How to Kill a Nation

David Solway04 May, 2020 4 Min Read
There's a sucker born every minute.

There are many ways to destroy a nation’s economy, folkways and political stability, and Canada’s socialist Prime Minister Justin Trudeau -- aka PMJT -- good Liberal that he is, seems to have mastered many of them. Of course, socialism is the national killer par excellence—the historical register is dispositive and unforgiving. Socialism comes in many forms, from hard communism to “social democracy,” but sooner or later the end result is always collapse.

Trudeau, a family friend of the late Fidel Castro and an admirer of China’s “basic dictatorship,” is no slouch at the fine art of social and economic destruction. A passionate feminist, an LGBTQ++ supporter, a Keynesian spender in the raw (but without lowering taxes), a social justice warrior, a purveyor of illegal and Third World immigration, and a Prime Minister who believes Canada has “no core identity,” PMJT has presided in any way he can over the slow death of the country he was elected to serve.

He has deprived Canadians of legal firearms, rendering them defenseless against criminal attack or, for that matter, violent state intrusion. He has imposed an augmented and punishing carbon tax in the very midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has no purpose or effect except to hamper enterprise and enrich government. He has bribed the Canadian press with a handout of nearly $600 million, in addition to his previous $675 million pledge to Canada’s Public Broadcaster, widely known as the Liberal government’s propaganda arm. Conrad Black rightly describes the CBC as “an infestation of leftist biases and…often grossly unprofessional.” PMJT funds abortion advocacy in Africa, Latin America and elsewhere to the tune of $650 million. He has increased the national debt exponentially and in so doing indebted our children and grandchildren in perpetuity.

He has also followed the pattern established by his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who gave us the National Energy Program (NEP) which forced Alberta producers to sell their oil at a discount, severely damaged the province’s bottom line and more than doubled the unemployment rate; similarly, the son has worked diligently to strangle the country’s most important resource sector, the oil and gas industry, earning his sobriquet as the pipeline-killer. Tom Finnerty points out that “the energy sector has contributed more to the Canadian economy over the past 20 years than any other.” Oil is Alberta’s lifeblood, which is being drained in imperial gallons as unemployment skyrockets. Since Alberta is the major contributor to the transfer or equalization payments that keep the rest of the country afloat, a fiscal reckoning has become inevitable.

As is the case with many budding totalitarians—one thinks of the self-empowered governors of Democrat-controlled states south of the border—the coronavirus proved a crisis too good to waste, a veritable godsend to promote the consolidation of power. Keep it going. This may be why Trudeau’s Hong Kong-born Chief Health Officer Theresa Tam religiously followed the pro-Chinese diktats of the World Heath Organization, lied about the mode of viral transmission, and even removed vital health information regarding China from airport message screens during COVID-19, allowing for flights from China into the country while exposing Canadians to deadly risk. Indeed, considering the Sinophile policies of our political masters, we might refer to the pandemic as CHINA-19.

Trudeau put the country into extended lockdown with no clear exit plan, arranging matters so that there could be no rational re-assessment of the policy as the situation changed and the viral curve “flattened.” How did he do this?  By passing the Canada Emergency Response Benefit which provides $2000 per month to workers who have lost their jobs—for a period of four months. The policy looks compassionate but, as we will see, sets a precedent that heralds a condition of economic paralysis.

Trudeau has often been denounced as a woolly-headed ignoramus, a political clown and a charlatan—an accurate summation of his dubious abilities. Yet he must be given credit for a kind of dissimulating cleverness. Despite the lockdown order, entrepreneurs are devising ways to continue doing a modicum of business. Restaurants and coffee shops, for example, are relying on take-out and pick-up strategies to remain trickle-subsistent.

I was speaking just the other day to the operator of a small coffee shop who, standing behind a glass partition, serves up gelato and expresso to passers-by. “I have no servers,” he says, “nobody wants to work.” Why would anyone go back to the job if they are guaranteed a monthly stipend for remaining idle? If for some reason the economy is forced to open again, thanks to a swell of citizen protesters fed up with quarantine measures—admittedly, a possible but unlikely proposition—the restaurateur will be on his own for the months to come. Business will suffer for lack of personnel. After all, the promise of four months is enshrined in law and cannot be walked back.

Thus commerce will remain hobbled and the nation will suffer while a command economy and state socialism are progressively reinforced. The habit of self-sufficiency, the dignity of work and personal industriousness are gradually weakened as the state steps in to provide for its new-minted dependents—especially if, as many plausibly fear, PMJT resists the clamor for the restoration of liberty, and the bought-and-paid for media goes on playing the COVID frenzy game—great for selling newspapers, attracting viewers and promoting the government agenda. The curve may never sufficiently flatten and Canada may remain in stasis indefinitely. Four months of freebies may become who knows how many months—a tactic I would not put past an oligarchic socialist.

Certainly the parasitical class—the bloat of government workers and the hundreds of thousands of teachers paid for staying at home—would not object. Unless, as noted, he faces substantial public pushback, this would arguably be Trudeau’s preferred scenario, enabling him to further assert his authority, morbid inflation and economic collapse notwithstanding. In time, as Maggie Thatcher memorably said, socialism eventually runs out of other people’s money, but Trudeau does not understand economics. The budget will balance itself, he once quipped, although the national debt is now approaching $700 billion while the latest Parliamentary Budget Officer estimate is that the 2020 deficit will be $252 billion owing to the pandemic response.

Trudeau may not be very bright but he is sublimely devious. People may gradually get used to being fixed in fiduciary amber and protests will peter out. Big Daddy will take care of everything and the individual citizen can kiss both liberty and prosperity good-bye. The national character will grow enfeebled—more so than at present—new laws will proliferate, the oil sands will dry up, services will decline, supply chains will be disrupted, goods and foodstuffs will grow scarcer, but no matter. So long as there is an alluring $2000 per month and enough toilet paper to go around, it seems that hegemonic socialism may win the day.

Choose forward!

 

David Solway is a Canadian poet and essayist. His most recent volume of poetry, The Herb Garden, appeared in spring 2018. His manifesto, Reflections on Music, Poetry & Politics, was released by Shomron Press in spring 2016. He has produced two CDs of original songs: Blood Guitar and Other Tales and Partial to Cain, on which he was accompanied by his pianist wife Janice Fiamengo. His latest book is Notes from a Derelict Culture.

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26 comments on “How to Kill a Nation”

  1. It is without a doubt that our so called leader PMJT is so far out of touch with how to take care of our country. To begin with don't people realize that every penny he is giving out now during Covid will have to be paid back in the form of taxes. Can anyone imagine our tax rates in the near future. So much for middle class.
    Don't people realize that Canada could be the richest country in the world if it wasn't for Liberal corruption. With the energy we have to supply our own country let alone the rest of the world we could phase into green energy easily and still provide Canada with the highest living standard in the world. That would be the way to help the rest of the world and not use tax money for handouts.
    Taxation only depletes our economy and if our governments would realize that by having lower taxes and more money going into the economy via your spending and mine that they would have sufficient money to run this country.
    Common sense no longer exists in our society and it is lacking most with politicians.

  2. Jim Gehl says
    David Solway has a fairly complete list of Trudeau's incompetence , but the list is longer. We can't forget the embarrassing India "Mr. Dressup" trip and his trip to see the Aga Khan; His attempt to appease Quebec in the SNC Lavalin affair and his treatment of Jodie Wilson Rebaud; His attempts to kill the oil industry with the Tanker ban, which cancelled Northern Gateway,,Bill C 69 which effectively canceled energy east. His war on small business with his tax reform:. the useless carbon tax: immigration policy which allowed for "irregular" border crossing. increasing the national debt more that any other Prime Minister
    Quite a list and it can be longer
    Basically there was never anything in Mr. T'rudeau's resume that would quality him to run a lemonade stand, but here he is our Prime Minister.
    His focus as Prime Minister has really been in three areas, gender equality, indigenous rights and climate change.
    The economy??? An economic illiterate!!!

    .

  3. Excellent article although future doesn't look promising. in spite of the many men and women
    who fought in several wars to ensure just that for their country.
    Don't consider change of government will help since All politicians are only concerned about being re-elected. I've always considered one of the biggest problems with our government is our adherence to the party system. Something is very wrong when a politician follows the party line rather than working for his/her constituents.

  4. The Republic of Western Canada is long over due. The socialists, Islamists and welfare parasites of the Left can reap it. See what life is like when Alberta keeps it's cash.

  5. Why do most writers on j.trudeau omit that he has made CANADA into an ISLAMIC state to officially join the ISLAMIC STABLE IN TIME. ARE WE MORE CONCERNED WITH NOT BEING CALLED RACIST AND BIGOTS THAN REALITY? POOR WIMPS AND POLITICALLY CORRECT CANADIANS ARE IN FOR SHOCK ,ONE THEY WILL NEVER GET RID OF.

  6. The last commentator does not understand our system. Elected reps will never protest anything and threaten their pensions/positions. Canadians get to vote every 4 years and after that, nobody is listening. Unless your MP is a cabinet minister giving you the right to request an additional Port-a-Potty in your neighbourhood, you don't exist.
    Quebec needs to go down the road on their own....without the $13 billion a year transfer payment. That would be the beginning of a re-birth for the country.

  7. there are more people in government than the PM. where are they? why dont they raise their voices. why dont they write editorial pieces like this one. are they all asleep. Canadians depend upon their elected representatives to keep the government on the right path.

  8. maybe Mr Trudeau should recognize the rest of the country , not only Quebec , Ontario and indiginous people .
    maybe then we could move on. Lets use our taxes for the Canadian population first then help others after.

  9. Justin Trudope's Brain was damaged by drugs before birth ! And he has Inherited the same Mental Illness as his Mother ! He is NOT FIT to be PM of Canada.

  10. Without a doubt this article hit the nail right on the head, hopefully we will eventually lean from our neighbours south of us.

  11. Bilge ! But at least it provides a venting forum for the like-minded. Trudeau is certainly not perfect but then perfection is something claimed only by his critics. The so-called right seems to get up each morning looking for stuff to blame on the left. A look at this right-leaning world should at least give them cause for self-reflection but no....blame it on " The Left ".

  12. We would never vote for the Lieberals ,but the other choice is worse. (Conservative ) who are under the control of free enterprise criminals. Alberta was raped by local and foreign free enterprise for 50 years. Governments in Canada have given the private sector and
    entrepreneurs billions of dollars to get started and the return was 13 1/2 percent.
    The working man in Canada does not place his profit in off shore banks. Bombardier and
    SNC Lavalan are two corporate welfare companies. Quebec is a welfare province. Mr Solway ,guess you wouldn't consider the free enterprise system as "Pigs at the public trough "

  13. Over the past several years I have heard every negative descriptor leveled against Justin Trudeau and the former Trudeau that go beyond any negative qualities usually contributed to the human race. Both of them each possessed a unique characteristic often not recognized.......they are evil.

  14. Ontario and Quebec need to separate and we in the West go our own way. English as the only official language. Low/Zero immigration. Focus on building through family. Women return to the homes to look after their children; men return to building businesses and the country. God as the center of our lives. Focus on minimizing government and regulatory bureaucracy, living simply, family centered, safe communities with history and culture centered in our European Christian roots. This article points out the problem but offers no solution. This is the solution. The future is the past.

  15. Mr. Solway has said it all, and for Canadians the real virus was here well before the Corona version, which doesn't have a solution as yet.
    The PMJT - VIRUS has an upcoming date already, that will allow the whole country, - - WHAT MIGHT STILL BE LEFT - - TO GET OUT OF QUARANTINE ?
    The $2,ooo.00's paid if not used, can be returned or will be a taxable benefit,
    [ maybe some tax deferred ], SO SMARTEN UP CANADA - - SOONER, THAN LATER - - !

  16. Thank you for the reasoned reminder and reveal. More is required and needs broader and deeper application. Government is distinguishable from business as a system in which authority and responsibility vest without accountability. It's a good gig for marginal performers and the indifferent. Misery loves company and so that malaise spills into the market and society bringing predictable outcomes: lower productivity and increased apathy. We have to address that infection rate too.

  17. Ontario and Quebec have no reason to change. They are the beneficiaries of Liberal largesse as the party uses taxpayer money to buy their votes. Our confederation is possibly beyond saving. The only question is how passive the breakup will be.

  18. Very well stated....when will the younger generation wake up and realize the we are now half way to being a communist country! We desperately need stronger opposition leaders, to combine their efforts to get rid of this ‘commie’ government!

  19. Mr. Solway is correct in every instance. Canada is being destroyed from the inside by a closet communist.
    Very sadly the "problem with Canada is the people in it", who continue to accept this fallacy of "progressiveness" without fully understanding that Canadian liberalism is covert Communism in disguise considering that Trudeau junior publicly admires the Chines Communist government. I fear for my grand children and two wonderful great grand sons

  20. Congratulations to Mr. Solway,. You have"hit the nail on the head" beautifully!!

  21. Mr. Solway, a decade or so ago, I coined a phrase that describes the essence of Canada: "Canada is the only nation on the planet in which an Anglophone majority is subservient to a Francophone minority." If the weakness is attributable, in the main, to any one population, it would be Ontario. Recall when les Quebecois campaigned to leave the confederation and go it alone; Ontarians raised their collective voice and begged them to stay. Remember when Trudeau Elder declared that Canada would be, henceforth, officially bilingual? Canadians nodded and murmured 'OK'. Remember when Trudeau Elder declared that henceforth Canada would use the metric system even as our largest trading partner would continue using the English system? Canadians nodded and murmured 'Ok'. If further evidence were needed, recall that is was Ontarians who, in the main, voted to give Justine Trudeau a second term in office. Indeed, the entire nation has the gumption and fortitude of a sapling in a forest of stalwart trees.

  22. A horrifying critique of the colonization of the private sphere by criminal, centralized power. When the money runs out and hyper-inflation hits, when the streets look like Venezuela, all hell will break loose, and the donkey will lose more than his ears.

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