Prime Minister Canute

Vincent J. Curtis

24 Nov 21

RE: COVID-19, Climate top Liberal agenda.  A CP news article written by Joan Bryden.  Published in the Hamilton Spectator 24 Nov 21.

Prime Minister Trudeau needs to take a lesson from King Canute, who famously showed his nobles that even the King couldn’t stop the tide from rising.  Trudeau’s promises to control the pandemic and to stop climate change smack of the beliefs of King Canute’s nobles.

Everyone in the Senate chamber for the throne speech was either doubly vaccinated or had a recent negative COVID test.  The principals were all distanced – and masked, as was everyone else.  With cloth masks - you know, the useless kind?  It was a show of mask-compliance and piety that demonstrated no faith in the efficacy of vaccination, testing, or distancing.  How can you claim to be able to control the pandemic when the only thing you truly rely on is the one thing known to be useless – cloth masks?

Likewise, climate change.  The lesson from COP26 is that the developing countries, led by India and including China, are going to increase dramatically their use of coal for generating cheap electrical power.  Canada produces 1.5 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions, and that figure will decline as the undeveloped world ramps up.  Eliminating Canada’s entire CO2 output wouldn’t change a damn thing – if you are inclined to believe in CO2 induced climate change.  And if you do, when are you going to face facts?  When are you going to stop insisting that Canada engage in self-abuse to save the planet from climate disaster?

Easier talking COVID control and climate change than fighting inflation or balancing a budget, matters actually within government control.  Never mind the drudgery of good government which Trudeau detests and can’t master: Watch the shiny thing everybody!

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