We are angry! But barring civil unrest what are the avenues available for dissent? The problem is that there is no mechanism for recall. Rep by pop might be a start. Our voices have been suppressed by the corrupted media. The average Canadian despises the Liberal government's authoritarian socialism and their continued efforts to control any all aspects of our lives. I hope and pray that the swing voters are not swayed by Mark Carney the newest globalist plant. If our country enters a recession ( or worse) due to the economic steps that Trump says he will mandate, we only have Trudeau and his sycophants to blame.
It is discouraging to see that there is not truly effective way to express our discontent. We can speak out here and in other like minded forums, read the National Post, and complain about the CBC, but none of this reaches family and friends who are firmly grounded in the media's approved narrative. My elation over the reception I saw Canadians give the truckers was soon deflated by the reactions of others who decried the truckers and supported the debunking because they only saw what the media showed them. They would not give any credence to an opposing view of events. The experts and officials are always right. Thanks for letting me rant!
The full corruption of Corp Media is the most devastating aspect of this gov't. They took our voice away. If the Gov't was challenged daily, they would course correct. But why when change when given the Dear Leader treatment?
I have felt angry since Feb, 2022. The anger has not subsided and occasionally morphs into despair. I am in my late 60's and frequently comment to others, questioning when will civil unrest begin? How does one exercise non compliance? Stop buying, stop paying taxes? I am waiting to join a movement but nothing seems to be happening. I really don't know how to start a collective push back. Thank you Tara. Another excellent article.
About 5 years ago, there was a group formed in Calgary call "Society for the Common Good." My reaction was great, lets talk about the "Common Good". I went to a couple of their meetings, and met with one of their leaders. When I suggested that we needed to have a conversation to discover what the common good was, and that the best way to do that was to talk to the owner of the business across the street (I waved at a random business). The man I was talking to was horrified. He could not imagine talking to a "right winger". Thing was, we had absolutely no idea what the person who owned that business thought about anything.
The people forming this society already had a vision of what the "Common Good" was, and it was an Academic, Media, Managerial Class view of the world. It never occurred to this group of people that perhaps they should talk to their neighbors, and build a consensus view of what the "Common Good" actually was. They knew what was good for the rest of us.
Until we start having real conversations with each other, Canada cannot move forward.
I agree that Turdeau is an intellectual lightweight but I do believe he is being swayed by the Champagne Socialists that surround him. Poilievre is right to label our current political regime as radical, an authoritarian socialism. Just look at the foundational institutions that govern our society and see how much they have become radicalized in 10 years: kids being indoctrinated in our schools, churches burning to the ground while governing elites laugh, minors undergoing sex changes without parental consent as schools take over parental responsibility, while the Courts look the other way. Our justice system lets reoffenders off the hook every time they appear in Court, while those attending the Truckers Convoy face jail time. These are hardcore issues which are more than a passing mindset of the ruling elite, this is contempt for the institutions that created our country, and it has weakened our communities, cutting people off from one another. And yet, there are thousands that will continue to vote for the Libs, to keep the status quo entrenched despite all the irreparable harm they have done to this country. Democracy is the hardest thing we have to fight for, and we can’t just do it every 4 years at the ballot box. It has to be done every day, to speak up against school boards kicking police liaisons out of schools, to speak against judges freeing petty criminals over and over again, and putting a stop to illegal immigrants living off the State while our Seniors go hungry and without sufficient heat in the Winter months. We have become too complacent, but change comes from us, not our leaders.
Key point I found about the wealthy - they aren't people. People pay income taxes and use gov't services. They are Corporate Entities. Off shore Trusts. They pay a fraction of the taxes, yet get all the benefits. Their finances and mobility let them float above us. Not the difference between Coach and 1st class, but greyhound vs Private Jet.
It’s always relieving to read something that reflects back what you’ve been thinking and hoping and fretting about. Your substack has a knack for naming the political zeitgeist.
Loved this Tara! One thing to point out - young people ARE now politically engaged. In my lifetime I have never seen young people so AWARE of their political leadership, and of their political options. I am not talking about the usual proclivity for young people to have starry-eyed socialist utopian ideas. I am talking about young people who know the issues, are aware of the policy debate, and who are talking to each other about the changes they are going to bring about. I think this is great! Canadians, including me, have been so complacent, and our young people are going to change that. That is the silver lining of COIVD and Trudeau. A whole generation in never going to let themselves be trampled by the elites again.
Really? I don't know where this optimism comes from.
This 'younger' cohort is the cohort that has the least level of patriotism. This has come about, I think, by being immersed in a captured education system that has taught them from cradle to now to feel shame, guilt, and contempt for the illegitimate country they inhabit. This was the inevitable result of multi-generational support for promoting identity politics over and above individual autonomy and responsibility within a single national identity with non partisan institutions. All of that is gone. We see the inevitable results play out on our streets every day. There is no longer a unifying national identity or common vision, purpose, or shared history left. There are just victims and victimizers. We hear people - identity 'community leaders' no less - talk about government as a 'they' distributing well or poorly identity-based entitlements to their 'community' members. That's what nationalism now means to this cohort. That framing is the death knell of patriotism and we haven't the time or inclination to fix it.
I cannot share your optimism about youth in regards to 'saving' the country through patriotic sacrifice - a sacrifice all of us are going to be paying soon enough as our economy is held hostage to US tariffs; I can, however, see the appeal in becoming American in fact rather than American by borrowed culture and practice.
Nobody is going to war to defend and protect Rogers or Hydro One, the Mikmak or Anishinaabe, or a 4 week waiting period to get a prescription renewal if one can find a GP. The division between people and this common country once deserving of patriotism is the reality the older cohorts have allowed to take root on their watch... mostly, as far as I can tell, in the name of being nice and tolerant and open minded to the point where our nation-building brains have fallen out and are now gathering dust somewhere beneath the latest US designed, Chinese made, smart refrigerator.
Me too. My kids are of the younger generation who just started to vote and none of them nor their friends care about political issues. Most are sick of it all, and have zero faith that any politician will have a positive impact. Most are Libertarians. That is the legacy our generation has left them.
I’m terrified that fascist Trump will take over Canada and do a bunch of fascist and corrupt stuff like protect law-breaking but politically favoured corporations from prosecution or dole out billion dollar contracts to corrupt charities that also happen to pay his family members lucrative speaking fees or illegally freeze peaceful protesters’ bank accounts or maybe also do some racist stuff like appear in blackface multiple times.
This is an interesting take on the mindset of Justin Trudeau's inner circle - "explained by expediency than ideology." Not being deep thinkers, I doubt any of them think how their future Wikipedia pages will read.
As child of immigrants, this is a northern European cultural issue. Not questioning your betters. Why the English, Germans, Scandinavian are so orderly. They follow orders. French, Italians, Spaniards, Greeks do not. They'll take a short cut, or just ignore a rule that doesn't suit them. . As my cousin, a Greek surgeon said - "why should I pay taxes when the politicians steal the money" I thought he was backwards. Not any more. I pay half my salary in taxes, yet send my kid to private school, pay for private health care, take private transit,pay for private security. CPP is guaranteed poverty. Funding Wars that have nothing to do with me. I ranted to a coworkers (old Canadian) and he sounded like a servant from Downton Abby!
I've been angry since 2015 when I heard while working at a university a woman with a PhD say she was going to vote for Trudeau because he had "nice hair". Given his stunning lack of qualifications, I could only assume that more Canadians were like her than they were serious people. And the mainstream media was similarly infatuated.
I agree with most of the comments here. People are very angry but are reluctant to express their anger outside of trusted social circles. Did the response of the government and the mainstream media to the Freedom Convoy cause this? Likely. In the US, a group of people united in their defence of free speech and their opposition to censorship rallied around President Trump. We need something similar to happen here for Poilievre, accompanied by rallies in every major city that demonstrate our discontent and celebrate proposed reforms and solutions. The question is, who is the organizer?
Mr Polansky’s comment that only a very, very few people can live without national affiliation struck a chord. Until five years ago when I got divorced, our combined annual income in the low to mid six figures put us in the top ten percent of earners and that caused me to reflect that maybe the problem isn’t that one percent of the population controls ninety percent of the wealth. The problem may be that .001 percent of people control ninety-five percent of the wealth. When I started a career in music in 1978 the average income for a Canadian professional musician was around $35,000 which was a comfortable living. It’s still $35,000 which is, in real terms, poverty level while half a dozen or so are billionaires. It would be interesting to know if there’s a single underlying cause for this disparity.
This sequence happened once before. Most US auto companies had a Canadian factory since the earliest days. The Canadian plants made some regular US models and also had their own brands (eg Meteor, Monarch, Frontenac, Beaumont, Fargo.) The workers were proud of using local labor and local suppliers. In 1965 we forced a Free Trade Agreement for autos. Soon the local brands and local suppliers faded away, and the factories made regular US cars with US suppliers. Canada could have fought harder to keep its pride and its local income.
We are angry! But barring civil unrest what are the avenues available for dissent? The problem is that there is no mechanism for recall. Rep by pop might be a start. Our voices have been suppressed by the corrupted media. The average Canadian despises the Liberal government's authoritarian socialism and their continued efforts to control any all aspects of our lives. I hope and pray that the swing voters are not swayed by Mark Carney the newest globalist plant. If our country enters a recession ( or worse) due to the economic steps that Trump says he will mandate, we only have Trudeau and his sycophants to blame.
It is discouraging to see that there is not truly effective way to express our discontent. We can speak out here and in other like minded forums, read the National Post, and complain about the CBC, but none of this reaches family and friends who are firmly grounded in the media's approved narrative. My elation over the reception I saw Canadians give the truckers was soon deflated by the reactions of others who decried the truckers and supported the debunking because they only saw what the media showed them. They would not give any credence to an opposing view of events. The experts and officials are always right. Thanks for letting me rant!
The full corruption of Corp Media is the most devastating aspect of this gov't. They took our voice away. If the Gov't was challenged daily, they would course correct. But why when change when given the Dear Leader treatment?
I have felt angry since Feb, 2022. The anger has not subsided and occasionally morphs into despair. I am in my late 60's and frequently comment to others, questioning when will civil unrest begin? How does one exercise non compliance? Stop buying, stop paying taxes? I am waiting to join a movement but nothing seems to be happening. I really don't know how to start a collective push back. Thank you Tara. Another excellent article.
About 5 years ago, there was a group formed in Calgary call "Society for the Common Good." My reaction was great, lets talk about the "Common Good". I went to a couple of their meetings, and met with one of their leaders. When I suggested that we needed to have a conversation to discover what the common good was, and that the best way to do that was to talk to the owner of the business across the street (I waved at a random business). The man I was talking to was horrified. He could not imagine talking to a "right winger". Thing was, we had absolutely no idea what the person who owned that business thought about anything.
The people forming this society already had a vision of what the "Common Good" was, and it was an Academic, Media, Managerial Class view of the world. It never occurred to this group of people that perhaps they should talk to their neighbors, and build a consensus view of what the "Common Good" actually was. They knew what was good for the rest of us.
Until we start having real conversations with each other, Canada cannot move forward.
I agree that Turdeau is an intellectual lightweight but I do believe he is being swayed by the Champagne Socialists that surround him. Poilievre is right to label our current political regime as radical, an authoritarian socialism. Just look at the foundational institutions that govern our society and see how much they have become radicalized in 10 years: kids being indoctrinated in our schools, churches burning to the ground while governing elites laugh, minors undergoing sex changes without parental consent as schools take over parental responsibility, while the Courts look the other way. Our justice system lets reoffenders off the hook every time they appear in Court, while those attending the Truckers Convoy face jail time. These are hardcore issues which are more than a passing mindset of the ruling elite, this is contempt for the institutions that created our country, and it has weakened our communities, cutting people off from one another. And yet, there are thousands that will continue to vote for the Libs, to keep the status quo entrenched despite all the irreparable harm they have done to this country. Democracy is the hardest thing we have to fight for, and we can’t just do it every 4 years at the ballot box. It has to be done every day, to speak up against school boards kicking police liaisons out of schools, to speak against judges freeing petty criminals over and over again, and putting a stop to illegal immigrants living off the State while our Seniors go hungry and without sufficient heat in the Winter months. We have become too complacent, but change comes from us, not our leaders.
Key point I found about the wealthy - they aren't people. People pay income taxes and use gov't services. They are Corporate Entities. Off shore Trusts. They pay a fraction of the taxes, yet get all the benefits. Their finances and mobility let them float above us. Not the difference between Coach and 1st class, but greyhound vs Private Jet.
It’s always relieving to read something that reflects back what you’ve been thinking and hoping and fretting about. Your substack has a knack for naming the political zeitgeist.
Loved this Tara! One thing to point out - young people ARE now politically engaged. In my lifetime I have never seen young people so AWARE of their political leadership, and of their political options. I am not talking about the usual proclivity for young people to have starry-eyed socialist utopian ideas. I am talking about young people who know the issues, are aware of the policy debate, and who are talking to each other about the changes they are going to bring about. I think this is great! Canadians, including me, have been so complacent, and our young people are going to change that. That is the silver lining of COIVD and Trudeau. A whole generation in never going to let themselves be trampled by the elites again.
Really? I don't know where this optimism comes from.
This 'younger' cohort is the cohort that has the least level of patriotism. This has come about, I think, by being immersed in a captured education system that has taught them from cradle to now to feel shame, guilt, and contempt for the illegitimate country they inhabit. This was the inevitable result of multi-generational support for promoting identity politics over and above individual autonomy and responsibility within a single national identity with non partisan institutions. All of that is gone. We see the inevitable results play out on our streets every day. There is no longer a unifying national identity or common vision, purpose, or shared history left. There are just victims and victimizers. We hear people - identity 'community leaders' no less - talk about government as a 'they' distributing well or poorly identity-based entitlements to their 'community' members. That's what nationalism now means to this cohort. That framing is the death knell of patriotism and we haven't the time or inclination to fix it.
I cannot share your optimism about youth in regards to 'saving' the country through patriotic sacrifice - a sacrifice all of us are going to be paying soon enough as our economy is held hostage to US tariffs; I can, however, see the appeal in becoming American in fact rather than American by borrowed culture and practice.
Nobody is going to war to defend and protect Rogers or Hydro One, the Mikmak or Anishinaabe, or a 4 week waiting period to get a prescription renewal if one can find a GP. The division between people and this common country once deserving of patriotism is the reality the older cohorts have allowed to take root on their watch... mostly, as far as I can tell, in the name of being nice and tolerant and open minded to the point where our nation-building brains have fallen out and are now gathering dust somewhere beneath the latest US designed, Chinese made, smart refrigerator.
I hope you are right.
Me too. My kids are of the younger generation who just started to vote and none of them nor their friends care about political issues. Most are sick of it all, and have zero faith that any politician will have a positive impact. Most are Libertarians. That is the legacy our generation has left them.
I’m terrified that fascist Trump will take over Canada and do a bunch of fascist and corrupt stuff like protect law-breaking but politically favoured corporations from prosecution or dole out billion dollar contracts to corrupt charities that also happen to pay his family members lucrative speaking fees or illegally freeze peaceful protesters’ bank accounts or maybe also do some racist stuff like appear in blackface multiple times.
Love the sarcasm. I’ve said for years that Trudeau is actually what the main stream media and most Canadians believe Trump to be.
This is an interesting take on the mindset of Justin Trudeau's inner circle - "explained by expediency than ideology." Not being deep thinkers, I doubt any of them think how their future Wikipedia pages will read.
As child of immigrants, this is a northern European cultural issue. Not questioning your betters. Why the English, Germans, Scandinavian are so orderly. They follow orders. French, Italians, Spaniards, Greeks do not. They'll take a short cut, or just ignore a rule that doesn't suit them. . As my cousin, a Greek surgeon said - "why should I pay taxes when the politicians steal the money" I thought he was backwards. Not any more. I pay half my salary in taxes, yet send my kid to private school, pay for private health care, take private transit,pay for private security. CPP is guaranteed poverty. Funding Wars that have nothing to do with me. I ranted to a coworkers (old Canadian) and he sounded like a servant from Downton Abby!
I've been angry since 2015 when I heard while working at a university a woman with a PhD say she was going to vote for Trudeau because he had "nice hair". Given his stunning lack of qualifications, I could only assume that more Canadians were like her than they were serious people. And the mainstream media was similarly infatuated.
I agree with most of the comments here. People are very angry but are reluctant to express their anger outside of trusted social circles. Did the response of the government and the mainstream media to the Freedom Convoy cause this? Likely. In the US, a group of people united in their defence of free speech and their opposition to censorship rallied around President Trump. We need something similar to happen here for Poilievre, accompanied by rallies in every major city that demonstrate our discontent and celebrate proposed reforms and solutions. The question is, who is the organizer?
Mr Polansky’s comment that only a very, very few people can live without national affiliation struck a chord. Until five years ago when I got divorced, our combined annual income in the low to mid six figures put us in the top ten percent of earners and that caused me to reflect that maybe the problem isn’t that one percent of the population controls ninety percent of the wealth. The problem may be that .001 percent of people control ninety-five percent of the wealth. When I started a career in music in 1978 the average income for a Canadian professional musician was around $35,000 which was a comfortable living. It’s still $35,000 which is, in real terms, poverty level while half a dozen or so are billionaires. It would be interesting to know if there’s a single underlying cause for this disparity.
This sequence happened once before. Most US auto companies had a Canadian factory since the earliest days. The Canadian plants made some regular US models and also had their own brands (eg Meteor, Monarch, Frontenac, Beaumont, Fargo.) The workers were proud of using local labor and local suppliers. In 1965 we forced a Free Trade Agreement for autos. Soon the local brands and local suppliers faded away, and the factories made regular US cars with US suppliers. Canada could have fought harder to keep its pride and its local income.