Canada’s sorriest Prime Minister
In a March, 2018 story BBC asked, “Does Justin Trudeau apologize too much?” At the time he had formally apologized on behalf of the Canadian government more times than any previous Prime Minister. But he was only just getting started. There are three categories that I will discuss in this article: Apologies for things he did not do; apologies for things he did do; and things that he did for which he should have apologized but did not.
The formal apologies on behalf of the Canadian government
It is good for a PM to apologize for past wrongs of the Canadian government and there have been a very great number but it is better to not commit the wrongs. To say I am sorry for what other earlier governments did does not cost the current government votes and is often just virtue signaling in an attempt to get votes from target demographics. Here is a short (not exhaustive) list of Trudeau’s formal apologies:
Komagata Maru – Trudeau apologized to descendants of the passengers on this Japanese vessel (Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus) who were denied entry to Canada in 1914 under immigration laws at the time.
MS St. Louis – He apologized for Canada’s policy of “none is too many” in 1939 and refusal to allow the St. Louis with over 900 Jewish refugees to land on our shores. It is estimated that hundreds ultimately perished in Nazi death camps.
Indigenous residential schools – There is no question that the policy of forcing indigenous people to attend residential schools, where the goal was cultural assimilation and where many abuses occurred, was very wrong. However, the directive to lower all of Canada’s flags to half mast for what turned out to be half a year was excessive. Further, so far there has been no evidence of human remains in the “suspected” mass graves. Let alone that the remains, had they been found, were due to foul play.
Number 2 Construction Battalion – In 1914, Black members of this battalion faced racial discrimination which continued long after WWI had ended.
LGBTQ+ – Trudeau has also apologized to members of the LBGTQ+ community for past discrimination.
These apologies have one thing in common. They are all to minority groups. They do not bother the majority but they help get the votes of minorities.
Another perspective on formal apologies
It is ironic to contrast Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s views with those of his son. Trudeau senior rejected the idea that Canada should apologize for past wrongs. "It is our purpose to be just in our time," he told the House of Commons. Sadly, Trudeau's son has not lived up to the high standards set by his father as will be shown in the following two parts of this article.
Apologies for Trudeau’s own shortcomings
Trudeau has been forced to apologize for many of his personal wrongs but they most often come with excuses. Here is a list of some:
Blackface – When pictures emerged of Trudeau wearing blackface at least three times (when asked if there more than 3 occasions he said it is possible). He said he was embarrassed and shouldn’t have done it but he excused the conduct by saying he was a child of privilege and didn’t realize it was wrong at the time.
Skipping the first National Reconciliation Day – Trudeau created a new holiday to recognize the indigenous people. He was invited by one tribe to come and celebrate it with them. He ignored the invitation and took a holiday with his family. Only when the media found out did he apologize.
Aga Khan – Trudeau and his family took a vacation on the Aga Khan’s private island. He paid nothing. The Ethics Commissioner found that the trip violated four provisions of the Conflict-of-Interest Act. The findings in the report was so serious that the RCMP considered laying criminal charges although they did not. Trudeau apologized but said he considered the Aga Khan to be a personal friend. It turned out that he had not had any serious social interactions with him in the previous 30 years.
SNC Lavalin Scandal – The massive engineering firm had been accused of bribery and the Attorney General, Jody Wilson-Raybould, wanted to go to court but Trudeau interfered and urged her to use a DPA (a negotiated settlement). Wilson-Raybould would not talk to reporters because of solicitor client confidentiality. However, Trudeau waived the confidentiality and at an investigation hearing, she released a recording of a conversation that she had secretly recorded. That is legal under Canadian law. Trudeau was shown to be a liar. Again, the Ethics Commissioner found that Trudeau had broken the law and again Trudeau apologized, saying he just wanted to save jobs in Quebec.
The case went to court and a senior VP as well as the company were found guilty. Jobs were not lost. Trudeau got even by demoting Wilson-Raybould who then resigned. Another Liberal MP also resigned because of the way Wilson-Raybould had been treated.
WE Scandal – Trudeau awarded a $40+ million contract to the WE Charity to administer a Covid relief fund of over $900 million with no tenders or consideration of any other organization. WE was a favorite charity of the Prime Minister and it had paid $425,000 to members of his family, including his mother and brother. The Ethics Commissioner investigated and found that Trudeau was technically not guilty of an ethical breech but there was the appearance of a conflict of interest. Again, Trudeau apologized but highlighted that he did not break the law and WE lost the contract. Federal employees administered the fund instead of WE.
A convicted terrorist comes to dinner – In India, in 2018 on an official visit, Jaspal Atwal was invited to an official dinner reception. He had been a Liberal supporter and donor. The next day it came out the Atwal had been convicted of attempted murder of an Indian politician and served 5 years of a 20-year sentence. Trudeau immediately withdrew an invitation to a second dinner and apologized but blamed the MP who invited Atwal on the trip to India.
A Nazi comes to the House of Commons – More recently, a 98-year-old Ukrainian was recognized and given a standing ovation in the House of Commons during Ukrainian President Zelensky’s visit. He was called a war hero during the WWII when he fought against the Russians. As anyone with the slightest knowledge of WWII would have known, the Russians were on the side of the Allies against the Nazis. Trudeau apologized but emphasized that it was the Speaker who had invited him. Further, he apologized on behalf of all members of Parliament even though they had all been blindsided. As the head of the government the buck stops with him. He should have asked that the guest list be vetted, especially for a special sitting with a visiting head of state.
I could go on but the bottom line is Trudeau blames others and/or makes excuses. He almost never takes responsibility for his mistakes.
Errors for which he has yet to apologize
I will just give a few recent examples.
China’s meddling in Canada’s elections – After at least four years of interference in our elections, MPs of all opposition parties demanded a public inquiry. Trudeau delayed and finally decided to have an old family friend, David Johnson, do a private study and issue a report. After all the close ties between Johnson and Trudeau were revealed, Johnson stepped down and a public inquiry was finally launched a couple of months ago. Stonewalling on an issue of such importance is shocking.
Muzzling his party’s MPs – Trudeau promised to allow his Liberals MPs to vote their conscience on all issues except confidence motions. However, he lied. When Anthony Housefather voted against the new Official Languages Act which is seriously flawed, he lost his parliamentary secretary position. The equivalent happened to Wilson-Raybould (see the SNC Lavalin Scandal above).
Hiring an antisemite racist to give talks to the media on racism
Laith Marouf had a two-decade long record of anti-Semitic tweets, vandalism and other racist acts. Yet our Minister of Canadian Heritage, Ahmed Hussen, give him a $130,000 “anti-Racism” contract to give talks to Canadian broadcasters. Talk about putting the fox in charge of the henhouse!
When the media revealed the despicable tweets and other acts of Marouf, the government said that they were shocked and cut off the funding. In fact, MP Anthony Housefather, had informed numerous members of the government a month before the media broke the story. To date $120,00 of the funds have still not been repaid and no one, least of all Trudeau, has apologized.
Destroying our relationship with India – Trudeau’s trips to India have been one disaster after another. First, it was his over-the-top Bollywood costumes, then the invitation to an Indian terrorist to come to dinner (see above) and now the worst – he publicly accused India of being involved in the murder of a Canadian in Canada with no proof that he is willing to reveal.
The $6,000 a night suite
Trudeau is not shy about spending taxpayers’ money. There are many examples but the most outrageous was the $6,000 per night suite he and his wife stayed in for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. When the opposition parties got the details of the trip, they asked who stayed in the expensive suite. Was it the Governor General, celebrity Sandra O or a former Prime Minister. The PMO refused to answer on the grounds of National Security. It took over a month of media articles before the PMO finally admitted it was Trudeau. Yet again, no apology was given.
Trudeau’s lack of moral clarity – Trudeau has condemned the Hamas massacre of Israelis on Oct. 7 and he has said that Israel has the right to defend itself. That is how it should be when Hamas commits the worse atrocities since the Nazis in WWII.
However, he wants the Muslim and woke votes so his support has been much weaker than it should be. When a hospital parking lot was bombed, he ignored the Israeli’s explanation (confirmed by US President Biden and European nations) that it was a terrorist rocket fired from within Gaza. He said he needed more time to examine the evidence and never acknowledged that it was a terrorist rocket even after his own Minister of National Defense, Bill Blair, confirmed that Israel was blameless.
At the UN, Canada abstained rather than vote against a one-sided anti Israel motion.
At home, he has not condemned the antisemitic demonstrations praising Hamas and advocating for the elimination of Israel. Those demonstrations are hate speech, which is illegal in Canada.
Finally, he met leaders of the Jewish community in Montreal but allowed no press, no pictures and no one at the meeting was allowed to report what he said.
Trudeau does only what he calculates will get him the most votes. Trying to please everyone only works for so long. Eventually, voters realize that they are being played.
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3 Comments
You are right. This man has to go. He has no principles, only naked ambition.
Exactly.
I find it rather ironic that he apologized for the “none is too many” in 2018 and only 5 years later he has done nothing to help the current hostages in Gaza, the jewish canadian students being harrassed or to even condemn, let alone stop the near daily pro-palestinian protests that call for jewish genocide from the river to the sea” He most definitely has to go.