A Resilient Government: Work From Canada’s Federal Election

First, we must adhere to the fundamental principle of voting, and then work towards an informed and liberated opinion that makes itself known on election day. Yes, every vote matters, even in a stronghold.

Secondly, regretting a vote because you were lied to or uninformed is a breakdown of democracy. 77% of respondents believe that misinformation influenced the results (page 24).

Not in my case, of course, because the voters who regretted their choice were NDP and Bloc, but everyone else who voted wrong, if human nature is any predictor of behaviour.

I cursed the CBC for publishing Andrea Landry’s First Person story with the headline, “I’m a proud Anishinaabe who asserts my Indigenous sovereignty. That’s why I won’t vote.”

Publishing this opinion in print and video invites others to give up their votes as well. You can reject the system, but that doesn’t mean it won’t steamroll over you. I celebrate her identity, but mourn her vote. But we already know that the CBC is taking sides.

The citizens who didn’t vote could have tipped the election results in favour of either side securing a majority. Although voter turnout was the highest, it was that close at the finish line.

As I’ve mentioned before, if I only read the CBC, as I was raised to, I might have, SHOCK, voted Liberal, especially as a university-educated, urban-raised woman. But I bucked the neatly ordered, predictable, powerless anonymity of academia and corporate life and moved to a village.

Democracy is fair, free, and just. It’s only when the truth is transparent that voters can honestly decide which future they prefer. If we genuinely differ, so be it, and so may we do what the majority of us would want. That’s how I imagine democracy. I want democracy.

As a Canadian, I will help you learn how to make informed decisions for yourself. As a Conservative, I hope you vote common sense, but I beg you to vote with your head, heart, and gut.

Not because, as one young man told me, “Because he wouldn’t know what to say to his mom if he didn’t.” That to me is a crying violation of democracy.

CBC now has a runway to earn back taxpayer support, should they choose to accept it. Or will they “nah-nah” and double down on Carney’s promise to protect them?

It’s Not a Competition

Sinister methods of winning or shaming the other side for their opinions are undemocratic. It turns the election process into a competition.

When the incumbent PM mouths, “I cheated to get what I got, stepped all over yourself for my spot, I bet that I’m winning, I bet that you’re not,” I think the song choice is deliberate. After all, it’s his victory party.

How else would Carney know the words?

More than ever, we need humble heroes who can heal the divide, not braggart winners who joke (“Bruce? Yes, I’m looking forward to working with Bruce.”) and offend (I, for one, found that comment and those lyrics offensive).

The taste is deplorable, considering the rise in crime over the last few years. More, that working with Bruce meant implicitly not with Pierre, as Bruce Fanjoy got more votes than Pierre Poilievre in the riding he’d held for twenty years.

Only a tax-evader and plagiarist who cheers for the home team no matter what town he’s in, and takes credit where it wasn’t due, would celebrate the idea of cheating to get ahead.

Today, I wore my “United for Freedom” Pierre Poilievre sweatshirt because I believe that unity and freedom are essential for our needs. Although we didn’t liberate common sense widely and far enough this time, evil never triumphs.

I still hold out for PP to be PM, and until then, I’m waiting to witness democracy in action. But first, it’s taking a summer break.

Poilievre said he’d get to work immediately. The Liberals are taking a break for a few weeks before they begin their fourth term in office. That will be almost a whole year with the government running on automatic. How long, I wonder, until the sheer length of time becomes undemocratic?

Finding Unity

When divided sides must find a mutual solution, a system is needed to help humans rise above their natural tendencies. Government is one of those systems, if it’s far from a perfect one. (Interested in improving systems? Check out Simple Streamlining on the Downloads page.)

The government should be a game of finding common ground, not deciding winners and losers. We form a government out of shared needs. If we didn’t have these needs, we wouldn’t need the government.

We need protection from thieves, we need roads to get places, and we need healthcare when life doesn’t go our way. For these needs and more, we elect people and provide them with the necessary funds and resources to accomplish their tasks.

Suppose you haven’t paid much attention to the goings on at the House of Commons, to me, the casual outside observer. In that case, it doesn’t appear that collaboration for Canadians is what has been happening, but rather a competitive game of “catch me if you can.”

Jennifer O’Connell sums up the Liberal approach to holding on to power when she says, “Boo-hoo, get over it,” while talking over the opposition as they attempt to find out more about potential foreign interference.

Northern Perspective revealed how they were targeted, but we still don’t know the names of those members of parliament identified in the report.

The Liberals resist releasing information that should be transparent to Canadians. You only hide something if there is something to hide, so what is it? Several ongoing issues are being held up due to undisclosed information, including foreign interference and the SDTC payouts, among others.

We need to work to understand the Carney voter and the basis for their rationale. Conversion begins with a genuine understanding and an open, honest motivation.

Restoring Trust

We need to build bridges, and to do so requires knowledge of both sides, as well as trust. Only then can the voter be convinced to cross over.

My election issue was trust. If the Liberals campaigned on “an open and transparent government,” why did redacted papers drive us to the polls?

According to the Leger poll on page 23, 52% of Conservative voters don’t trust the election results.

We head back to the House of Commons with two almost equal sides, and with the coalition a possibility. More years of forcing through things many Canadians don’t want.

I have never felt more abused in my life, and that’s saying a lot. I understand how Alberta feels, particularly when Carney folded in front of Trump, given his platform of strength in negotiation.

In an abusive, insane situation, separation is the only answer. Fundamentally, the country is divided in half, one for the Blues and the other for the Reds.

The idea of government as a competition has got to be over, but that doesn’t mean backing down from the Opposition and letting Carney do as he pleases.

Yes, I saw the clip of him saying that he’d invoke the Emergencies Act to push through his agenda if necessary. The last time the Liberals did it, it was declared that specific measures of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms had been violated.

The Liberals did it once. Now is the time to monitor him carefully and see if he delivers on his mandate. So far, not so good.

Perhaps the King delivering the Speech will be like Daddy scolding his kids to get along. I know my dad tried that, yet forcing peace is not making peace. Peace must be made, and making anything takes work.

Let me summarize some critical events that led up to the election.

Do you remember “the other Randy?” That scandal involved taxpayer money being funnelled to a Liberal Minister through a company they own, and Randy Boissonnault failing to come up with any creative excuses.

Wikipedia lists 15 scandals related to Trudeau, but it doesn’t include the Randy one (which should be counted as two, because one, for the conflict of interest in accepting the money, and two, for claiming to be indigenous to receive more money when he was not) or the Green Slush Fund.

According to my count, there have been at least 18 costly and embarrassing scandals.

The most expensive and corrupt might be the so-called Green Slush Fund. Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), a federal agency, was established in 2001 to provide funding support for businesses in the green technology sector. In 2017, an audit revealed that rigorous and objective processes were in place.

In 2019, Trudeau had the opportunity to appoint a new Chair. Despite conflict-of-interest warnings, Trudeau went ahead with his hand-picked Chair, Annette Verchuren, CEO and Chair of NRStor Inc., an energy storage development company.

In 2023, Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada was engaged in an audit. They had some unflattering key observations about operations under the leadership of Trudeau’s choice.

When asked for a copy of this report, one was provided, with redactions.

With redactions, when everything about how taxpayers’ dollars are spent should be abundantly transparent, not blacked out. We should be aware of companies, names, amounts, and affiliations because it’s our money being spent.

We went to the polls instead of getting the unredacted documents. Want to bet whose names are in there?

Co-Opted by Corruption

If your opponent ignores a warning, should you not remain on high alert? Perhaps consider implementing additional auditing measures immediately?

Despite ignoring conflict-of-interest warnings, it was internal federal employee whistleblowers who triggered an investigation. They launched their complaint to the Privy Council Office in November 2022.

While they followed the appropriate channels, it took two years and recordings provided to Radio-Canada by employees to trigger change.

Witness One opens with, “The release of the Auditor General’s report in June concluded a two-year effort I initiated to expose how SDTC’s idealist mission was co-opted by a group of corrupt executives, board members and insiders within the clean tech ecosystem.”

“Frankly, I’m embarrassed to be here because my being here is an indication that the systems that are set up to protect people don’t work. That’s the biggest issue here.”

The Auditor General investigated the matter and estimated a corruption rate of 82%, with $123 million worth of contracts awarded inappropriately, including $59 million that should have been rejected.

The Chair of the Fund testified on November 8, 2023, that she awarded more than $200,000 to her own company. Eleven days later, she tendered her resignation from her position.

They tried to tell me when I was an employee that change is slow, baby steps. Yes, change starts slowly, and then it topples. Four more years might be enough to topple the Liberals for the rest of my years.

Memories of pain, suffering, frustration, victimization, struggle and denial last for generations. Ask Andrea Landry, the woman who threw away her vote, perhaps not knowing that Pierre said that “First Nations peoples should be the richest on earth.” He has a plan for it. Isn’t that a correction worth voting for?

Perhaps it will be worth the wait and the hope.

Undermined by Individual Agendas

91 names in Carleton, deliberately in Pierre Poilievre’s home riding? Perhaps this is the most obvious work.

Do you remember Justin Trudeau’s answer when asked about his one regret? He said electoral reform. Nine years, and he didn’t find the time. Yet, I think this is classic Trudeau school of lying.

My experience is that Trudeau isn’t creative enough to come up with a plausible red herring. Instead, he offers this silent success under the guise of regret. I believe it’s his narcissism on display—he’s bragging, not complaining.

How do you force those in power to change the rules that helped them to win?

It’s a question that’s plagued me ever since Jagmeet Singh voted confidence in Justin Trudeau – until his pension was secure. Should pensions for government employees be drastically lowered?

Some people simply wouldn’t imagine holding Canada hostage, no matter how much money you paid them. With Singh, we know his price, and we know he loves the pricey things in life. To me, it’s a sad example of consumerism taking a life. When is enough?

Some people have enough and seek fulfilment in less hollow, hurtful ways. I believe Pierre when he says he wants to run the government, not my life. I think that Carney is all wallet and ego. He wants to push policies that benefit his interests, which remain undisclosed.

Some can’t imagine funnelling taxpayer money to themselves and their friends, even if the opportunity opened wide right in front of them, with the promise they wouldn’t get caught.

The Liberals devised some sinister and devious ways to enrich themselves. Where taxpayer money goes is supposed to be entirely transparent. Trudeau campaigned on this transparency, then did the opposite.

“Never trust a Liberal,” Jagmeet Singh said.

Unconnected Dots

I voted for Scott Aitchison, the Conservative candidate in my Parry Sound-Muskoka riding. Driving around my riding, you would be hard pressed to see the sign of any other candidate. There was one PPC sign, but I couldn’t even tell you the name of the Liberal candidate on my ticket. For me, it was top line, check.

It’s part of why I moved. I used to live in a Liberal stronghold. Now I live in a Conversative one. Life is much more agreeable here. I don’t want to have to move to the west, but I’ve moved 29 times, so what’s another?

Yet, he only beat the Liberal candidate by less than 10% of the vote, or just over 6,188 people.

What looked like locked-in was much tighter than imagined. Who were all these voters who didn’t have land or the commitment to put up a sign? Young voters with basement windows and old voters with windows in homes or on estates so far back from the road as not to be seen, as the polls would indicate.

I assumed they would want home ownership and better healthcare, but scandal after scandal does provide scintillating television when you have nothing to do but watch it. I prefer the government to be transparent and efficient.

Questions that remain for me are how the Liberal leadership race seemed to skew heavily toward Carney, right through to the final votes. I’m also wondering why Australia’s polls on Polymarket look alarmingly similar to Canada’s, with the same loss of the seat for the leader of the opposition.

But I’m kind of not shocked, after having seen The Great Hack on Netflix. If you genuinely want to know how the powerful help the powerful, David from Moose on the Loose is tracking the ties.

Poilievre lost his riding. The ballot is not entirely at fault. Voters said they were behind him when they felt they had no choice, but when Carney arrived, they jumped on board, even volunteering for him.
As volunteers, they must have been aware of Carney’s platform, which has far more unrestrained spending than Trudeau’s. It was the one Freeland couldn’t stand behind to present, but she’s on Carney’s team now?

Having voted #shouldaSheer, I suspect much of the same is happening here. Too busy to research for myself, too trained to rely on the CBC for news, too oriented by patriarchy to pick the leader who is white, tall and old. As I learned early in my career, if you don’t look the part, you will never get it.

First impressions matter, and when you stack the deck with it, you want as fast an election as possible. You delay the platform for as long as possible, so people assume the banker will pursue fiscal responsibility and economic growth.

As a banker, he baffles you with the media and ums and ahs so that you overlook the unrestrained and unprecedented spending, as if the trade war is several times worse for Canada than the pandemic, and such spending is justified.

Liberals want to grow government. When the government is responsible for 51% of the people who vote, then your future is secured by people who want to keep their jobs. Forever. Ensure they vote. Make it a federal holiday.

Despite the Conservative platform’s deep cuts to spending, no government jobs were at risk; however, journalists, consultants, and corrupt companies were. Yet, lines had also been redrawn in Pierre’s riding.

Pierre was too busy working to expose waste, scandal and corruption to go doorknocking in his riding.

Waking Up to Bias

In comparison to Justin, Pierre is undoubtedly the man in the room. Comparing Pierre and Carney, Carney is the father in the room.

At first glance, Carney represents all that we look for in a hero: white, old, and what he lacks in stature, we forgive because he’s rich, connected, and powerful. Indeed, he’s our Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. He’s scheming, closed and maniacal.

Pierre is our strong, working man, but to some, he’s the young buck who bucks the system and might burn it all down, whose experience is limited to Canada. Scary and small, like a yappy lap dog.

Did Canada fail its IQ test by voting on this basis, and this basis only?
To make an informed decision, one must understand why Pierre showcased the kind of behaviour that drove the well-trained “keep calm and carry on” citizens away with distaste. He was too good at his job as an opposition leader?

I considered myself an informed voter thanks to YouTubers like Northern Perspective, MisterSunshineBaby, Moose on the Loose, and Unacceptable Fringe. These channels informed me of developments absent from mainstream media headlines.

Yet, I kept my CTV and CBC apps to understand what I would be exposed to and how it would be spun if I had only these two information channels.

Shockingly, I might have believed the press and voted for the Liberal Party. I might have still been well-trained by patriarchy to see the know-it-all father figure and voted for the old rich white guy.

But I didn’t.

Waking Up to Choice

I woke up in the best way. I discarded my lazy liberalism for my confident conservatism as I grew into myself, into who I am as a self-defined soul, into who I am as an independent adult, and into who I am as an outspoken citizen.

My downloads are my attempt to share this ability to find freedom with you. I have a lot of work to do in getting them in front of you, so if you like what you read or find it helpful, please take a moment to comment and share.

In one video on Rebel News, I heard someone say that they wouldn’t vote Conservative because they are “sick of this woke bullshit.”

Pardon? He was off camera before someone could help him out and correct his information. Maybe journalists don’t do that, just as photographers aren’t supposed to get involved.

Last I checked, “woke” was something only Pierre vowed to end, while Carney wrote about his support of it. “Warrior, not Woke” is the handy three-word slogan he likes to make, and Liberals enjoy making fun of.

Unless he was implying that Conservatives require you to wake up, you must wake up to what’s been happening, to where your money has been going, and to the choices you have to make in life, because when they are being made for you, it will be in the interests of the decision-maker, not you.

Sleep your way through life, if you want to, but don’t complain about what happens to you, while you end up victimized, homeless, hungry, poor, and looking for someone else to blame.

Waking Up to Governance

When we approach an election as we would a hockey game, we get caught up in competition, declare winners and losers, and assume that one must lose for the other to win.

I thought politics should be boring. It should run so smoothly and predictably that there is not much to notice. There was a mandate, and noses were on the grindstone delivering on that.

When we tune in as if they are not merely people, by the people, for the people, but rather an elite, untouchable echelon who won’t engage and don’t need to explain themselves, then we lose the idea of democracy that I imagined.

Carney shuts people out, including the media. He says condescending things to them, even CBC reporters, to whom he’s their hero. It wasn’t even an unflattering question, just one he didn’t like.
Why didn’t he like it?

The government was shut down because the Liberals refused to hand over unredacted paperwork. Such extreme attempts to hide what they did with taxpayer money only make me think that it’s Carney’s name all through there, and now he is the Prime Minister, about to bloat this government into oblivion.

When that happens, who can help us then? It would have to be a crisis so terrible that losing your government-dependent income is the better option. Perhaps worse than losing your career is losing your country – and then it’s gone anyway.

I know Carney knows how to make money. The question is whether he will do it for Canada or himself.

Are scandals and abuse of power a thing of the past? Will past wrongs be righted? We may all evaluate leadership differently, but a resilient government must be fair, free, and committed to pursuing justice.