Calgary Herald

BEST CHOICE FOR CANADA IS SCHEER

-

Canadians need a competent, stable government in a time of global uncertaint­y, a government focused on sound management of our domestic and foreign affairs. That’s why we encourage voters to elect a majority Conservati­ve government on Monday, Oct. 21.

Andrew Scheer’s Conservati­ves are the only choice for those who understand that Canada today requires responsibl­e, pragmatic leadership, and who oppose the free-spending ways of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.

The Conservati­ve platform is a reasonable and practical document to help Canadians struggling to make ends meet while keeping public spending affordable. The Conservati­ves have also vowed to end the Liberals’ divisive approach to national affairs, which has revived the long-dormant discord between east and west. And they are committed to returning much-needed probity to a country whose foreign forays have too often had embarrassi­ng results.

Their fiscal plan is particular­ly welcome, since it foreshadow­s a pro-free market, smaller-tax environmen­t. The Conservati­ves have vowed to eradicate the deficit while reducing taxes over the next five years. The measures they envisage, including a universal tax cut, selling federal real estate and scaling back on travel and hospitalit­y, are reassuring­ly common-sensical ways to ensure that Canada lives within its means.

Then there is Scheer himself. In contrast to Trudeau, he is a man for whom what you see is what you get. He and his party are promising a return to quiet competence and a focus on management of a complex country.

No leader is perfect, and no platform beyond criticism. But after the missteps of the last four years, polls suggest Canadians are unconvince­d that Trudeau’s Liberals have earned re-election. Those reservatio­ns are well founded. The Liberals and Trudeau presented themselves as one thing, and have been shown to be something entirely different.

Trudeau has a weakness for sweeping declaratio­ns that overlook the difficulty of the details. His grand promises for reconcilia­tion with Indigenous Canadians and electoral reform were both scuttled for expediency, as were his claims of fiscal responsibi­lity. “We will balance that budget in 2019,” he promised four years ago. He didn’t. This time around the Liberals are instead promising to add another $90 billion — at least — in debt.

Trudeau himself has twice been found guilty of violating ethics laws, most disturbing­ly in the circumstan­ces surroundin­g the Snc-lavalin affair. Trudeau continues to insist he’s done nothing wrong, despite the federal ethics commission­er ruling that Trudeau had directly and through his senior officials tried to influence attorney general Jody Wilson-raybould in an effort to manipulate an independen­t criminal prosecutio­n of Snc-lavalin for corruption.

Wilson-raybould’s subsequent banishment from cabinet and later the Liberal party after refusing to do so put an end to one of Trudeau’s proudest early boasts about inclusiven­ess and feminism.

That is far from the only occasion upon which Trudeau’s character has been found wanting. While trying to smear his opponents as intolerant, Trudeau was discovered to have appeared in racist blackface photos on several occasions. He has attacked Conservati­ves for being unserious about climate change, while his own government has fallen short of its own carbon-reduction goals.

In 2015, Canadians took a chance on Trudeau and his promise of “sunny ways.” The last four years have left millions disappoint­ed and disillusio­ned. This time, Scheer and the Conservati­ves are the right choice for Canada.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada