Don Martin: Trudeau's 'fringe' may keep on truckin' into something bigger
In Justin Trudeau’s mind, the Freedom Convoy is a flat-tire “fringe” that’s going nowhere except, hopefully, away from downtown Ottawa.
The protesting truckers and assorted nasty hangers-on blockading Parliament Hill are an unsavoury mix of Trump lovers, Nazi sympathizers, monument desecrators, statue vandalizers and rabid anti-vaxxers who are unworthy of being met, heard or heeded in any way, the prime minister declared Monday.
No doubt Trudeau will be wildly applauded by most Canadians for his hard red line against a protest whose head-scratching leadership is advocating the overthrow of this government.
On almost every point, the prime minister was absolutely right to denounce the vandalizing culprits in the convoy. May they all be found and charged.
But Trudeau may have gone too far in belittling everyone attending this bizarre protest and, by extension, their supporters because it could yet morph into a larger, more coherent movement.
While unvaccinated truckers started this protest, the thousands who shivered along the highways, filled the overpasses and contributed money, giving the truckers a Smokey and the Bandit feel, were reflecting a wider message.
They are flipping the bird at heavy-handed government edicts, the lectures from self-righteous elites and constantly changing advice from medical experts. The truckers were just an 18-wheel catalyst driving their anger forward.
Of course, this is all a political gift for Trudeau, at least in the short-term.
He gets to malign Conservatives aligning themselves with the protest, use it as a wedge in his favour and polarize a divisive health issue where he clearly sits on the side of thrice-vaccinated angels.
Trudeau, now infected with COVID-19 himself, was almost salivating at the opportunity to denounce Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole for showing poor judgement in meeting a few convoy truckers last week. For O’Toole, this nightmare never ends.
But polls reflect rising frustration and pandemic fatigue which could, if a decent opposition ever gets traction, represent a growing political problem for Justin Trudeau.
Bombarded with mixed messaging, spooked by doomsday hospital projections and hit with social restrictions which are tightened too late and loosened too early, the public is clearly ready to shift back to normal with or without government permission.
The dangled carrot that vigorous vaccination would create herd immunity and lead Canadians to an unrestricted lifestyle has repeatedly boomeranged back to just another lockdown. We are mostly fed up.
But, as Trudeau made clear, mandate doubters and vaccine skeptics will get no sympathy nor meetings from this prime minister.
Far from floating any compromise, Trudeau is doubling down on turning the unvaccinated into unemployable pariahs in their country with plans to go even further.
Consider the scheme proposed by his transport minister to expand mandatory vaccination to truckers crossing provincial boundaries.
Where is the epidemiology showing truckers are super-spreading the virus by crossing the Ottawa River from Ontario to Quebec to keep supply chains open? There isn’t any I can find.
If there’s a real genesis for this protest and what’s to come, it’s needlessly onerous regulations and restrictions which defy common sense and medical evidence.
We’re now at the point where polls show a clear majority of Canadians believe most restrictions should end, leaving them to take their own precautions for a semi-normal life.
And yet Trudeau has gone all zero-tolerance tough-guy, denouncing and dismissing anti-mandate protesters as an ignorant un-Canadian “fringe” sporting tinfoil hats.
That derisive designation could become Trudeau’s echo of Hillary Clinton, when she described Trump supporters as “deplorables” in the 2016 U.S. election campaign.
It was the slur that motivated a movement -- and the deplorables won.
That’s the bottom line….
IN DEPTH
Trudeau, key election players to testify at foreign interference hearings. What you need to know
The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions are picking back up this week. Here's what you need to know.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
TREND LINE What Nanos' tracking tells us about Canadians' mood, party preference heading into 2024
Heading into a new year, Canadians aren't feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government's performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
opinion Don Martin: Pierre Poilievre's road to apparent victory will soon start to get rougher
Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives appear to be on cruise control to a rendezvous with the leader's prime ministerial ambition, but in his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin questions whether the Conservative leader may be peaking too soon.
opinion Don Martin: The Trudeau lessons from Brian Mulroney's legacy start with walking away
Justin Trudeau should pay very close attention to the legacy treatment afforded former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who died on Thursday at age 84, writes columnist Don Martin.
opinion Don Martin: ArriveCan debacle may be even worse than we know from auditor's report
It's been 22 years since a former auditor general blasted the Chretien government after it 'broke just about every rule in the book' in handing out private sector contracts in the sponsorship scandal. In his column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin says the book has been broken anew with everything that went on behind the scenes of the 'dreaded' ArriveCan app.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Statistics Canada reports real GDP up 0.6% in January as Quebec strikes end
Statistics Canada says real gross domestic product grew 0.6 per cent in January, helped by the end of public sector strikes in Quebec in November and December.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Ukrainian child asylum seekers in St. John’s get class of their own
Roughly 50 children will gathered in a St. John’s classroom for the first time on Saturday for unique lessons on Ukrainian language, culture and history.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Local Spotlight
A tiny critter who could: Elusive Newfoundland Marten makes improbable comeback
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Ontario man loses $12K to deepfake scam involving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Record-setting pop tab collection for Ontario boy
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
'I was just like, holy cow!': Saskatoon dumpster divers reclaim wasted valuables
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario to balance budget ahead of 2026 election, citing delay due to 'economic uncertainty'
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.
Business owner disappointed in police efforts to locate $500K worth of stolen e-bikes
The owner of an e-bike business says he has doubts police will find the roughly $500,000 worth of product that was stolen from a shipping container last week, while police say he “complicated” their investigation by posting video of the theft.
Costco begins using verification scanners at some Ottawa stores
At least one Costco store in Ottawa has implemented a digital card scanner for member entry, a departure from the traditional in-person card check, in an effort to crack-down on shoppers who have not paid a membership fee.
How to safely view the solar eclipse using household materials
With the solar eclipse just a week away, it’s time to think about how to safely view the celestial show.