Michael Higgins: The Tyranny of Trudeau’s Virtue

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The Prime Minister is right, the Prime Minister is always right. How could he be wrong, he who is so virtuous, so compassionate and so sunny? And if you don’t agree, you are wrong, very wrong.

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We are therefore confronted with the tyranny of virtue.

If a federal election is not held before October, it will be a long, tedious and painful 10 months of Justin Trudeau lashing out at Canadians and Americans like a demented harpy with his claws stuck in a car door.

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That the Prime Minister is a true believer goes without saying. He believes the Liberals are the shining light at the top of the hill and that he is destined to take Canadians there with them. Those who oppose this mission are not only misguided, but are deliberately attempting to sabotage its righteous calling.

That savior complex was on full display when the Prime Minister spoke this week with Patrick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking of future elections, Trudeau was imperious in warning Canadians not to choose the wrong side.

“My only request to everyone is to be really thoughtful and approach the choices you make with your eyes wide open,” he said. “I think there are a number of people in different countries – and I won’t name any in particular – where people are going to question the choice they might have made in the election.

“Let’s not be that kind of country in Canada. Let’s be thoughtful about the choices we make.

People were free to engage in democracy, even if their choices were ill-informed, the Prime Minister admitted.

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“If we want to stop fighting climate change; if we want to re-legalize assault weapons; if we want to question women’s rights; if we want to eliminate $10 a day child care across the country; stop providing free dental care to vulnerable elderly people, in a democracy that is a choice people can make.

“Getting rid of Radio-Canada too is a choice that people can make. But let’s take responsibility as voters, as thoughtful agents of change in our communities, to be smart and no matter how much we want change, let’s not fall into the easy trap of voting for change for the worse.

See? According to the Prime Minister, any other vote would be a change for the worse.

What about people unhappy with the carbon tax? They had misunderstood his good intentions, Trudeau said.

People unhappy with the carbon tax “says a lot about the disconnect between what people perceive as good policy and what they perceive as good policy.

“There are a lot of things that seem very, very popular to do politically, and people are rushing to try to do them, and you only have to look south of the border to know that a very popular policy is sometimes not not very good. policy.”

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Our Prime Minister has firmly taken the lonely high road, leaving others to take the more popular and easier path.

Trudeau was at his most virtuous when he dismissed the very real, ordinary, everyday challenges of Canadians who choose to focus on food, rent, and family over climate change.

“But every time we talk about fighting climate change,” Trudeau said, moving to the edge of his seat and adopting a messianic tone, “people say, ‘Uh, that’s something that’s going to do a difference in a decade or two.’ decades from now and I can’t afford my groceries right now. I’m afraid to pay my rent right now. I worry about my children’s future now and next week, not 20 years from now. It would be nice if we could do things in 20 years, but I need help now.

Canada might become a country of homeless and hungry people, but at least it will be governed by a philosopher king who knows good policies when he sees them.

At the same time, the Prime Minister also called for a more thoughtful political debate, where complex ideas would be discussed and the tone would not be so confrontational. And then it became divisive.

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People who voted Conservative made the wrong choice about Canada, he said.

The Conservatives are “showing no responsible leadership,” Trudeau said. “They are in politics and they are very good at it. Just look at the polls and see that it works. But will it hold? Will this hold up until Canadians can truly make a choice about the type of country we are and the type of solutions we will propose in the years to come?

In the Prime Minister’s eyes, voting Liberal is not only right and appropriate, but it is the only morally right thing to do: the tyranny of virtue.

“Canadians deserve better and I know they will choose it,” he said.

But it’s a double-edged sword.

National Post

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