Comment #2 on the Rouleau Report:
Justice Paul Rouleau understated it in his inquiry report when he labelled our policing as dysfunctional and a failure of federalism. While he showed a great deal of patience and the laid-back attitude of a good judge, he failed to take the report into the pitiful condition of our democracy. There were more than the ‘Freedom convoy’ organizers and dysfunctional police forces to blame for the winter sports on the streets of Ottawa in February, 2022.
The very heart of the problem is the failure of our politicians and their supporters to appreciate and respect our democracy. You can blame the pandemic for emphasizing the severity of the problem but it was building before the pandemic helped create the perfect storm. It was as though the country had learned nothing from the ravages of the Spanish Flu, a hundred years previous. The restrictions of our out-dated constitution and our politicians’ missteps left the country vulnerable and unable to deal with the pandemic in a unified manner.
What the pandemic helped accelerate was the breakdown of Canada’s increasingly dysfunctional confederation. Canada is a country of infinite potential, plagued by the mediocrity of our politicians under an increasingly unworkable constitution. Our politicians had already allowed the selloff of our ability to quickly develop and produce vaccines, when they permitted Connaught Laboratories to be sold to a company in France.
While Justin Trudeau did a good job communicating the needs and exigencies of COVID-19, his solitary presence in front of Rideau cottage made him a singular target for frustrations people felt with the confusing lock-downs and other pandemic-related restrictions. The prime minister made himself a target.
The bitterness and anger were also exaggerated by the blame laid by the opposition. The mean, vicious and exaggerated attacks on the prime minister by conservative critic Pierre Poilievre in parliament became mantra for the dissatisfied.
The situation was hardly helped by the carping of provinces such as Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. Unrealistic blame was laid on our federal government. In the province of Ontario, it was an inexperienced and self-indulgent government that left people confused and upset with federal as well as provincial answers.
The question Justice Rouleau left hanging is: How are we going to fix this country?
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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