Justin Trudeau had no need to apologize for his comments about Alberta politicians

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      Late last night on CBC, I watched a repeat of Peter Mansbridge's At Issue panel, in which the three pundits sent a unified message that Justin Trudeau had made a serious error in two-year-old comments about Alberta politicians.

      In 2010, Trudeau said in a French-language interview that Canada wasn't doing well because Albertan politicians control the agenda in the country, and this doesn't work. He also said that the great prime ministers of last century came from Quebec.

      When the three At Issue panelists—Andrew Coyne, Chantal Hébert, and tar-sands industry consultant Bruce Anderson—come together like this, politicians hop to attention. It's not an issue that none of them has distinguished themselves by having any serious passion for addressing climate change, unlike other central Canadian journalists like William Marsden and Jeffrey Simpson.

      Sure enough in response to the At Issue panel's chiding, Trudeau issued the requisite grovelling apology in Vancouver the following morning.

      Earlier in the week, Liberal MP David McGuinty also apologized and stepped down as the party's energy critic after lambasting Alberta MPs for focusing too much attention on fossil fuels and not enough on renewables.

      The Conservatives are making a big deal out of these Liberals' statements because they're scared about losing Calgary Centre in tomorrow's by-election.

      Not all Alberta politicians are knuckle-dragging troglodytes. Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi and Edmonton Stratchcona NDP MP Linda Duncan are proof that Albertans are very capable of electing progressive, broad-minded politicians. Former premier Peter Lougheed had statesman-like qualities.

      But let's not kid ourselves. They're in the minority. Anyone who has read Calgary writer Andrew Nikiforuk's book Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent knows how contemptuous the Alberta provincial government has been about environmental issues. Face facts, folks: it's a petrostate, with all that this entails.

      Premier Alison Redford's refusal to share a penny of the financial bonanza with B.C. over the Enbridge pipeline is further proof of this shortsighted thinking.

      And the bulk of the federal Conservative caucus in Ottawa is a national embarrassment. So I would argue that Trudeau was accurate in declaring in 2010 that Canada wasn't doing well because Albertan politicians control the agenda in the country. I also agree with him when he said that the great prime ministers of last century came from Quebec.

      Let's start with the prime ministers

      Does anyone honestly believe that R.B. Bennett, John Diefenbaker or Robert Borden could match Pierre Trudeau's record of accomplishment in bringing in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? This cleared the way for greater equality for gays and lesbians (even though they weren't specifically mentioned in the equality-rights section), the disabled, First Nations, women, refugee claimants, and other disadvantaged groups.

      North Vancouver historian Daniel Francis conclusively demonstrated in his book Seeing Reds: The Red Scare of 1918-1919, Canada's First War on Terror that Borden had perhaps the least regard of all prime ministers for civil liberties. This made Trudeau's ruthless handling of the FLQ crisis look quaint by comparison.

      Toronto-born Lester B. Pearson is widely hailed as a great prime minister, but anyone who read Yves Engler's devastating book about the Nobel laureate would dispense with that notion. Engler reveals how Pearson facilitated the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, making him, in the eyes of Noam Chomsky, a war criminal.

      Long-time Liberal prime minister Mackenzie King, who was born in Kitchener (then known as Berlin), Ontario, locked up Japanese Canadians and stymied efforts to bring in reforms proposed by the CCF.

      His successor, Louis St. Laurent—who was from Quebec—was the one who introduced hospital insurance, universal old-age pensions, and the Canada Council. Sure, St. Laurent let his powerful industry minister C.D. Howe and his industrialist friends run amok over the economy, but St. Laurent still stacks up pretty well against the others.

      One of the finest prime ministers in Canadian history was Quebec's Sir Wilfred Laurier, who worked tirelessly to bring French and English Canada together. I'm not a fan of another Quebec prime minister of the 20th century, Brian Mulroney, but he was ahead of his time on environmental issues. And I give Jean Chrétien credit for slaying the deficit, even if this was on the backs of the provinces and resulted in the elimination of national standards for welfare. And keep in mind that Chrétien didn't send Canadian troops to get slaughtered in Iraq as part of George W. Bush's coalition of the willing.

      The other 20th-century prime ministers—Kim Campbell, John Turner, Joe Clark, Arthur Meighen—were mere asterisks, not serving long enough to warrant comparison with the others.

      So on balance, Justin Trudeau was correct when he stated that the best prime ministers of the last century were from Quebec. Nothing to apologize for there.

      What about Alberta's politicians?

      Trudeau suggested that Canada wasn't doing well because the country is led by Albertans. Let's look at some of them on an individual basis.

      Prime Minister Stephen Harper He has overseen the largest budget deficits in history, refused to pay serious attention to climate change, lost Canada a position on the UN Security Council, headed a party that runs unethical and dishonest attack ads, overseen a government that muzzles scientists, slashed aid to Africa, claimed the F-35 fighter contract was $15 billion when the parliamentary budget officer put the cost at $29 billion, and gone to court to try to shut down Vancouver's supervised-injection site.

      Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney He has overseen "reforms" that jacked up deportations, made it easier to deport people to countries where they face a likelihood of being killed, tried to refuse to offer public health care to refugee claimants, made it more difficult for family-class immigrants to come to Canada, and sharply increased the importation of temporary foreign workers. On the upside, he has spoken in favour of welcoming gay and lesbian refugees.

      Public Works and Government Services Minister Rona Ambrose Long considered one of the least effective cabinet ministers, she oversaw the Harper's government's dreadful response to climate change during its first term. The public-works ministry came under scathing criticism from the auditor general for lowballing the cost of F-35 fighter jets. As the minister for the status of women, Ambrose voted in favour of a motion that would have reopened the national debate on abortion.

      Tim Uppal (Minister of State for Democratic Reform) What can you say about someone whose job is to promote democratic reform who has had nothing critical to say about the robocall scandal, in which Conservative campaign operatives appear to have sent voters to the wrong polling stations on election day?

      Diane Ablonczy (Minister of State for Foreign Affairs [Americas and Consular Affairs]) The Harper government's foreign policy in Latin America largely consists of seeking trade deals and promoting the Canadian mining industry, often against the interests of indigenous populations. She approved funding for Toronto Pride Week, which resulted in Harper taking this responsibility away from her—and she didn't resign on principle, preferring to remain a member of the Conservative team. The "Marquee Tourism Events" program, which she oversaw, shortchanged B.C. and shuffled money to such dubious causes as the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos football teams. She's left a rather light footprint in Ottawa after two decades in Parliament.

      Ted Menzies (Minister of State for Finance) As I mentioned earlier, Canada is running up the largest budget deficits in history, and Menzies is the lieutenant to the finance minister. If Menzies would take the time to read former U.S. labor secretary Robert Reich's latest book, Beyond Outrage: What Has Gone Wrong With Our Economy and Our Democracy, and How to Fix It, he might see the light. But it's not likely to occur, given that Menzies opposed allowing parents to deduct contributions to their registered education savings plans for their kids' postsecondary schooling.

      Michelle Rempel (Parliamentary secretary to the minister of environment) This rookie MP can be relied on to go on TV to defend the Conservative government's appalling record on climate change. I wish one of those CBC or CTV broadcasters will ask her if she feels that the government's policies have any connection to Superstorm Sandy. Or they could ask how she might feel in 15 or 20 years if a major city like New York has to be evacuated due to safety concerns, because these 1,000-a-year storms would then be happening two or three times a year, thanks to climate change. At what point do politicians like Rempel and her boss, Harper, have to start taking responsibility in this area?

      Rob Anders (Calgary West MP) Anders is notorious for being the only MP to vote against honorary citizenship for Nelson Mandela, claiming he was a communist and a terrorist. The most Republican member of the House of Commons, Anders can be relied on for making stupid statements about same-sex marriage and Canadian physician Norman Bethune, and for comparing the Beijing Olympics to the 1936 Games in Berlin. He's also a big supporter of the Wildrose Alliance, which is the most right-wing Opposition party in the country.

      I could go through the rest of the Alberta caucus, but you're getting the picture. They're not all stupid. James Rajotte in Edmonton-Leduc has demonstrated some common sense in trying to address identity theft, Alzheimer's disease, and the extent of financial illiteracy in Canada. But for the most part, the MPs coming from Alberta are a fairly sorry lot.

      From my vantage point as a born-and-raised western Canadian, I see no reason for Justin Trudeau to apologize for saying the country's in bad shape because of Alberta politicians.

      I'm sorry that Trudeau said he was sorry. His father probably would have just given those CBC pundits the finger.

      Comments

      18 Comments

      judi sommer

      Nov 25, 2012 at 12:40pm

      Hi Charlie. An insightful report card on the Tory players coming from this province. I just wish that Justin had said he had issue with Harper's governing style as well as many of his ministers. Canadians are smart enough to connect the dots to know many of the players you mentioned came from Alberta. And as far as the unfortunate David McGinty is concerned, I can well-imagine why he said what he did:a welling up of frustration dealing with Tories in his committees. I religiouly watch QP and am appalled that no answers to questions are given-only sneering attacks by individuals like Pierre P. If I get angry watching this, I can only imagine how the opposition feel. I found the interview with Ms Remple with Evan Solomon very telling: She ws asked whether Harper should be held to the same standard she set for Justin when Harper had accused folks from the East Coast of being lazy to explain big unemployment there. Her response deflected the question by stating Harper had proven he can help the economy through his jobs and prosperity plan. Evan continued to press her for an answer but she then said Justin hadn't apologized often enough. What a laugh. Apologizing is not in the Tory political tool kit. What hypocrites!!

      keith cummings

      Nov 25, 2012 at 12:49pm

      excellent article, I couldn't agree more.

      Mark Fornataro

      Nov 25, 2012 at 1:04pm

      Reminds me of former Vancouver Mayor Mike Harcourt apologizing for calling Kissinger a war criminal after the Vancouver Sun chastised him for doing so(Harry Rankin on the other hand, stuck to his guns); made me apoplectic! As for Premier Alison Redford, looks like she is now trying to swing a deal with Quebec to move Alberta oil. Hopefully the provinces in between will not be complicit in accommodating the dirty tarsand industry.

      Sam d

      Nov 25, 2012 at 2:17pm

      Stay classy BC

      James Wolfe

      Nov 25, 2012 at 3:14pm

      Who is this hypocrite Trudeau? What does he really stand for?

      "Let me say very clearly that I support Bill 101," Trudeau said Thursday.

      "It is a reality that helps Quebec remain mainly French in a bilingual country. If we want Canada to remain bilingual — and I want it — we need to understand that Quebec must remain primarily francophone." Justin Trudeau

      "Canada isn't doing well right now because it's Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda. It doesn't work," Trudeau said in French to interviewer Patrick Lagace on the Tele-Quebec program Les francs-tireurs (The Straight Shooters).

      Lagace then asked Trudeau if he thought Canada was "better served when there are more Quebecers in charge than Albertans?"

      Trudeau replied: "I'm a Liberal, so of course I think so, yes. Certainly when we look at the great prime ministers of the 20th century, those that really stood the test of time, they were MPs from Quebec... This country - Canada - it belongs to us."

      Trudeau specifically named prime ministers Pierre Trudeau, Chretien and Paul Martin but also included Progressive Conservative Mulroney on his list of great Quebec prime ministers of the last century.

      “I always say that if, at a given time, I
      believed that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper, and that we were
      going against abortion, that we were going against gay marriage, that we were
      moving backwards in 10,000 different ways, maybe I would think of wanting to
      make Quebec a country,” when the interviewer asked for clarification he replied
      “Oh yes, absolutely. If I no longer recognized Canada, I know my own
      values very well.” Justin Trudeau

      .” ….Given these facts, should French-speaking people concentrate their efforts on Quebec or take the whole of Canada as their base? In my opinion, they should do both; and for the purpose they could find no better instrument than federalism”, Pierre Trudeau,.

      Justin Trudeau supports the racist, bigoted, xenophobic bill 101. Yes he supports a French only Kebec (proper native spelling) and forced french “bilingualism” all over the country, nice eh? Just like daddy a French first, Kebec first bigot, hypocrite, from the province of the Qlue Qlux Qlan. Get back to the tax and spend, have not, high debt, socialist province of Kebec and shut up you parasite Trudeau, yes Kebec where you fit right in.

      Andrew

      Nov 25, 2012 at 4:46pm

      All I have to say is unbelievable... The fact that you can dismiss Trudeau's anti-Alberta rhetoric as nothing???? If a conservative said anything like this about a quebecor it would be game on... Disgusting

      Doctor

      Nov 25, 2012 at 5:42pm

      Under the Harpo regime, anyone who is educated, intelligent and principled should apologize for being elitist! Off to the re-education (tar-sands) camps with you!

      Gene Logan

      Nov 25, 2012 at 7:50pm

      I'm certain there are a lot of decent people in Alberta, however, having said that, Albertan values are not Canadian values. Not any more. I don't remember when it started, but I recall an Alberta in the 90's that poached head offices in Vancouver, while BC was in recession, and then turned around and gave welfare applicants bus tickets to the west coast. Albertans have become the loud and brash "ugly americans" of Confederation and with the rise of the teabaggish Wild Rose party look to be moving further to the right and further out of sync with the rest of the country.

      The problem is the oil, the money. Like Donald Trump, these days Alberta thinks they can foist their hateful southern US neo con agenda on the rest of Canada simply because they're wealthy ... and they did it all themselves.

      teth adam

      Nov 25, 2012 at 8:39pm

      i don't see how anyone can rationally support the comments Justin Trudeau made against Albertans as anything but bigotry.

      If the same comments were directed at Quebecers, I could only imagine the howls of indignation and outrage.

      The hypocrisy here is appalling.

      Jenny from Ontario

      Nov 25, 2012 at 8:53pm

      What a great, sober article with facts and references. We need more reporters like you.