A reliable sign of a government having lost its way, as well as the trust of the governed, occurs when it becomes the things it said it despised in a desperate bid to cling to power.
Such is the case with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, who have become the things they once despised when they aspired to become the government.
Recall this tweet by Trudeau on Oct. 17, 2013, six months after becoming Liberal leader: “It’s hard not to feel disappointed in your government when every day there is a new scandal.”
Recall their 2015 campaign promise during the election that brought them to power that, unlike the Stephen Harper Conservatives, they would deliver an “open and transparent government.”
Recall that they said in the same document: “It is time to shine more light on government and ensure it remains focused on the people it is meant to serve.
Plus: “Government and its information should be open by default … We will restore trust in our democracy, and that begins with trusting Canadians.”
Now flash forward to today with the House of Commons unable to pass legislation because the Liberals have refused to meet opposition demands — backed up by Speaker Greg Fergus — to release documents related to their Sustainable Development Technology Canada scandal.
A.K.A. the Green Slush Fund, it was so overrun by conflicts of interest that even the Liberals realized they had to shut it down.
That brings to mind the Liberals rejecting earlier demands from a special Commons committee on Canada-China relations, as well as from the House of Commons itself and then Speaker Anthony Rota to release documents related to the Liberals’ Winnipeg biolab scandal.
The Trudeau government even went to court to keep the documents secret until the case became moot, because of the 2021 election.
Finally, let’s not forget the Trudeau government’s refusal to release unredacted documents requested by Canada’s foreign interference inquiry headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, an inquiry Trudeau fought tooth and nail against creating until he had no choice.
And yet, after all this, the Liberals had the audacity this week to accuse Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of being “an existential threat to democracy.”
They should look in the mirror at who the threat is.