WEYBURN -- Let’s paint a picture of what is going on in Canada at the current time: many producers have begun harvest operations across the prairies; there are huge wildfires burning in B.C. and other locations; there is a drought with hot, dry weather; and parts of Canada are still fighting the battle against COVID-19.
In addition, as it’s summer, there is highway construction ongoing throughout the country, and as it’s mid-August, parents are gearing up for the start of school.
In the midst of all of this, does anyone think there is room also for a federal election? Besides Justin Trudeau?
And what is his deal anyway? He wants a federal election campaign to begin in summer heat, and end on Sept. 20, the bare minimum length for campaigns, amidst so much turmoil and struggle for many sectors of the country.
Perhaps with all that is going on, this is what he was counting on, so that the Eastern Canadian voters (you know, the ones who actually determine the outcome of federal elections in this country) are distracted enough to forget and/or forgive his many indiscretions.
Very few federal leaders have had the number of scandals and accusations of wrongdoing that Trudeau has, and yet Eastern voters inexplicably keep voting for him.
The other problem is, of course, Easterners have no clue about how badly he and the Liberals have treated Western Canada. Surely to goodness the results of the last election two years ago would tell them something about this administration, but this does point out a basic problem in Canada: the national disunity caused by a government that doesn’t care about the West and alienates the entire region, and residents of Eastern Canada who really don’t understand why this is a problem.
It seems fairly obvious that residents of Ontario and Quebec do not understand, first of all, the problems and pressures faced by the agricultural industry here, and secondly, they really, really don’t understand how and why the energy industry is still an important sector of the economy. They believe the anti-energy rhetoric that somehow the industry needs to be phased out – and it completely ignores the reality of the ongoing need for the products of the oil and gas industry.
They sit on their buses, thinking that by not driving they’re helping the environment, but ignoring the fact that the energy sector powers that bus, and provides material for most of the consumer products they buy and use.
Thus, when the Liberals enact a punitive and unfair carbon tax on us (as just one example), they don’t care that it hurts this province and our economy. Moreover, they ignore the immoral actions of a prime minister who has had numerous ethical violations for which he needs to be held accountable.
Greg Nikkel writes a weekly editorial column for the Weyburn Review.
