going to change Covid border rules. His legendary glibness and endless prevarications as to why he’s not a complete tit is not going to save him on this one. The emperor has no clothes; his past words can be dredged up to haunt him, and not by the “socialists” he derides, but by some pissed-off greaseballs. Good luck with that, son. Break a leg on that new gig when the audience doesn’t cheer or lob easy questions at the would-be imperator.
BILL MALCOLM: It’s easy to see how this gong show has brainwashed people.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/health-officials-are-hinting-at-ending-covid-restrictions-and-its-not-because-of-the-truckers
Bill, I’m glad you took a bit of time to gather your thoughts. You’ve laid it out quite clearly, as usual.
slow clap
I wonder if Bumbles was concerned that Governor Gianforte would slam him if he asked annoying questions.
When he going gets rough Jason Kenney always leaves town, and leaves Alberta.
Best summer yet….Kenney is nowhere to be seen in Canada.
Coutts border closure….Kenney is nowhere to be seen in Canada.
We seek him here, we seek him there. Kenney has become the Scarlet Pimpernel of Alberta politics. When the going gets tough Kenney bails.
Jason Kenney confirms that his UCP Government believes police exist to enforce laws according to political whim?
No wonder lil Jay wants his own Kenney Keystone Kops.
Watching Kenney getting hung up on his own petard is just the sort of thing to start off a Monday. But raising the issue with Montana’s Governor Greg Gianforte is pretty rich, because the problem is entirely on the Alberta side. Unless Kenney was trying to cajole Gianforte to declare state’s rights and side aside Biden vaccine mandate for cross-border commercial traffic. Who cares what Montana does, anyway?
It’s hard to say what Kenney will do. Since he’s out of the country and has no intention of returning until after the National Prayer Breakfast, he has left no in change with any discernible degree of authority, which is par for the course with Kenney.
Having UCP and CPC representatives supporting the blockades in Alberta and Ottawa does leave one wondering where things are headed?
Ottawa is showing more resolve on this matter, denouncing the destructive and antisocial antics of the Convoy protesters, and determining that there will be action coming. Since it’s believed that there maybe another Convoy protest next week, Ottawa appears ready to exact a crackdown before then.
As for Erin O’Toole, outside of Alberta, he’s viewed as a complete idiot. Befuddled by his own leadership woes, the knives in his back are beginning to pile up. Who knows? Perhaps the Ides of March will be his clue to exit and leave the whole disaster to Skippy Poilievre?
Who says this may not be the best spring ever?
Did Jason Kenney think he could stir the pot, then escape to Washington while protestors worked on his behalf to unseat the prime minister in Ottawa, making way for the Once and Future Kenney? Does he think he’s Trump? So many questions.
The border is not closed, but no one can get through. That includes Canada Post. Today we learned that the people of Coutts, Alberta did not get their mail, due to the blockade preventing access to town. It sure does look like provocation.
With Kenney’s own caucus member posting a photo on social media showing his grandchildren what it means to break the law, Kenney’s silence is not golden. Silence is complicity.
Do we think that Jason Kenney, the man who prevented men dying of AIDS in San Francisco hospitals from seeing their same-sex partners, would not stoop this low? When someone shows you who they really are, believe them the first time.
Perhaps the UCP leadership review in Red Deer will be a shoe-in for Kenney after this grandstanding.
However, not all Albertans are the ugly, abusive, racists we’ve seen too much of in Ottawa over the weekend. I’ve made a donation to the Shepherds of Good Hope. I know other Albertans have done so, too. I’m not kidding myself. It will take more than this to stop the hate. Always ask who is fanning these flames for personal benefit.
I have to wonder if these convoys are politically motivated. The first in February 2019, was extremely convenient for the UCP with an upcoming and a federal election following. There’s no election upcoming, the timing comes before we might, I mean might, see an end to the pandemic. The provincial Conservatives can and probably will, imo, use this to blame public healthcare for being inadequate and the need for privatization.
A wrinkled shirt, no tie, hands in pockets? Never mind. It’s time for fan-boy to ask Ron DeSantis what he’d do about certain sorts of flags and banners and protests and draconian bills.
Just got a text from Edmonton ,that 6 protestors were arrested for blocking traffic….so where in the grasslands of Alberta did they find the sacrificial lambs ?????, but hey good photo optics .
Jason Kenney should pay very close attention to what is transpiring inside the Conservative caucus today, and the call for vote on of caucus confidence in O’Toole’s leadership.
And what happens in this Wednesday’s caucus meeting in Ottawa.
There may be some lessons for him in this.
For anyone needing “heartburn” relief from this past weekend ..
being abit of a sports junkie, I was catching up on weekend highlights and found a perfect foil.
The Canadian men’s soccer game, going on 5 hrs down the road in Hamilton .
Goal keeper Milan Goran ,talking about what it meant being able to give back to the country which gave him & his family freedom & more ……and watching 12,000 people (they were at 1/2 capacity) cheering & waving their Canadian flags in the proper way , was alittle elixir to counter what was & is a creeping stain in our country. Maybe at full capacity they could have drowned out some of the noise.
Thank goodness for the pvr– save until space needed .
And looks like the gig may be up for O’Toole.
News is circulating that there are between 35 and 60 CPC MPs that want a leadership review (by secret ballot) at this Wednesday’s caucus meeting.
The issue appears to be O’Toole’s lukewarm interest in defending the Convoy protesters. In the face of all the stupid jackassery, that has happened in Ottawa over the last two days, I suppose O’Toole could have put on his best Qanon hat and declared displaying Swaztikas is free speech.
The HofC today, in an exchange with Trudeau, O’Toole, weirdly, seemed to be alluding to the notion that vaccines don’t work because Trudeau is vaxxed and has COVID. Trudeau was pretty calm, pressing the narrative that the way forward is through vaccination. My guess is that the CONs are feeling the pinch from the crazies in their base.
Of course, two CON MPs went onto Twitter and claimed that Trudeau’s personal photog was going around and setting up protesters will scandalous imagery to defame the Convoy. This brought a chorus of WTF? from everyone else, causing the tweets to be deleted. Was that because O’Toole told them to?
Looks like there’s exciting times ahead for this week.
“Whether the tweets did Mr. Trudeau any harm is an open question.”
I think Canadians are becoming desensitized to Jason Kenney’s blaming Justin Trudeau for everything. What continues to strike me is how few arrows Mr. Kenney has in his quiver.
Hey Jason K,
If you read this, to paraphrase a certain late Jim Prentice, look in the mirror. There you will see who is to blame for the Coutts blockade. My sympathies extend to the now isolated villagers. But for you who has encouraged this crew of idiots and wretches; I have nothing but contempt – is this what you consider, “growing the economy? Might your party be the United Criminals Party? P.S. I do appreciate the unstinting efforts of real truckers – but this lot of rubbish are not real truckers.
The UCP are successfully making themselves look like fools again, while speaking from both sides of their mouths. It is what it is.
The UCP finally representing the people and standing up for minority rights. I think its about time.
So what planet are you living on, I can’t find anyone except a handful of stupid seniors who are still dumb enough to believe every lie Kenney feeds them. It doesn’t surprise us true conservatives that guys like you are being call traitors for not helping us put a stop to these damn reformers.
Thanks to the way Kenney handled this COVID crisis , it’s no secret that thousands of operations have been delayed, so what do you tell our friends and family members who are being told that it’s now too late to operate on their cancer and they only have a short time to live, too bad it didn’t happen to me and I don’t give a damn about you?
What a ludicrous statement.
The Nazis are still a minority, right?
I live in Alberta that’s why I’m asking.
So while these stupid reformers and their supporters run 140 doctors out of the province because of the way they have been treated, just like Ralph Klein did, they now promise to waste $6 million trying to buy back replacements and Albertans are expected to be dumb enough to accept it.
While Grant Hunter puts his grandchildren at risk of being bullied by other students who don’t share his level of stupidity, he ignores the fact that truckers who don’t support these blockades aren’t able to get their produce to market and are having to turn around, while their reform party buddy Erin O’Toole, the fool, blames Trudeau for the high cost of living, he finds it smart to support making it worse.
Yet we are hearing that the cost of living has increased on average by 28% around the world because of COVID, making O’Toole look even dumber.
I’m going to throw out there a sweet conspiracy theory that likely has no grounding in reality, but it’s sure fun to think about.
Erin O’Toole’s woes are because of Jason Kenney. There. I said.
What is known about the current (among other) civil wars in the CPC it that there are two factions, let’s call them the blues and the reds. The reds are the Red Tories and the blues are the True Blue GOP Wannabe knuckle draggers. Judging by the open letter calling for O’Toole’s leadership review, the 35 CPC MPs who signed on all represent the Western Canadian faction of the caucus, the one that purged the Red Tories from the CPC long ago. Andrew Scheer was the favored True Blue successor to Harpo and he fell flat on his face. In an effort to stop Peter McKay (Red Tory cred) O’Toole stepped up promised to be True Blue. But once in place as leader, O’Toole defending favourably on the issues of Climate Change and abortion, meaning he was with Canadian society’s mainstream beliefs. This is the flip-flop that has got O’Toole into so much trouble. So much trouble he has actually caused a faction of MPs to actually believe that Andrew Scheer was their best leader since Harpo.
O’Toole will lose the vote. And even if he survives, he is, like Joe Clark, mortally wounded. He can declare another leadership convention and fight for the leadership all over again? Or he can walk away from the CPC bin of lunacy. O’Toole may not be so willing to depart, and Scheer may not be so willing to give up the fight either. There will have to be period of calm so a leadership convention can be convened.
This is where the conspiracy part comes into play.
It has been said that Pierre Pollivere is the next successor, and he may very well be. He doesn’t seem to be of either faction, and he couldn’t get together a campaign to run for the leadership himself. Conceivably, he has, as T.E. Lawrence described himself, no tribe; therefore, he is the ideal compromise candidate. But there’s no assurance that the CPC will rally around Pollivere for the long term. Like O’Toole, he will screw up and the knives will be out for him as well. What is needed is someone else from the party’s ‘old guard’, someone who has been around for a long time, knows where the connections are, and where the bodies are buried.
Enter Jason Kenney.
This solves a lot of problems for Kenney. For one, it gets him back to Ottawa, where he’s always preferred to be. For another, it will satisfy the SoCON faction of the CPC. And for another, it solves Kenney’s biggest problem of not having to face his own leadership review within the CPC, substantial vote-rigging notwithstanding. Kenney simply announces he’s returning to Ottawa to lead the CPC and destroy PMJT once and for all. (And he can get the hell out of Alberta)
Are there risks to allowed Kenney to lead the CPC? There are huge risks — monolithic risks. But gaslighting is a powerful thing, and Kenney is willing to do it even if everyone knows he’s doing it.