Trudeau’s tone deaf COVID-19 approach will give more fuel to Wexit

Overall, Prime Minister Trudeau’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been sufficient at best, having considered the advice of medical experts amidst trying economic times. However, Trudeau and the Liberals have made some significant errors in their response to the pandemic, exacerbating frustration amongst western Canadians in particular.

Firstly, Wexit will benefit rhetorically from every misuse of federal power during the pandemic. It will support their claim that the federal government is both too powerful, and not representative of the Western priorities.

At this time, Canadians want stability and consistency, but with Trudeau’s delayed response to closing our borders, the pandemic response started poorly at the onset. For example, the Liberals have begun to screen those getting on domestic flights and trains for COVID-19 but have refused to stop international flights or even test those boarding or disembarking.

Federal health officials released a report early February that they could not enforce quarantine orders on those returning from the Hubei province of China, where Wuhan is its capital. 

Trudeau, unlike US President Donald Trump, has resisted calling out the Communist Party of China (CCP) for their coverup of COVID19 in Wuhan and instead has taken reports from China at face value despite evidence to the contrary. 

Similarly, when Prime Minister Trudeau announced that the US-Canada border would be closed, the Minister of Public Safety then came out and announced that the illegal border crossing at Roxham Road would stay open. The Liberals later reversed that recent decision, but there is little evidence that the Roxham Road crossing has been closed to new illegal migrants.

This means fewer problems for illegal migrants crossing the Canadian border to claim asylum rather than for an American or a Canadian to legally cross into the other country for any reason at all. 

Although the Liberals lose control of illegal immigration on March 24th, they planned to give Finance Minister Bill Moreau sweeping executive powers to increase existing, and implement new taxes, at will for two years until that clause had to be amended out of the Emergency Response Act due to public outrage.

What is especially problematic for western Canadians was the Liberal’s continued pursuit of the carbon tax hike. While in the middle of a pandemic where many find themselves unemployed, the Liberals did not think to even delay the 50 percent carbon tax increase despite the fact it will increase prices on store shelves and not just at the pump making rebates only reduce the damage it will cause. 

When President Trump blocked M95 masks needed by medical workers from being shipped into Canada, Trudeau protested but took no substantial action to dissuade the American government from withholding the supplies. 

The pattern here is the federal Liberal government putting the most stringent and burdensome costs onto Canadian citizens while mainly allowing illegal migrants and foreign governments not to suffer any of the consequences of their actions. 

It doesn’t matter if Trudeau and the Liberals have been having a generally decent pandemic response if they keep making completely needless mistakes and or power grabs that show an ignorance of the needs of the average Canadian.

Wexit as a movement is predicated on the distrust of the federal government and their seeming favouritism of come provinces over others. The Liberals embolden this feeling even more when during a pandemic, Canadians are seen to be valued lower than everything foreign. 

When all is taken into account, it is not hard to see why many Western Canadians would want to be in charge of their affairs as the federal government seems to be entirely ignorant of Western interests on top of not even looking to be able to adequately protect them or ease of their wallets during a global pandemic.

If the federal Liberal government wants to reduce separatist sentiments represented by Wexit, it would be best for them to begin to legislate as if they needed Western approval to stay in power. The politician mathematics that has convinced the Liberals they can entirely ignore provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan is not at all healthy in the long run.