Is Trudeau Trump?
Comparing 24 hours worth of tweets on World Refugee Day
At a team meeting about two weeks ago, the person leading the meeting turned to me and, as the token Canadian in the room, asked for my opinion on Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau. Slightly taken aback but able to reply, I listed off my major complaints, like the Liberal Party’s steadfast commitment to pipelines and my issues with the direction of some Liberal Party foreign policy. Despite this, I generally don’t mind him but I am critical of Liberal party policies and decisions — as every person should be of their state’s political administration, but especially a political science student. When I was done listing my complaints, he looked at me and said, “so basically, Trudeau is Trump.”
Uh.
Pardon me? (I’ve actually been saying this a lot since coming to Washington, DC.)
TRUDEAU IS ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUMP. BIG OL’ LOL AT THAT SUGGESTION. Nope. The American political gong show is America’s, and America’s alone. Don’t draw the comparison between my PM and your Trump.
You know why? Look at their tweets from the last 24 hours.
Note: Retweets, as well as Trudeau’s French tweets, will be omitted for brevity.
At time of writing, it is 1.30pm EST. So, the furthest back we’ll go is to 19 June at 1.30pm.
Trudeau’s oldest tweet from our 24 hour sampling period is the following:
WOW. WAIT. HANG ON. WHAT WAS THAT JT? Easier to access information?
“The package proposes to break new ground by giving the Information Commissioner increased powers, including the ability to order the release of documents. It creates new requirements for proactive publication of a broad range of information and extends those to more than 240 government institutions. These changes will put more government information in the hands of Canadians and provide greater transparency on the use of public funds.
For the first time, legislated proactive disclosure will be included under the Act and applied to the Prime Minister’s and Ministers’ offices, Members of Parliament and Senators, as well as institutions that support Parliament and the courts. A full legislative review of the Act would be required every five years so that it never again becomes outdated, with the first review beginning no later than one year after Royal Assent.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it/isn’t it A Big Deal™ that the US Pres repeatedly refused to publicize his tax returns? Also, while not directly related, someone must’ve drawn the parallel from this news release to the Republican reluctance to detail anything about what’s supposed to replace the ACA.
Meanwhile, in DC:
Well.
Alright.
I’m feeling exceptionally smug right now. And, the irony. There’s so much that I don’t even know where to start. There are so many jokes I can feel myself starting to make that I don’t know where to begin. So instead, I’ll move on.
This is embarrassing because it came back to bite Canadian government due to a comment made by Governor General David Johnston that, “our ‘Indigenous people’ who were immigrants as well.”
1) That is patently false, as Canada’s history is one of colonialism
2) Indigenous people are not “ours” — ESPECIALLY when that “ours” denotes belonging to the government
So that’s a little rocky. What’s happening at approximately the same time in the US?
I’m certain that has Trudeau never negatively singled someone in a tweet. He has, however, offered condolences for the wildfire in Portugal this past weekend:
Trump, meanwhile endorses Karen Handel. Endorsements aren’t that unusual.
But this was published on 20 June, which happens to be World Refugee Day, bringing us to an interesting point of comparison. After this tweet from Trump this morning, there was nothing until 12.20pm — the tweet offered both condolences for the tragic death of Otto Warmbeir but also reinforces the US’ hardline stance against North Korea:
32 minutes following Trump’s morning tweet, and the first thing I saw on my Instagram feed actually, Trudeau acknowledged World Refugee Day.
It’s a touching video, speaking to the Canadian commitment to open borders, multiculturalism and tolerance. Following this, Trudeau tweets to his official statement on World Refugee Day.
In his statement, he stresses the Canadian commitment of letting refugees in. In particular, he cites that Canada has let in 40 000 Syrian refugees over recent years and he calls on, “Canadians and people around the world to stand with people seeking shelter from enormous hardship and violence. Refugees are forced to leave home, but they carry with them dreams for their children and the hope of creating a better world. Let us show compassion for their plight, recognize their dignity, and continue to see ourselves in each other.”
At this time, Trump has no new tweets to compare against Trudeau. However, Trudeau has tweeted about steps taken to protect Canadian workers and a string of tweets in favour of Bill C-51 — a problematic piece of anti-terror legislation enacted during Stephen Harper’s years in Parliament. What does this mean for the work that’s been done by Trudeau and the Liberal Party in support of refugees? Check back tomorrow for commentary on C-51: what it is and what it means for the future of immigration in Canada.
