Treason. Immigration. Housing. These are real-time Canadian crises that we must not allow to be trumped. Pictured: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo Credit: Justin Trudeau/X.
The all-consuming “breaking new” chaos that has resulted from the assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump this past weekend and the ongoing coverage surrounding the intrigue of the would-be assassin has been fortuitous for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his scandal-weary government.
American politics has changed the channel from Canada’s crises. Canadians are in a hypnotic state, transfixed on the political circus south of the border, not paying any heed to the political crises and scandals in their own country. Moreover, the government-sponsored legacy media has dropped much of its coverage of federal politics.
So, today, Canadians are not receiving the latest news about what is unfolding in the country, such as the fact that there is a rising number of asylum seekers arriving at Toronto and Montreal airports, or that national housing starts are actually declining. Perhaps the most serious national issue the country has ever faced – treasonous activities of our elected federal representatives – has slipped from mainstream news and Canadians’ attention completely.
Understandably, Trudeau and his political spinmeisters would rather Canadians debate Trump and not treason.
But what could be more serious for a democratic country’s sovereignty than the potential that elected officials are colluding with foreign agents against the best interests of the citizenry? Is there no burning concern that treasonous activities could be taking place in Canada? Have Canadians lost appreciation for the gravity of these accusations?
It was just a month ago that the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) tabled in Parliament an 84-page, heavily redacted report that suggested Canada’s national security has been breached by a group of elected federal representatives.
The report stated: “In short, there are a number of MPs who have knowingly provided help to foreign governments, some to the detriment of Canada and Canadians. There are also politicians at all levels of government who have benefited from foreign interference.”
Elected officials “wittingly” assisted foreign state actors, notably China and India, in acts of political interference and espionage. Political donations were paid for quid pro quo activities, “volunteers” organized for campaign work, privileged information was passed along to foreign agents, and MPs acted on requests and direction from foreign officials.
The NSICOP Report was expressly critical of the Trudeau government, which failed to appropriately respond to the concerns of foreign interference. It states: “The slow response to a known threat was a serious failure and one from which Canada may feel the consequences for years to come… The implications of this inaction include the undermining of the democratic rights and fundamental freedoms of Canadians, the integrity and credibility of Canada’s parliamentary process, and public trust in the policy decisions made by the government.”
Most troubling, this report also identified a list of as many as 12 MPs who were involved in a variety of nefarious activities with foreign agents. Before the Parliament summer recess in late June, MPs debated for the release of the list of MPs, something that the government adamantly and repeatedly rejected. During this standoff, it was also discovered that the Trudeau government purposefully withheld more than 1,000 documents from the parliamentary investigations into foreign influence – some documents which are said to contain names of politicians who are tied to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) activities.
In withholding the names of the dozen-plus MPs, the Trudeau government has placed a cloud of suspicion over all Parliamentarians. It has become a popular game of speculation to name those who may have sold out Canadians for support from Beijing’s networks. Possibly Ministers Mary Ng, Steven Guilbault, and Dominic LeBlanc, as well as Liberal MPs, Han Dong, and Majid Jowarhi, and former Governor General David Johnston and former Liberal MPP Micheal Chan, Liberal Senators Paul Woo and Paul Massicotte? Who else will tumble out when the curtain is finally pulled back and the CCP agents are exposed?
Terry Glavin, veteran newsman and argumentatively the most informed Canadian journalist on CCP influence in Canada, has written that one can “full(y) expect to see the prime minister’s name at the very top of it (the list).” Glavin states, “Justin Trudeau has been a one-man Chinese influence operation for years, and he hasn’t even tried to hide it.”
In his recent National Post column on this subject, “Trudeau’s Chinese collaboration has been in broad daylight all along,” Glavin contends:
“Never mind his weird cash-for-access arrangements with multi-millionaire proxies of the Chinese government, the unaccountable serendipity of $67,080 in Mandarin-bloc donations replenishing the war chest of his own Papineau riding in Montreal in a single 48-hour period in July 2016, and other such indiscretions.
“Open collaboration with Xi Jinping’s torture state was Trudeau’s policy when he ran for the Liberal leadership, and he embarked upon it with verve and style from his first days in the Prime Minister’s Office. It would be a ‘win-win’ affair.
“This is exactly why the prime minister is not, strictly speaking, a traitor. Treason by way of collaboration in foreign interference operations requires that the conduct be clandestine.
“With Trudeau, with only a few possible exceptions, it’s been in plain sight, brazen and in broad daylight.”
At the height of the calls for Trudeau to release the list of MPs, public opinion polls revealed that more than two of three Canadians believed those MPs on the list accused of foreign interference and treasonous activities should be outed and, if found guilty, jailed. Today, a mere 30 days later, Canadians seem to have let this sordid matter slide. (Or maybe it was the shock of seeing President Joe Biden in the TV debate that has wiped this concern from our minds?)
Just as the question of treason in our democracy’s highest institution has been eclipsed by a preoccupation with American political news, so too has Canada’s ongoing immigration and housing crises been dropped from our national discussions. It is not that the crises have improved, in fact, they have worsened.
Canadians now recognize that the Trudeau government’s immigration policies have changed the ethnic composition and social cohesion of the country, and the sheer number of people being welcomed to our country has placed inordinate pressures on our housing, health care, and social services. Illegal immigrants are provided a greater per diem per person of taxpayers’ money than Canadian veterans, seniors, or the disabled – and Ottawa is now considering buying hotels for the increased flow of illegals into the country. The federal immigration minister told Canadians in June that the government is extending citizenship, permitting illegals to stay in the country, and bringing in more Gazans. He has signaled there will be more than a million newcomers ushered into the country again this year.
Canada’s housing crisis is a direct result of the Trudeau government’s immigration policy and its management of the country’s economy, which has had a detrimental impact on the construction industry, business community, and investor and consumer confidence. In the federal 2024 budget there were multiple promises associated with the Liberals seven-year home construction plan to build 3.87 million houses. Doing the math on this plan, one can factor that the federal government will have to build roughly one home per minute, more than 575,000 houses per year. So, this Liberal plan is impossible: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported a decline in housing starts last year – and the first six months of this year. It’s also shamefully naïve – or outright dishonest: Stats Can reports that since 2015 there has been only 225,104 houses built per year.
Treason. Immigration. Housing. These are real-time Canadian crises that we must not allow to be trumped.
Chris George is an advocate, government relations advisor, and writer/copy editor. As president of a public relations firm established in 1994, Chris provides discreet counsel, tactical advice and management skills to CEOs/Presidents, Boards of Directors and senior executive teams in executing public and government relations campaigns and managing issues. Prior to this PR/GR career, Chris spent seven years on Parliament Hill on staffs of Cabinet Ministers and MPs. He has served in senior campaign positions for electoral and advocacy campaigns at every level of government. Today, Chris resides in Almonte, Ontario where he and his wife manage www.cgacommunications.com. Contact Chris at chrisg.george@gmail.com.
