{"id":15192,"date":"2023-01-08T08:48:41","date_gmt":"2023-01-08T13:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/?p=15192"},"modified":"2023-07-24T20:25:52","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T00:25:52","slug":"canadas-bang-on-clarions-or-out-of-touch-contrarians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/?p=15192","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s \u2018bang on\u2019 clarions or \u2018out of touch\u2019 contrarians?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Niagara Independent, January 6, 2023 \u2013<\/em> \u201cCanada is broken,\u201d declared Pierre Poilievre in a Vancouver grocery store last November. The Conservative leader cited high inflation, rising food, housing, and fuel costs in his assessment that \u201cit feels like everything is broken in this country right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

To an audience of 2,000 staff and party faithful at the Liberal Christmas Party Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Poilievre\u2019s claim by stating, \u201cCanada is not broken\u2026 We\u2019re going to get through these tough times because we\u2019re going to do it together.\u201d (With that and a barrage of selfies with adorning Liberal Parliament Hill staffers, Trudeau boarded a flight for his Jamaica holiday vacation.)<\/p>\n

Often whether one believes Canada \u201cis broke\u201d or \u201cnot broken\u201d depends on how a person feels about their current situation. But because the rewards of elected office are so high, our politicians exert great effort spinning compelling narratives to capture the attention and trust of the public. Politicians\u2019 fortunes are directly impacted by Canadians\u2019 view of their personal standard of living and the country\u2019s prosperity and well-being.<\/p>\n

The Canadian media and those commenting on the Ottawa scene are central to how Canadians\u2019 view the news and competency of the country\u2019s leaders and the federal government. There are a select few media today who are cutting through the political rhetoric and Ottawa narratives to deliver clear assessments of the country\u2019s events and happenings. From this scribe\u2019s perspective, it appears the reports from these individuals are becoming increasingly negative, which leads to the question of whether they are clarions or contrarians on Canada\u2019s political leadership?<\/p>\n

Perhaps the best place to start a review of current commentary about leadership in Ottawa is with Canada\u2019s resident news curmudgeon, Rex Murphy. In spite of a career of shedding light on Canadians\u2019 views and aspirations (and much of it at the helm of a CBC flagship show), no media personality today has been ridiculed as much as Murphy by partisan hacksters and the subsidized legacy media. He makes an important distinction in a recent National Post<\/i> column when he observes, \u201cWhen some people say \u201cCanada is broken,\u201d they surely do not mean the country itself, and most certainly not its citizens\u2026.. Canada is by no means broken. But what I have euphemistically called here its system of management is broken\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

For Murphy, the partisan games in Ottawa are the source of Canadians\u2019 weariness: \u201cIt is the product of a craft of professionals, hired for their (dubious) skills in determining opinion or fashioning it, for their skills in playing on issues to divide and to inspire followers, impelled primarily for the winning of office, than for a commitment to honest service to the nation they guide.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another National Post<\/i> opinion piece, John Ivison identifies the PM\u2019s ongoing divisionary tactics as the greatest contributing factor zapping Canadians\u2019 sense of worth. Ivison laments, \u201cThere has been more lethargy than lifting up in evidence of late. Canada is not broken, but it feels frazzled, drained of energy by negativity and regional ruptures.\u201d He makes the point, \u201cTrudeau is not solely responsible for those divisions, but he is most responsible because he has pursued policies designed to offer voters, in the words of one minister, \u201cstark choices.\u201d In other words, the national interest is, and has been, subservient to Liberal party fortunes and the political wedge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cfrazzled\u201d national mood was captured eloquently by Lt.-Gen. Michel Maisonneuve last November. His acceptance speech in receiving the Vimy Award for excellence from Canada\u2019s defence community garnered great media attention \u2013 and it elicited both rebuke and ridicule from many in the Ottawa bubble whose livelihoods depend on propagating the government\u2019s narrative.<\/p>\n

Maisonneuve\u2019s assessment of what ails Canada was frank. He took aim at the woke progressivism that is dominating dialogue in Ottawa and in legacy media. He attacked the legitimacy of the cancel culture with its sense of entitlement, woke journalists with their biased opinionated reporting, left extremists who are toppling statues and erasing history without punishment, and those who shirk personal responsibility by wearing \u201cthe coveted victim\u2019s cloak.\u201d Maisonneuve also skewered the Trudeau government\u2019s sacred policy cow in stating, \u201cCanada\u2019s prosperity is being sacrificed at the altar of climate change\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

On the issue of the country\u2019s leadership, without mentioning anyone specifically, Maisonneuve had this to say, \u201cToday\u2019s leaders must stop dividing those they lead! Hasn\u2019t history shown us that success as a leader demands cohesion, unity and respect of all those they lead \u2014 not just those who agree wholeheartedly with them? Can you imagine a military leader labelling half of his command as deplorables, fringe radicals or less-thans and then expect them to fight as one? Today\u2019s leaders must find a way to unite; not divide.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concluded his speech with the counsel, \u201cLeaders lead. There is a difference between making a good decision, based on research and consultation, and making a decision because it is popular or it polls well. The best decisions are those made for the good of the whole \u2014 not just good for friends of the leader. Today, special interests have trumped the collective good. Making decisions for the collective good requires strength of character, the communications skills to explain, and a great deal of courage.\u201d<\/p>\n

For that honest assessment Maisonneuve was given a standing ovation from the audience, yet he was roundly pilloried by Ottawa\u2019s talking heads as a figure out of touch with current thinking in Canada.<\/p>\n

Another Canadian who has been providing frank assessments of Canada\u2019s political scene has been served notice this week that his views are \u201charmful\u201d and not going to be tolerated. Jordan Peterson is being subjected to a public condemnation by the Ontario College of Psychologists. The College is calling on Peterson to undergo mandatory social-media communication retraining for his political commentary shared on Twitter; as stated in Peterson\u2019s own words \u201cfor holding and for daring to express reprehensible political views.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be clear of the charges, Peterson identifies four specific complaints about his political commentary: criticizing PM Trudeau, retweeting Pierre Poilievre posts on the harms of lockdowns, joking about New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern, and criticizing former PMO principal secretary Gerald Butts as \u201cstunningly corrupt and incendiary fool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Framed as a question of Canadians\u2019 rights and freedom of speech, this argument is sure to captivate news headlines for weeks to come. Peterson sums up the significance of the fight in this way: \u201cWe are now in a situation in Canada under Justin Trudeau where practicing professionals can have their livelihoods and public reputations threatened in a very serious manner for agreeing with the Official Opposition and criticizing major government figures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether one considers Jordan Peterson, Rex Murphy, John Ivison, and Michel Maisonneuve as \u201cbang on\u201d clarions or \u201cout of touch\u201d contrarians is not so much the point as is their right to hold and make known their views of the country\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

To repeat, there are knowledgeable and insightful personalities that Canadians can depend on to shed light on what is occurring in the country. There are reliable news sources like Blacklock\u2019s Reporter <\/i>where Canadians can still find objective journalism and not the official government spin so often repeated in the subsidized legacy media. And aside from those already mentioned, here are a dozen more, reliable individuals who have been credibly assessing whether Canada is broke or not: Terry Glavin, Tristan Hopper, David Mulroney, Dan McTeague, Mathew Lau, Lorrie Goldstein, David Pugliese, Don Braid, Rupa Subramanya, Andy Lee, Anthony Furey, and Fr. Raymond deSouza.<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s more of both clarions and contrarians Canadians need to continue to hear from \u2013 \u00a0 unless, that is, you are comfortable with the narrative recounted by our PM and others in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

Chris George<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of\u00a0CG&A COMMUNICATIONS<\/a>. Contact:\u00a0ChrisG.George@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

LINK:\u00a0 https:\/\/niagaraindependent.ca\/canadas-bang-on-clarions-or-out-of-touch-contrarians\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Niagara Independent, January 6, 2023 \u2013 \u201cCanada is broken,\u201d declared Pierre Poilievre in a Vancouver grocery store last November. The Conservative leader cited high inflation, rising food, housing, and fuel costs in his assessment that \u201cit feels like everything is broken in this country right now.\u201d To an audience of 2,000 staff and party…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[76],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15192"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15192"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15194,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15192\/revisions\/15194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}