In addition to the ethical breaches discussed in the August issue of REALity, Prime Minister Trudeau has carried out a number of other unprincipled actions.

In 2019, he amended the Criminal Code in Bill C-75, claiming such changes were merely housekeeping amendments. Upon review, it appears that some of these amendments amounted to major changes in the criminal law. These amendments were rushed through in June 2019, the last week Parliament sat before the summer recess, prior to the October federal election. In the rush to push this bill through, MPs did not have the opportunity to properly review the amendments, but all the Liberal MPs voted for the amendments anyway.

Some of the amendments in the bill were reasonable. Other changes were controversial and significant.

Some of the Significant Changes in Bill C-75

One of the changes in the Criminal Code was to lower the age of consent for anal sex from 18 years to 16 years. Trudeau had tried to lower the age of consent for anal sex the previous year, but, due to the backlash, was forced to withdraw the legislation. By embedding this provision in Bill C-75, Trudeau succeeded in having it passed, since most of the MPs were unaware of its inclusion in the bill.

Another startling provision included the elimination of the offence of interrupting or disturbing a religious service. Another amendment eliminated the offence of vagrancy.  Why were these offences removed?

Other changes included amending offences that had previously been indictable (that is, major offences) in order to provide an option to reduce these offences to summary offences (minor offences) only; thus, reduced the penalties.

Some of these optional “summary” offences now include the crime of infanticide, crimes that corrupt children such as exploiting a child or performing indecent acts in front of children, counselling or aiding in a suicide, human trafficking, polygamy, and participating in criminal organizations, such as the Mafia or terrorist organizations.

As a result, under the guise of criminal justice reform, Trudeau has changed Canadian society to fit a more liberal interpretation of harm caused.

Further unprincipled actions by Trudeau include:

  • Having successfully slipped through controversial amendments to the Criminal Code in 2019, Trudeau used this approach again in legislation that was supposedly to provide benefits to the public during the pandemic. Trudeau embedded in this legislation sweeping powers for himself to operate for over a two-year period without parliamentary oversight. Fortunately, the opposition parties caught this deceptive attempt that provided Trudeau with unprecedented power, and rejected the provision.
  • Trudeau has consistently provided government grants to only those Canadians who support his policies: For example, the Summer Jobs Program included a provision that benefits could only be provided to a recipient if he or she agreed, with a signed attestation, to abortion, homosexuality, and transgendered rights, regardless of their religious convictions.
  • Trudeau attached restrictions on the pandemic benefit package for corporations, requiring those receiving the grant to agree to climate control measures, provide preferential shares in the corporation for the government, and permit the government to have observers sit on the corporation’s board, among other conditions. Not a single corporation in Canada has agreed to accept this benefit package.
  • To obtain Arab support for his unsuccessful attempt to obtain a seat on the UN Security Council, Trudeau abandoned Canada’s long history of supporting Israel at the UN. In November 2019, Canada voted in favour of an anti-Israel resolution, condemning Israel for erecting a security barrier, which reduced violence in that country.
  • Prior to the Easter long weekend, Trudeau ordered Canadians to remain at home in a tight lockdown. He then was driven to his summer residence at Harrington Lake in Gatineau, Quebec to spend the long weekend with his own family. Trudeau was not alone in his sense of entitlement in regard to the lockdown. Minister of Health Patty Hajdu, travelled back and forth to her home in Thunder Bay on numerous occasions during the lockdown. The Canadian taxpayer paid $73,000 for these weekend flights home. Treasury Board President, Jean-Yves Duclos, also made numerous visits to his home in Quebec City at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak.

Trudeau’s Authoritarian Rule

National Post columnist Rex Murphy describes Trudeau as the “Emperor of Rideau Cottage” from whence he rules the country without parliamentary oversight due to the NDP agreement to suspend Parliament until September 23, 2020. Parliament has only sat for 39 days between the closing of Parliament for summer recess on June 22, 2019, and June of this year, with a few ineffectual virtual Parliaments, at which only a minimal number of MPs are present. There is little opportunity to raise questions during these brief sessions.

Why Trudeau Is Not Embarrassed by His Behaviour

Because of his elitist and privileged background, Trudeau appears to assume that laws do not apply to him, only to the other lesser mortals in the country. A less arrogant and self-absorbed leader would not behave as Trudeau has. Trudeau believes he is a knowledgeable, progressive leader responsible for directing lesser Canadians along his progressive path. He dismisses those Canadians, who do not go along with him, as ignorant and misinformed. Trudeau displays contempt for Parliament and for the public. National Post columnist Conrad Black stated (July 11, 2020) that Trudeau possesses a “self-preening Peter Pan naiveté”.

Canadians Accept Trudeau’s Unprincipled Behaviour

Because Canadians re-elected Trudeau in the 2019 election, it seems that they are prepared to overlook his many scandalous breaches of acceptable behaviour.

These violations received media coverage for a few weeks, the issues died down, were rarely discussed, and were soon forgotten. Canadians seem to take for granted the Liberal Party’s belief that what’s good for the party is good for Canadians.

The conclusion that Canadians forgive and forget the Liberal Party for its errors and corrupt behaviour is made obvious by the fact that the party has been the elected government for the majority of the 20th and into the 21st century. This occurs despite the fact that arrogance, corruption and entitlement are threaded throughout the party’s past and present history. Canadians accept that Liberal self-interest is what Liberals do when in power, and appear willing to ignore it. Examples of the Liberals’ past corruption include the behaviour of former Liberal Prime Minister, Paul Martin, who was previously Finance Minister. At the time, he owned a global shipping company. Martin transferred ownership to his sons in trust under public pressure in 2003. However, during Martin’s term as Minister of Finance, the steamship line received over $100 million in business and government grants. More corruption occurred during the time when Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was Prime Minister. His government bought ads in Quebec from 1996 to 2004, supposedly to support Quebec industries. The Liberal-linked advertising companies did little or no work, but either had Liberal organizers or fundraisers placed on their payrolls or donated funds back to the Liberal Party. Trudeau seems to be following in the footsteps of his predecessors.

As long as Canadians do not demand honesty and integrity from their politicians, they will not have an honest government. History has shown this time and time again.