Saturday, March 25, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Trudeau misrepresents Canadians who disagree with him: Jamil Jivani in the Toronto Sun

It was never true that opposition to vaccine passports and mandates was a racist or white supremacist movement.

September 23, 2022
in Columns, Domestic Policy Program, In the Media, Jamil Jivani, Latest News, Social issues
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Trudeau misrepresents Canadians who disagree with him: Jamil Jivani in the Toronto Sun

Photo from the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, via Flickr.

This article originally appeared in the Toronto Sun.

By Jamil Jivani, September 23, 2022

With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally removing most COVID-19 travel restrictions this month, many Canadians are left wondering who can claim credit for these changes.

Alberta MLA Kaycee Madu, who was Canada’s first-ever Black provincial minister of justice, made headlines this week when crediting “freedom convoys” for the partial return to normalcy.

“It never was about science but about political control and power,” Madu stated. “Thanks to all those citizens, freedom convoys, who had the courage to mobilize against these tyrannical policies. They endured a lot hate, name calling, suffered and vilified on behalf of all of us. I thank them!”

Unsurprisingly, Madu’s comments sparked strong reactions. Few things in Canadian politics seem to get a rise out of social media users quite like commenting on vaccine policies.

Regardless of how you feel about trucker convoys, we should all be able to acknowledge the significance of Madu’s comments. He is a prominent Black Canadian leader expressing support for trucker convoys, which contradicts Trudeau’s narrative about Canadians who oppose his policies.

For months, Trudeau has misrepresented the trucker convoy as racist and white supremacist. He has sought to delegitimize the protests by arguing only hateful, ignorant people could empathize with such demands.

But it was never true that opposition to vaccine passports and mandates was a racist or white supremacist movement. This week, Madu helped to correct the record.

Dr. Leslyn Lewis, the first Black woman to run for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, has made similar points in support of the trucker convoy and its relevance to minority communities.

Journalist Rupa Subramanya documented the diversity of the trucker convoy on the ground in Ottawa earlier this year. The Instagram account “POC4freedomconvoy” archived hundreds of videos of people of colour speaking out against Trudeau’s vaccine policies.

A reason all of these people push back on Trudeau’s narrative is that the prime minister’s policies did disproportionately exclude and marginalize people of colour. Even CBC News would have to acknowledge this disproportionality.

It’s unfortunate that the significance of Madu’s message is being ignored by Canadian journalists. The top reply to Madu on Twitter is from Jody Vance, who identifies herself as the Canadian correspondent for Al Jazeera English. Vance accuses Madu of “leaning into disinformation” and she seems completely uncurious as to why Madu is making such a point.

In response to questions about Madu from reporters, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney declined to comment but shared an observation on journalists: “I know for some of you in the media, your job when it comes to politics is to be fight promotors.”

Of course, it is fair to disagree with Madu. Mount Royal University’s Duane Bratt, for example, raised worthwhile questions in response to Madu’s statement. “Does your support of freedom convoys include the one that shut down the border crossing at Coutts (Alberta)? Several of those individuals have been criminally charged with major offences. Were they the good guys?”

But Canadians deserve the truth about who is engaging in debates about the direction of our country and why. That means pointing out that Trudeau blatantly misrepresents the people who oppose his policies, and most of the media doesn’t seem to care.

Jamil Jivani is a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and President of the Canada Strong & Free Network.

Source: Toronto Sun
Tags: COVID-19Jamil JivaniTrudeau
Previous Post

The CBC’s hypocritical attack on Ben Shapiro: Jamil Jivani in the National Post

Next Post

Beat inflation to keep power: Philip Cross in the Financial Post

Related Posts

A third way for drug addiction policy in Canada
Video

Video: A third way for drug addiction policy in Canada

March 24, 2023
Putin and Xi driven to make authoritarianism the standard worldwide: Balkan Devlen in the National Post
Columns

Putin and Xi driven to make authoritarianism the standard worldwide: Balkan Devlen in the National Post

March 24, 2023
Outside intervention does a disservice to Indigenous communities that need to take control of their economic destinies: Chris Sankey in the National Post
Columns

Changing a lyric in O Canada is not a path to reconciliation: Chris Sankey in the Hub

March 23, 2023
Next Post
Beat inflation to keep power: Philip Cross in the Financial Post

Beat inflation to keep power: Philip Cross in the Financial Post

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Follow us on

Newsletter Signup

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

Inside Policy Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Back Issues
  • Advertising
  • Inside Policy Blog
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Privacy Preference Center

Consent Management

Necessary

Advertising

Analytics

Other