FRACTURED UNITY: Justin Trudeau’s Divisive & Dishonest ‘Governance’ Is Tearing Canada Apart

Spencer Fernando, Exclusive to the National Citizens Coalition

The rising division in Canada and surge in Western Alienation is a brutal testament to Trudeau’s failure in office.

“There is no doubt the Harper decade was not a good one for the sovereignty cause.

By the time the Conservatives lost power in 2015, support for Québec leaving the federation had fallen to its lowest level since the early 1980s.

The Bloc Québécois was a spent parliamentary force, having failed in two consecutive elections to win the 12 seats required to qualify for official party status in the House of Commons.

The Parti Québécois was back in opposition in the national assembly after premier Pauline Marois’ bid to trade a minority mandate for a governing majority after 18 months in power backfired. The party has yet to recover from that defeat.”

That was written by Chantel Hebert, and it matches what our own eyes and ears tell us: Under Stephen Harper, separatist sentiment in Quebec collapsed, which in turn strengthened Canada’s unity and ensured that the threat of Canada breaking up was kept off the table.

Keeping a country united is a key test of leadership, and a big part of passing that test is making sure not to transgress the political taboos in each province and region.

In Quebec, a heavy-handed, centralized government approach from the feds is a taboo, and Harper successfully avoided that, even when he wasn’t personally popular in the province.

In the West, and Alberta in particular, a heavy-handed centralized government approach from the feds is also a taboo, especially when it relates to policies that devastate the energy industry. And while Quebec receives billions of dollars per year from ‘equalization,’ Alberta loses billions, meaning that Alberta has an even stronger case to feel righteous anger towards federal interference.

So, while he was in power, Harper avoided the taboos and unity strengthened. Neither Quebec Separatism or Western Separatism was seen as cause for concern.

By contrast, Justin Trudeau has arrogantly and aggressively transgressed those taboos in the West, and as a result, Canada is more divided than we have been in a long time.

That’s not just an opinion, it’s a fact.

According to an Angus Reid poll, 50% of Albertans say separation “could happen/may very well happen.”

52% of Albertans “say they believe the west would be better off if it left Canada.”

31% of Albertans say the would be strongly in favour of Alberta joining a “Western Separatist Movement,” while 29% say they would be moderately in favour, for a combined total of 60% open to the idea.

These are devastating numbers for our country, as they show how Canada’s unity is being torn apart.

And the responsibility for this lies directly on Justin Trudeau.

What makes this so appalling is that all of this could have been avoided by Trudeau doing a few simple things. For example, he could have offered support for all the pipeline projects that were underway when he took office, instead of arbitrarily picking and choosing.

He could have realized that the carbon tax would be very harmful to investment and the energy industry and chosen not to impose one from the federal level.

He could have decided not to bring in legislation like Bill C-69.

And he could have made clear from the beginning that pipelines are considered projects essential to the national interest, speeding the way for them to be built without requiring billions to be spent on buying and nationalizing an old pipeline which the government seems unwilling and unable to actually build.

Yet, at every step of the way, Trudeau made the wrong decision, and increased the anger and alienation in Alberta.

Alienation has surged in Saskatchewan as well, in large part because of how Trudeau is punishing Saskatchewan for opposing his carbon tax, even as he rewards other provincial governments (BC & Quebec) despite them going against his wishes.

As a result, that same Angus Reid poll shows a combined 53% of Saskatchewan residents say they would either strongly or moderately favour Saskatchewan joining a Western Separatist Movement.

So, we now have two Canadian provinces where there appears to be a majority of the population in support of Separating from Canada, something that wasn’t even on the radar when Trudeau took over.

Trudeau’s divisive governance, where he favours one region over another, pits Canadians against each other, demonizes his opponents, lies about his motives, and is glad to take money from the West while crippling the West’s ability to generate that money, has led us to where we are today: A nation that is more angry, more divided, and more at risk of being torn apart.

Thanks Justin.

Spencer Fernando is one of the most popular and prolific political writers/journalists in Canada, and an Election Fellow for the National Citizens Coalition. For more from Spencer, visit his website, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. 

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