My Calgary friends are sick of hearing it. My Ontario friends don’t get it. .Nor should they, I suppose..It’s about me wishing I were back in the Calgary of the 1980s..Young and carefree, I was dating a smoking-hot lady, driving a 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback in Bullitt green with a 302 cu-in. mill and a Holley four-barrel carb that would knock your head back when you punched the gas pedal..The music was cool..I recall Pat Benatar, bands from Australia like Men at Work and UB-40 from England. I even went to a DOA concert at U of C, starring “Joey S—head” Keithley..I remember a tame Deerfoot Trail compared to today’s Deerfoot 500; a mayor of the people, Ralph Klein, who kept a watch on spending rather than the Purple Nightmare; great luncheons with secretaries at the Irish Rovers’ Unicorn pub on 8th Ave.; spectacular cheesecake at the Cheesecake Cafe on 4th (plus the chance of seeing Flames’ Kent Nilsson after a game); and fabulous Triple-A baseball with the Calgary Cannons at Foothills Park..While the old, pre-Olympics, pre-LRT Calgary of the 1980s that I knew and loved is gone forever, one story from that era sticks with me..I was working at a trust company and making next to nothing, but a buck went a lot further in those days and life seemed good, especially on bar-hopping weekends..He was a weird old bald fellow — a manager whom everyone detested. I didn’t care for him either way but steered clear because he was such a miserable oaf..I can still can see him running around the office with a scowl, usually carrying a piece of paper tightly in his hand, red-faced and ready to ream somebody out..Anyway, at the last company Christmas party I attended he was cutting a rug on the dance-floor, totally hammered. He suddenly came up to me and grabbed me by the tie..I will never forget his words. .He said: “Dave, you have to be what you are … whether you’re a saint or a sinner … you must be who you are.” And with that, he jumped back on the dance floor and jigged like an evil demon..I don’t even remember the bugger’s name, but his strange wisdom stuck with me..Whether you are a butcher, a baker or an evil candlestick maker (ie. a killer), you must be who you are. (For reference see Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange)..This brings us exactly to this week’s political bombshell — that being the revelations of an excerpt from Jody Wilson-Raybould’s upcoming memoir, Indian In The Cabinet: Speaking Truth To Power..It is due to be released, in its entirety, on Sept. 14..While the Liberal leader has staunchly denied Wilson-Raybould’s allegation that he wanted her to lie to cover up his incompetence in SNC-Lavalin scandal, the former justice minister’s testimony remains spine-chilling and revealing..Wilson-Raybould would later testify that senior party leaders wanted her to intervene to stop the criminal prosecution of the Quebec engineering giant..Something that would never happen for a western firm, by the way. Only eastern “creeps and bums” get treated well in Liberal governments..In the excerpt published in the Globe and Mail, Wilson-Raybould says she was pushing for transparency, while the PMO was facing mounting pressure after the initial Globe story hit the fan..During subsequent meetings in Vancouver “(Trudeau) used the line that would later become public, that I had ‘experienced things differently,’ ” she writes..“I knew what he was really asking. What he was saying. In that moment, I knew he wanted me to lie — to attest that what had occurred had not occurred … lie to protect a Crown government acting badly; a political party; a leader who was not taking responsibility.”.It does not take a rocket scientist, to figure out, that Justin the Younger — here exposed for what he truly is, a spoiled silver-spoon frat boy caught in a web of his own incompetence — has nowhere near the qualifications, the experience, nor the depth character to be a world leader of any sort..Asked if Justin had what it takes to be prime minister, Jean Chretien responded it was politics, and politics alone that dominated the dinner table at 24 Sussex during the Trudeau years. .While there is probably truth in that, there is no comparing the political genius of his father, a staunch federalist who had a vision for Canada..Furthermore, when separatist protesters hurled rocks and bottles at Montreal’s St-Jean-Baptiste parade in June of 1968, Trudeau famously refused to take shelter and fought back. .This leads us to the next best story of the week, “The Pebbles of Navarone.” .The Drama-Teacher-in-Office and some RCMP handlers got some gravel thrown at them in Ontario and ran for cover like little girls, while all the CBC eastern mafia could do was label the protesters as “loudmouths” and wacko “anti-vaxers.” .Of course, they never bothered to interview a protester! No, it was easier to assume. To paint them as ghastly, inhuman hordes, like the obliging sheep they are..Meanwhile, in the same report, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole — a working man and a military veteran — was being beaten senseless for his stand on gun control..A stand that protects law-abiding Canadians who own guns and who’ve been legally vetted by the RCMP..In other words, “poor, poor Trudeau” and “bad, bad O’Toole.” This is what $1.3 billion a year gets you, ladies and gents. The good ol’ CBC..Well, last I heard, this was still a democracy and people can still protest. And by the way, anyone who has been to one knows it can get loud and raucous..But you have to wonder. .If Justin the Younger requires a helmet, a SWAT Team, an armoured car, snipers, helicopters (aircraft carriers?) and a detachment of RCMP strongmen at his appearances, doesn’t that suggest some Canadians, regardless of party affiliation, are unhappy with his leadership?.Then again, he’s just being who he is..Dave Makichuk is a Western Standard contributor. .,.He has worked in the media for decades, including as an editor for the Calgary Herald. He is also the military editor for the Asia Times.
