The truth behind Trudeau

The liberals were Canada’s best choice

Author: scott pettigrew – contributor

Canada was desperate for a change. We had a Prime Minister who, despite his excellent fiscal record, was making some seriously offside moves and making a lot of people angry. Bill C-51, to me, was the ultimate holy grail of this phenomenon. When I read that bill, I felt totally betrayed by my government. The government that was supposed to represent and uphold conservative values decided that it was going to follow the disastrous example of Bush’s Patriot Act in the United States. As a so-called “Conservatarian”, one who believes in fiscal responsibility and social liberalism, in theory, I would be the Conservative party’s ideal voter. However, I am going to tell you why I voted Liberal, and why the Liberal party was by far and away the best choice for the future of our nation.

Let’s make one thing clear; I hate coercion and force. I hate when people think they know better than others, sticking their noses in your business and making it theirs. Now, when it comes to government, compromise must be made, but there are lines to be drawn. Those lines are clearly spelled out in a document entitled “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” If a party crosses that line, you are never getting my support. Unfortunately, Mr. Harper thought that infringing upon my rights was a great way to fight terrorism (just get a warrant). With that decision, he completely lost my faith.  As well, it is safe to assume that he would do it again. After all, if it’s acceptable to do away with one of your rights, then why not all of them? Needless to say, Mr. Harper was most definitely not getting my vote.

At this point, we arrive at other options. Voting NDP would simply result in removing government’s nose from your social rights, only to plant it firmly into your economic rights. Contrary to popular belief, in a free society, your money is YOUR money, not the government’s money. If stripping you of any expectation to keep most/any of the profits of your labour isn’t bad enough, you could almost certainly guarantee that Mr. Mulcair would extend and entrench government expenditures, and drastically hike taxes on business. When governments do this, many businesses either leave or create fewer jobs, and governments simply start borrowing money to pay all of their little projects and programs. Part of that money goes to create excessive amounts of government jobs to make it look like the economy is somewhat healthy, part of it is used to pay for lavishly expensive government programs, part of it goes to subsidize industries that are no longer profitable, but all of it creates an ever-quickening downward spiral into chaos.

Now, let’s look at the Liberal party. I’ll start with the not-so-great; Trudeau plans on running deficits. I’m not enthusiastic about that by nature. However, to be fair, Keynesian economics can have positive effects in the short term. Suffice to say, I’m not thrilled, but I’m also not crying bloody murder about it either; we’ll have to wait and see. Also, the Liberal party doesn’t plan to completely scrap Bill C-51, which is disappointing to say the least. That said, Trudeau’s actions have shown him to be somebody who values transparency in government, so expect to see a far more public debate around the specifications of the bill and the changes that will be made. There are other things I don’t like about the party, most of which revolving around their tax policy and fiscal planning. That said, I think the long term positive benefits of a Liberal government will outweigh the short-term negatives that go along with his cancelling of income splitting and tax bracket adjustments. After all, politics isn’t about picking angles; it’s about finding the best of the worst.

In addition, with the Liberals, we will most likely witness the end to the most unjust and destructive global policy of the late 20th century: the war on drugs. The war on drugs, besides being totally ineffective in preventing drug usage and costing the global community untold amounts of money every year, is a major contributor to Latin American violence and poverty, and most importantly, creates a massive profit opportunity for violent criminals. In fact, I strongly argue that our future generations will look back on the war on drugs in a very negative light. Now, the Liberals aren’t going to legalize and regulate all drugs, but they are taking a far bolder step than anyone else to come before them. I don’t smoke pot, but it’s not about the pot; it’s about human rights, third world poverty, and supporting a series of heavily-corrupted governments that rely on Western drug money to survive.

So is the Liberal platform perfect? Far from it. However, given the political situation that we were faced with, the Liberal party was the best choice for our country. Across the aisle, I look forward to seeing the Conservative party refocus and restructure its platform, and seek a completely new path forward. The niqab-hating, rights-snatching, “neo-Conservative” ideology that wrapped itself around the Conservative Party now lies where it belongs; in a rotting grave. Perhaps next election, the country will vote Conservative; perhaps the party will understand that the only way to win the hearts and minds of young voters is through fiscal and social freedom, not one or the other. Until then, however, the Liberal party will preside over our great nation, and many necessary foundational changes will be made. Once again, the citizens of this great nation have made the best choice, and Canada will be forever changed because of it.