Justin Trudeau is in trouble — big trouble. But who could ever have guessed that the media darling and international poster-boy for progressivism was actually just another snake in the grass?
Trudeau is facing explosive allegations that he pressured Canada's ex-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to drop a bribery probe into Quebec-based firm SNC Lavalin (details here). Wilson-Raybould testified that officials, including Trudeau himself, "barraged" her with demands and “veiled threats” to drop criminal charges and said she believes her refusal to comply explains her abrupt demotion. If the allegations are true, this is bare-faced corruption. But Canada’s swoon-worthy (apparently) prime minister is dismissing calls for his resignation.
Trudeau’s refusal to back down reminds me of someone. Oh, who could it be? Ah yes, that other faux-progressive who is likewise accustomed to getting a free pass from the media because he makes all the right sounds with his mouth: It’s France’s Emmanuel Macron, of course. Macron’s approval rating dipped to a mortifying low of 18 percent last year, but he is somehow still around to tell the tale — even after four months of non-stop street protests against his failing neoliberal government.
Trudeau and Macron belong to the same breed of politician. When they open their mouths, they appear to be the very antithesis of the likes of Donald Trump, who displays his monstrous nature for all to see. But the Macrons and the Trudeaus of the world are monsters in disguise — and they are just as dangerous. They exhibit extreme arrogance, running around lecturing the world on right and wrong, claiming a position on the moral high-ground. It’s all a bad joke.
Their so-called progressivism is purely for show. They are, underneath it all, fakes, frauds and liars — talking the talk, but never walking the walk. There are endless examples of Trudeau’s flagrant dishonesty — and the SNC Lavalin scandal is actually far less offensive than some of Trudeau’s other sins against peoplekind.
Remember “peoplekind”? The word Trudeau used instead of “mankind” in a blatant effort to win progressive brownie points, believing such pathetic tokenism is a good enough alternative to actually doing something tangible that might benefit “peoplekind” in any substantial way.
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‘Trudeau the environmentalist’ is a myth. While he made a rousing speech at the Paris climate talks in 2015 and promised to develop a low-carbon economy and tackle climate change, actions speak louder than words. His government pushed the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, despite massive environmental protests against it — and campaign promises to end fossil fuel subsidies must have slipped his mind after the election.
He even received a standing ovation at an oil industry gathering in 2017 for saying: “No country would find 173 billion barrels of oil in the ground and just leave them there.”
Women’s rights defender? To a point
While Trudeau has been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement, his government tried to quash a lawsuit over allegations of rampant sexual misconduct within the Canadian Armed Forces, leading to more accusations of hypocrisy. He has defended selling military equipment to Saudi Arabia, which undoubtedly is greatly to the benefit of women and children suffering famine in Yemen.
Oh, and then there’s the groping allegations, but those are just par for the course these days.
Human rights defender? Depends on the humans
Last year, Trudeau publicly apologized for the fact that Canada rejected a ship carrying 900 Jewish refugees from Europe in 1939, saying that he was sorry “for the callousness” of Canada's response at the time and for not apologizing sooner.
He then went on to link modern anti-Semitism to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement — a peaceful movement for Palestinian human rights. Only some crimes against humanity matter to the likes of shameless conmen like Trudeau.
Now he’s digging in his heels in the face of serious and credible allegations of corruption. The hypocrisy and duplicitousness of Canada’s anointed king of progressivism knows no bounds.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.