It was the best Question Period I've seen in at least five months. Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre was in fine form after making a few recent missteps when the House of Commons wasn’t sitting. .And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau? The usually insouciant PM is about as sensitive to criticism as the first bad sunburn of the summer and extremely touchy. .When Poilievre said of Trudeau, "He's not interested in protecting the safety of the people serving this country. He's interested in protecting the Liberal Party of Canada,” I thought the PM was going to ask the Conservative leader to step into the boxing ring. .Trudeau called it “despicable” to question his loyalty to Canada. .He knows he’s in the midst of the worst political scandal of his political life. We strutted through the SNC-Lavalin mess with his head held high while he kicked other Liberals under the PMO machine. He looked vaguely sorry for spending all those hours doing blackface routines but rebounded quickly, blaming everyone else’s alleged prejudices for his racism. And the WE Charity blues? No problem for the generous Trudeau. .But the Chinese election interference scandal is something else. It potentially makes his election victories and his government itself invalid, illegitimate and unworthy. .We’re hearing phrases like, “How much did the prime minister know and when did he know it?” These became almost political slogans during the Watergate investigation of U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1973. .And there it was again on Wednesday. You might think you’re reading too much about China in the Western Standard, but it's difficult to ignore when more details emerge about how China influenced the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. .Most of QP focused on yet more reporting by Global News that confirmed again the Trudeau government — and obviously Trudeau himself — received high-level briefings from high-level security officials about China madly spending money on preferred federal election candidates. Privy Council Office National Security Advisor Jody Thomas has already said so. .MP Michael Cooper (CPC-St. Albert-Edmonton) told me this week in an exclusive interview he intends to also get Trudeau Chief of Staff Katie Telford on the stand to answer questions about these briefings. .(READ MORE: Edmonton MP says Trudeau wants 'a smokescreen' to cover up "scandalous" Chinese election interference) .Trudeau is resisting a public inquiry and so has thrown out a laundry list of committees and groups that will investigate the Chinese interference clandestinely and report their findings in secret. He’s even talking about something called an “independent special rapporteur,” something he probably heard about while directing a student play about Cold War intrigue. .On Tuesday, Poilievre told reporters there's a good reason CSIS officials are risking their careers by leaking documents to a mainstream media that used to applaud Trudeau’s every move. Poilievre suggested those officials “must be very worried about how the prime minister is working against the interests of his own country and his own people." ."And so they are so concerned about how the prime minister is acting against Canada's interest and in favour of a foreign dictatorship's interests, that they are actually releasing this information publicly," he continued. .That remark must have been imprinted on the prime minister’s mind when he responded to Poilievre’s questions with, "To suggest anyone in this House isn't devoted to serving Canadians, and keeping those who serve Canada in dangerous positions safe, is quite disgusting.” .Trudeau even had the gall to resurrect his accusations that Conservative MPs should have been ashamed of meeting with “far-right” European Union MP Christine Anderson. .Poilievre responded he required “no drama lesson” from Trudeau. .You can bet Trudeau will be resorting to a lot of drama lessons in the next few weeks as he struggles to maintain his grip on power. You can bet both his cabinet and his caucus are nervous, anxious and fidgety about what their political future holds. .It’s looking increasingly like disaster.
It was the best Question Period I've seen in at least five months. Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre was in fine form after making a few recent missteps when the House of Commons wasn’t sitting. .And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau? The usually insouciant PM is about as sensitive to criticism as the first bad sunburn of the summer and extremely touchy. .When Poilievre said of Trudeau, "He's not interested in protecting the safety of the people serving this country. He's interested in protecting the Liberal Party of Canada,” I thought the PM was going to ask the Conservative leader to step into the boxing ring. .Trudeau called it “despicable” to question his loyalty to Canada. .He knows he’s in the midst of the worst political scandal of his political life. We strutted through the SNC-Lavalin mess with his head held high while he kicked other Liberals under the PMO machine. He looked vaguely sorry for spending all those hours doing blackface routines but rebounded quickly, blaming everyone else’s alleged prejudices for his racism. And the WE Charity blues? No problem for the generous Trudeau. .But the Chinese election interference scandal is something else. It potentially makes his election victories and his government itself invalid, illegitimate and unworthy. .We’re hearing phrases like, “How much did the prime minister know and when did he know it?” These became almost political slogans during the Watergate investigation of U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1973. .And there it was again on Wednesday. You might think you’re reading too much about China in the Western Standard, but it's difficult to ignore when more details emerge about how China influenced the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. .Most of QP focused on yet more reporting by Global News that confirmed again the Trudeau government — and obviously Trudeau himself — received high-level briefings from high-level security officials about China madly spending money on preferred federal election candidates. Privy Council Office National Security Advisor Jody Thomas has already said so. .MP Michael Cooper (CPC-St. Albert-Edmonton) told me this week in an exclusive interview he intends to also get Trudeau Chief of Staff Katie Telford on the stand to answer questions about these briefings. .(READ MORE: Edmonton MP says Trudeau wants 'a smokescreen' to cover up "scandalous" Chinese election interference) .Trudeau is resisting a public inquiry and so has thrown out a laundry list of committees and groups that will investigate the Chinese interference clandestinely and report their findings in secret. He’s even talking about something called an “independent special rapporteur,” something he probably heard about while directing a student play about Cold War intrigue. .On Tuesday, Poilievre told reporters there's a good reason CSIS officials are risking their careers by leaking documents to a mainstream media that used to applaud Trudeau’s every move. Poilievre suggested those officials “must be very worried about how the prime minister is working against the interests of his own country and his own people." ."And so they are so concerned about how the prime minister is acting against Canada's interest and in favour of a foreign dictatorship's interests, that they are actually releasing this information publicly," he continued. .That remark must have been imprinted on the prime minister’s mind when he responded to Poilievre’s questions with, "To suggest anyone in this House isn't devoted to serving Canadians, and keeping those who serve Canada in dangerous positions safe, is quite disgusting.” .Trudeau even had the gall to resurrect his accusations that Conservative MPs should have been ashamed of meeting with “far-right” European Union MP Christine Anderson. .Poilievre responded he required “no drama lesson” from Trudeau. .You can bet Trudeau will be resorting to a lot of drama lessons in the next few weeks as he struggles to maintain his grip on power. You can bet both his cabinet and his caucus are nervous, anxious and fidgety about what their political future holds. .It’s looking increasingly like disaster.
