Will Justin Trudeau turn Canada into a “basic dictatorship”?

In the wake of the global emergency caused by the coronavirus there are two very important questions that we as a country must ask ourselves.  First, what is the appropriate level of economic trade offs we should make as a country to fight coronavirus? Second, how do we ensure that the civil liberties of Canadians are unaffected long term by sweeping government actions.

The new emergency measures act proposed by the Liberal government seemed to touch on both of these issues in an unsettling way.  The initial bill would have granted Finance Minister Bill Morneau the power to bypass parliament and tax and spend at will all the way up until the end of 2021. 

That is correct, a full 21 months of authoritarian control of our economy.  All of this under a minority government.

I am of the opinion that this should be a serious wake up call to his remaining supporters, since this is not a one-off attempt at a power grab in the middle of a national emergency.   This fits in line with a wider pattern of behavior amassed over his tenure in politics.

Probably the best way to judge people is through their thoughts and actions.  So, what does Justin Trudeau say about authoritarianism? In the 2015 election he infamously stated China was the country he admired the most due to its “basic dictatorship”. 

He reasoning had to do with their dictatorial powers being utilized to promote environmentalism, even though China remains the world’s largest source of emissions.  

Next, and more importantly, we should look at his actions.  Has Justin Trudeau shown a tendency towards authoritarianism?  I would contend that one of the hallmarks of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals is their tendency to run ram through policy/ideology with the strong arm of the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office).  The most famous example would be the entire SNC-Lavalin affair.

A quick recap, SNC-Lavalin is a Quebec-based construction company and major donor to Justin Trudeau and the Liberal party.  When they were going to be found guilty of felony charges related to their conduct in Libya, they asked Justin Trudeau to create a special law to help them out, known as the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA).  Felony charges would have prevented SNC-Lavalin from bidding on government contracts for ten years, so the DPA was a way of admitting guilt but avoiding the consequences.  

To prevent this type of thing from happening Canada has very clear laws against the PMO interfering in matters of the Judiciary.  The reasoning is quite clear. In America they like to talk about the “balance of power” in their government with three branches that all check each other: the legislative, the executive and the Judiciary.  In Canada, the Prime Minister is part of the legislature here combining the powers of the first two branches into one. This leaves the judiciary as a last, and only, line of defense as a counter to a pseudo-dictatorship.   

Despite the fact that there was a glowing red line in front of Justin Trudeau, and both the independent prosecutor and Attorney General at the time, Jody Wilson-Raybould, clearly stated that SNC-Lavalin did not qualify for a DPA he pushed her out of her position and replaced her with an AG more willing to serve his political interests over the country.

The public focused on the part of the scandal that dealt with the initial backdoor political corruption, i.e a quid pro quo, money in exchange for political favours.  However, the greater scandal was that Justin Trudeau almost succeeded in annexing all the powers of government into the PMO.

These are the same Liberals who have started to put money into the media and even floated the idea of forcing media outlets to require a government licence.

The final question that should be asked of Justin Trudeau, is why does he want these powers?  So far, one could make a decent case that the safety of Canadians is not the top priority of this government.

In February, the Liberals gave away 16 tons of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to China, while at the same time refusing to restrict travel and incoming flights from Covid-19 hotspots.  To add to the there were multiple reports, confirmed antidotally several times by friends, that Canada’s “advanced screening” consisted of a pamphlet and the honor system. 

All things considered, does this emergency act grant absolute power to a man who understands the risks and will assume the burden with a heavy heart, or to a man who lusts after power blinded by his own sense of ideological purity?

The old saying “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” should be at the forefront of every Canadian’s mind right now, because if recent history has taught us anything is that this is not Justin Trudeau’s first attempt at a power grab, and most likely will not be his last.