Even before the Ling article about the hilarious Union Station eavesdropping, one of the highlights of this week had to be this gem (from an article in Thursday’s National Post about possible Liberal cabinet/caucus unrest with Junior, featuring one caucus member after another pledging their allegiance to Dear Leader):
“Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said he “wouldn’t be here” without Trudeau”.
Yes, we know, LOL. Talk about telling on yourself. And perhaps the best part of this statement is that it’s impossible to determine whether it is a greater indictment of Junior or Spiderman.
And yeah, picking up on one of the themes of the podcast, he is just one of an endless list of utterly contemptible cabinet ministers. Anita Anand is the only one with any profile at all who doesn’t elicit a visceral response in me - at this point I'd take a cabinet consisting solely of people like her, someone with whom I often disagree substantively but who at least doesn’t make me despair for the state of the Country every time I see/read something from them.
I think about the Union Station call center and wonder: was Minister Guilbeault doing “outreach” for the PMO to soothe some anxious people or reconnaissance to sniff out trouble makers?
Matt and Jen, interesting comments on the by-election. One comment I heard from Tom Korski (SP?) of Blacklock Reporters was that the LPC invested so much in the by-election as they saw it as a dry run for a snap election that would have been called in July.
Before you dismiss the idea think about it - JT and most of his cabinet were there - have you seen a PM at a byelection recently? Listen to the comments from Freeland claiming that Canada would sink into darkness and caos if the CPC comes to power - panic or what? Now add in the comments from cabinet ministers including Freeland that - it was the Jewish vote (government sanction for anti Israelie protests me thinks) plus the LPC candiate apparently blaming Melissa
Lantsman for stirring up the Jewish vote. Now look at the LPC cabinet ministers' faces - the look of absolute shock that they lost despite all the talk in the echo chamber that is Ottawa. Jenn, I'm with you, they won't give him the boot and he won't go so ... wait for the election.
Interesting that a Minister in charge of the military tells his military to evacuate Sikhs - he was military so he KNOWS that his 'suggestion' is pretty much an order.
I could go on but what is the point? The LPC is circling the drain and is grasping at the old racism, misogyny, despicables lines as the last line of defence.
If the indifference (or sneering condescension, take your pick) that the Prime Minister and the PMO have for the Liberal Caucus is as reported, then there surely must be a tipping point where the tables get turned and the people in charge are put in their place for continuous bad decision making.
The St. Pauls byelection was engineered by the Prime Minister due to a vacancy that he created through a hastened retirement. The period leading to St. Pauls voting day featured a terrible budget, shaky foreign policy that has awakened antisemitism, class warfare tactics, foreign interference boondoggles and continuous negative publicity antics by the Prime Minister. This collective stupidity is hitting the Liberal Party like a case of Typhus. Everyone is infected by bad decisions of the few.
At this point, the Caucus needs to realize that they finally have got their hands on the hammer and can make people sit up and pay attention. If an Election Day Massacre is looming, Liberal MPs have nothing to lose by demanding some significant changes in Cabinet, the PMO and most certainly the First Minister.
When there is change in the air, Conservatives are generally more inclined to vote in advanced polling (as any good GOTV Chair would encourage). Those were the late counted votes 🗳️. Jenni Byrne is a winner and has been ensuring that CPC has defined Mark Carney well in advance. The Liberals are f***ed and I hope they all wear it. Deservedly. As for Justin Ling piece, watch what Marco Mendocino does. Justin isn’t leaving. Not before he hosts the G7 Summit next Spring with all the gratuitous photo-ops, networking and interviewing opportunities for a post-PM career. Also, could someone do a wellness check on Mark Holland?!? JFC 🤦🏼♀️ does he not realize we can’t afford gasoline ⛽️ to chug??
Fascinating thoughts on the challenges the LPC has created for itself in picking a new leader. It's also interesting how the opinion seems to be that Trudeau has left quitting too late, while there is much discussion if the Democrats should change horses 4 months before the election because of a one night catastrophe.
Anyone else notice that on almost every issue they bugger up, the complaint must be based on race...or gender? It's getting tiring. Just another complete and total abdication of responsibility due to a lack of leadership.
Enjoy whatever little breaks summer gives, and Jen, enjoy that first long hot shower when you get the chance.
I'm old enough to remember Trudeau the Elder's declining grip on power. Is Trudeau the Younger, less popular than his father was at the end? It seems to me, he is, does anybody know?
I think I agree with the former Minister of Defence's assessment that there was some racism surrounding evacuations from Kabul. In fact, he was the racist. He "requested" that people of his race/religion/culture get precedence over the regular Afghans who foolishly put their lives at risk to support the Canadian military. He's a disgrace.
Matt describes the way Liberals have been weaponizing identity as a shield to deflect criticism. I think there’s another possibility that has more explanatory power: instead of being a tactic, some of these people are so immersed in intersectional identity politics that *they really believe racism or sexism is the motivation of their critics.* If that’s what they think, it explains the utter failure to recognize the shortcomings in their performance and defects in their conduct, and why they’ve done nothing to fix it.
Which, constitutionally, is, I think, SEPTEMBER 2026. And I put it that way because statutorily prescribed dates can be altered by Parliament, as is no purportedly happening to dodge a conflict with Diwali.
On the "politician racism shield" - the "jump the shark" moment for me was that time when the the very white mayor of Vancouver said he was "concerned with the racist tones that are implied here" when referring to the work of ASIAN-Canadian researcher Andy Yan (https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/nothing-racist-about-metro-housing-study-experts-say). The whole situation reads like a Beaverton article.
I do like to imagine the Liberal cabinet sitting around a table discussing being down in the polls and someone bringing up "have we tried telling the voters they're racist again?"
Very good episode - I think you have it exactly right with Trudeau - people calling for his replacement are missing the point - nothing good is going to come of it and a rushed battle to choose a nominee who's willing to put their name forward to get slaughtered next election caries all sorts of downside risk for the Liberals. Plus as Jen suggested, problems with the Liberal brand and governing strategy go deeper than Trudeau - blaming Trudeau is letting them live in denial of the real adjustments they're going to need to undertake.
At this point the best path forward for the Liberals is to use their last year trying to deliver important but relatively uncontroversial reforms (a stretch, I know) both for their legacy and long-term value in the Liberal brand, while keeping Trudeau around both to save the furniture and to own the loss (Matt's "down with the ship" analogy is a good one), and use the years of a Conservative majority to rebuild under a less elitist leader who can separate themselves from Trudeau.
The handling of the WestJet situation is suspect in terms of competence. They didn’t follow the necessary legal steps to make strike action illegal. Makes the Minister and Staff look quite incompetent.
No, this was intentional. Not incompetence. It was a political choice.
The right to strike has been elevated to a "Charter" right, so in order to guarantee that a prohibition would withstand scrutiny, the Liberals would have to introduce legislation invoking the notwithstanding clause; so (1) they were unlikely to do that and (2) even if such legislation were introduced, it might not have been endorsed by the NDP.
By contrast, the disruption to passengers would be seen as a passing inconvenience, to a small group, for a relatively short period of time, and thus not particularly politically important. Particularly since the airline employer can be dealt with separately and on the side.
Even before the Ling article about the hilarious Union Station eavesdropping, one of the highlights of this week had to be this gem (from an article in Thursday’s National Post about possible Liberal cabinet/caucus unrest with Junior, featuring one caucus member after another pledging their allegiance to Dear Leader):
“Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said he “wouldn’t be here” without Trudeau”.
Yes, we know, LOL. Talk about telling on yourself. And perhaps the best part of this statement is that it’s impossible to determine whether it is a greater indictment of Junior or Spiderman.
And yeah, picking up on one of the themes of the podcast, he is just one of an endless list of utterly contemptible cabinet ministers. Anita Anand is the only one with any profile at all who doesn’t elicit a visceral response in me - at this point I'd take a cabinet consisting solely of people like her, someone with whom I often disagree substantively but who at least doesn’t make me despair for the state of the Country every time I see/read something from them.
I think about the Union Station call center and wonder: was Minister Guilbeault doing “outreach” for the PMO to soothe some anxious people or reconnaissance to sniff out trouble makers?
I hope Guilbeault runs to replace Trudeau.
Matt and Jen, interesting comments on the by-election. One comment I heard from Tom Korski (SP?) of Blacklock Reporters was that the LPC invested so much in the by-election as they saw it as a dry run for a snap election that would have been called in July.
Before you dismiss the idea think about it - JT and most of his cabinet were there - have you seen a PM at a byelection recently? Listen to the comments from Freeland claiming that Canada would sink into darkness and caos if the CPC comes to power - panic or what? Now add in the comments from cabinet ministers including Freeland that - it was the Jewish vote (government sanction for anti Israelie protests me thinks) plus the LPC candiate apparently blaming Melissa
Lantsman for stirring up the Jewish vote. Now look at the LPC cabinet ministers' faces - the look of absolute shock that they lost despite all the talk in the echo chamber that is Ottawa. Jenn, I'm with you, they won't give him the boot and he won't go so ... wait for the election.
Interesting that a Minister in charge of the military tells his military to evacuate Sikhs - he was military so he KNOWS that his 'suggestion' is pretty much an order.
I could go on but what is the point? The LPC is circling the drain and is grasping at the old racism, misogyny, despicables lines as the last line of defence.
My memo to the Liberal Caucus:
What the hell are you waiting for?
If the indifference (or sneering condescension, take your pick) that the Prime Minister and the PMO have for the Liberal Caucus is as reported, then there surely must be a tipping point where the tables get turned and the people in charge are put in their place for continuous bad decision making.
The St. Pauls byelection was engineered by the Prime Minister due to a vacancy that he created through a hastened retirement. The period leading to St. Pauls voting day featured a terrible budget, shaky foreign policy that has awakened antisemitism, class warfare tactics, foreign interference boondoggles and continuous negative publicity antics by the Prime Minister. This collective stupidity is hitting the Liberal Party like a case of Typhus. Everyone is infected by bad decisions of the few.
At this point, the Caucus needs to realize that they finally have got their hands on the hammer and can make people sit up and pay attention. If an Election Day Massacre is looming, Liberal MPs have nothing to lose by demanding some significant changes in Cabinet, the PMO and most certainly the First Minister.
Also, HAPPY CANADA DAY everyone. I’m gonna be flying my Maple Leaf with pride.
When there is change in the air, Conservatives are generally more inclined to vote in advanced polling (as any good GOTV Chair would encourage). Those were the late counted votes 🗳️. Jenni Byrne is a winner and has been ensuring that CPC has defined Mark Carney well in advance. The Liberals are f***ed and I hope they all wear it. Deservedly. As for Justin Ling piece, watch what Marco Mendocino does. Justin isn’t leaving. Not before he hosts the G7 Summit next Spring with all the gratuitous photo-ops, networking and interviewing opportunities for a post-PM career. Also, could someone do a wellness check on Mark Holland?!? JFC 🤦🏼♀️ does he not realize we can’t afford gasoline ⛽️ to chug??
Fascinating thoughts on the challenges the LPC has created for itself in picking a new leader. It's also interesting how the opinion seems to be that Trudeau has left quitting too late, while there is much discussion if the Democrats should change horses 4 months before the election because of a one night catastrophe.
Anyone else notice that on almost every issue they bugger up, the complaint must be based on race...or gender? It's getting tiring. Just another complete and total abdication of responsibility due to a lack of leadership.
Enjoy whatever little breaks summer gives, and Jen, enjoy that first long hot shower when you get the chance.
I'm older, so I was thinking Cruel Summer by Bananarama, until I discovered that Ace of Base did a remake.
Whelp, now i am old
I did too.
Definitely the better version imo!
I'm old enough to remember Trudeau the Elder's declining grip on power. Is Trudeau the Younger, less popular than his father was at the end? It seems to me, he is, does anybody know?
Bill, my comment is made with respect (I also remember T1) but - again, with respect - who the Hell cares as long as we get rid of the vermin?
Sorry dude, forgot I needed your permission to post a thought. Won't happen again.
I think I agree with the former Minister of Defence's assessment that there was some racism surrounding evacuations from Kabul. In fact, he was the racist. He "requested" that people of his race/religion/culture get precedence over the regular Afghans who foolishly put their lives at risk to support the Canadian military. He's a disgrace.
Matt Gurney didn’t say that the minister “requested” that Sikhs be given precedence.
Have you got another source? Your claim is significantly bolder than Matt Gurney’s statement of the facts.
Matt describes the way Liberals have been weaponizing identity as a shield to deflect criticism. I think there’s another possibility that has more explanatory power: instead of being a tactic, some of these people are so immersed in intersectional identity politics that *they really believe racism or sexism is the motivation of their critics.* If that’s what they think, it explains the utter failure to recognize the shortcomings in their performance and defects in their conduct, and why they’ve done nothing to fix it.
All of which means that the election will be put off until the very last possible legal date for holding it.
Which, constitutionally, is, I think, SEPTEMBER 2026. And I put it that way because statutorily prescribed dates can be altered by Parliament, as is no purportedly happening to dodge a conflict with Diwali.
It wouldn't be a cruel summer if they were gone - just the opposite.
On the "politician racism shield" - the "jump the shark" moment for me was that time when the the very white mayor of Vancouver said he was "concerned with the racist tones that are implied here" when referring to the work of ASIAN-Canadian researcher Andy Yan (https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/nothing-racist-about-metro-housing-study-experts-say). The whole situation reads like a Beaverton article.
I do like to imagine the Liberal cabinet sitting around a table discussing being down in the polls and someone bringing up "have we tried telling the voters they're racist again?"
This is the thing that drives me the most nuts about these morons. Every criticism is racism.
Very good episode - I think you have it exactly right with Trudeau - people calling for his replacement are missing the point - nothing good is going to come of it and a rushed battle to choose a nominee who's willing to put their name forward to get slaughtered next election caries all sorts of downside risk for the Liberals. Plus as Jen suggested, problems with the Liberal brand and governing strategy go deeper than Trudeau - blaming Trudeau is letting them live in denial of the real adjustments they're going to need to undertake.
At this point the best path forward for the Liberals is to use their last year trying to deliver important but relatively uncontroversial reforms (a stretch, I know) both for their legacy and long-term value in the Liberal brand, while keeping Trudeau around both to save the furniture and to own the loss (Matt's "down with the ship" analogy is a good one), and use the years of a Conservative majority to rebuild under a less elitist leader who can separate themselves from Trudeau.
The handling of the WestJet situation is suspect in terms of competence. They didn’t follow the necessary legal steps to make strike action illegal. Makes the Minister and Staff look quite incompetent.
No, this was intentional. Not incompetence. It was a political choice.
The right to strike has been elevated to a "Charter" right, so in order to guarantee that a prohibition would withstand scrutiny, the Liberals would have to introduce legislation invoking the notwithstanding clause; so (1) they were unlikely to do that and (2) even if such legislation were introduced, it might not have been endorsed by the NDP.
By contrast, the disruption to passengers would be seen as a passing inconvenience, to a small group, for a relatively short period of time, and thus not particularly politically important. Particularly since the airline employer can be dealt with separately and on the side.
Concur, my mistake.
Sorry. My reply was a bit peremptory. But once upon a tile I used to till these fields.