Serenity now? The most telling comment from the inquiry
Re: A ‘serene’ Justin Trudeau fails to justify using the Emergencies Act, John Ivison, Nov. 25; and Trudeau’s inquiry gamble pays off, Rupa Subramanya, Dec. 1
In his testimony at the inquiry into the invocation of the Emergencies Act, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that he was “absolutely serene” with his decision to invoke the act. That was indeed a troubling statement that gave us yet another glimpse into his indifference to civil liberties and his primary focus on calculated political opportunism.
In effect he stated that he was calm and at peace with his decision to bring into effect the most powerful legislation in our country to subdue protesting citizens. A perhaps more introspective person would have struggled and would continue to struggle with the decision to clamp down on people’s rights. To me this was the most telling comment from the inquiry, illustrating that this “leader” would have no second thoughts about invoking the act again.
Andrew D. Weldon, Calgary
Justin Trudeau said he was “serene” that he made the right decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. Of course he is serene and of course he feels he made the right decision. No one doubts that for a minute.
What he didn’t say was for whom that decision was the right one. Obviously it was the right decision for him politically but, equally obviously, not for the country, the Canadian people, or the Constitution. Lloyd Vinish, Kelowna, B.C.
The Freedom Convoy did not appear out of nowhere. What was missing in the testimony before the Emergencies Act inquiry was any investigation or acknowledgment of the root causes for the protests that occurred in Ottawa, Windsor, Coutts and at a number of provincial legislatures across the country.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “absolutely serene” with his decision to invoke the act and in so doing subvert the rights and freedoms of Canadians. But where was any reflection about the inconsistent and arbitrary application of public health measures by his government, the general incompetence of his government in providing services to citizens, and his childish name calling, in fuelling the already simmering anger over the politics of regional, cultural and racial division he practices that excludes any Canadian who happens not to share his world view?
The Freedom Convoy was a symptom of discontent across Canada that is being ignored by Trudeau, his fellow Liberals and their NDP enablers. The need to invoke the Emergencies Act said more about Trudeau’s hubris and failures as a leader than it said about the Canadians he labelled a “fringe minority.” Paul Clarry, Aurora, Ont.