So, if Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland bicycles here, there, and everywhere when she isn’t pounding the pavement on foot or hopping on the subway, who is her chauffeur driving around?.And why are Canadians paying for his sandwiches?.Freeland said Monday that she doesn’t use a car to travel, but cycles to work, walks, or uses public transit to get to meetings. Why she doesn’t even own a car, she boasted!.If her chauffeur, Daniel Labelle, isn’t transporting her in a car, why are taxpayers footing his expenses labelled “ministerial transportation” or “transportation of the minister?”.Federal travel expense records revealed that Freeland’s chauffeur made expense claims for 28 days, mostly for chauffeuring trips around Toronto where she represents the riding of University-Rosedale. This did not include trips within Ottawa, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..“I am disappointed to see you peddling blatant misinformation,” wrote the faux offended Freeland on Twitter in response to anyone who had the audacity to raise questions about this..Misinformation?.Well, if that’s so, if the information is indeed inaccurate, Freeland should hop on her bike and pedal fast over to the Department of Finance and set those records people straight..Right there on the form it says Labelle billed chauffeuring expenses incurred “to support the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance with meetings and events.” That would be Freeland..This contradicts Freeland’s claim. It punches a hole in the noble image she wants to portray as one who is selflessly reducing her personal carbon footprint by travelling to and fro such as regular urban Canadians who don’t drive..It is offensive because it is at least a half-truth. (Has there ever been a Freeland sighting on the subway?).Labelle claimed expenses, including food, in Toronto last March 6 and 7 and on Feb. 18 and 19, 2022. In 2021 he billed for driving Freeland in Toronto on April 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27, May 2 and 3, May 5 and 6, again on May 25 and 26, July 28, 29 and 30..The billings did not include Freeland’s use of a chauffeured car in Quebec City last March 21 and 22, in Montréal last Nov. 8, Aug. 21 and 22nd and April 11, and in Montréal on July 19 and 20, 2021..No, Freeland didn’t talk about the charges her chauffeur billed taxpayers. The Liberals, masters of artfully dancing around and dodging questions, never do address questions head on..This all so ridiculous..Freeland walked into this one. Her attempt to portray herself as one with regular Canadians, and a selfless climate-conscious, bike-peddling goddess backfired..Cabinet ministers travelling around Ottawa are allowed a taxpayer-funded driver and car. The deputy prime minister certainly shouldn’t be exempt..But escalating fuel prices brought on by the Liberal’s carbon taxes are crippling already struggling Canadians who are their own chauffeurs — when they can afford to fill their gas tanks..The resentment toward Liberal policies is bubbling and building as their popularity in the polls plummets, so the Liberals play head games with hopefully dumb Canadians to soften the blow without actually doing something to soften the blow..Freeland, who earns a basic $420,000/year salary, is so out of touch with reality that it appears she thinks Canadians will feel better about their fears and woes if she says she rides a bike to work..Maybe she does ride a bike to work. What’s insulting and grating is her leaving out the part about being chauffeured here and there on the taxpayer’s dime. Freeland’s track record on that isn’t good..In 2020, Rebel News obtained records showing Freeland would frequently hop on a plane to travel between Ottawa and Montreal in 2017 — while her official car drove to meet her at whatever airport. Maybe that’s why she emphasized Friday that she also “takes taxis to the airport.”.Freeland responded Friday to questions about rapidly rising fuel costs in Atlantic Canada and tossed in the tidbit that she doesn’t even own a car..“I am right now an MP for downtown Toronto and a fact that still shocks my dad is that I don’t actually own a car,” she told reporters in Charlottetown, PEI..Oh, and in case you haven’t heard her tell it multiple times, she’s a rural northern Alberta gal who got her driver’s licence when she was 16..Seriously, who cares? And this is relevant to Canadians maxing their credit cards to fill their tanks… how?.“I’m like 300 metres from the nearest subway; I walk, I take the subway; my kids walk and ride their bikes and take the subway — it’s actually healthier for our family.”.Is her sacrifice supposed to somehow inspire rural Canadians who’d have a hard time transporting themselves or loads on a bicycle, or don’t have a subway nearby to be brave and do the same?.Freeland’s visit came on the heels of a gas price hike brought on by the July 1 carbon tax increase and the new Clean Fuel Regulations..The Council for Atlantic Premiers appealed to Ottawa to soften the measures they argued have “disproportionate impacts” on the region..“I understand that there are communities in PEI and across Atlantic Canada where you need to drive, so I understand that our policies need to respect that, and I really believe they do,” she said during her visit..If Liberal policies really do respect that, why do the Conservatives have a lead in traditionally red strongholds?.Because Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre gets it. “Freeland’s message to Prince Edward Islanders worried about 61c/litre carbon tax: move to Toronto and get a bike!!!” he wrote in a post..Freeland who proudly describes herself as a “Toronto MP who rides her bike to work” is going to have to man up and do a lot more than ride her bike to work..Of course, that’s when she’s not being ferried around by her chauffeur because, don’t forget — and be comforted next time you’re filling up — she doesn’t own a car.
