Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FORSETH: Trudeau Liberals now embrace Child Benefit program they once claimed was simply ‘beer and popcorn’ money


On May 28th, the Prime Ministers Office issued a self-glorifying media release – one in which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau more, or less, took credit for a program created much before his time. Here is how that media release began (italics and bold added by me)

 

The global COVID-19 pandemic has made life more difficult for Canadian families. That’s why the Government of Canada has taken action to support parents through this crisis and helped make life more affordable for all families, including through the Canada Child Benefit (CCB).

Since its implementation in 2016, the CCB has given more money to about nine out of ten Canadian families, grown the middle class, and helped lift nearly 435,000 children out of poverty.

 

Trudeau is so sure of himself – in other words overly confident or arrogant -- that he made the above claim, even though it is patently false.

 

I’m in my 60s so I am well aware of what used to be called Family Allowance, or baby bonus ... a benefit which was paid to families to help with the costs of raising a child(ren). Through a series of transitions begun in 1993 under then Liberal finance minister Don Mazankowski, the original baby bonus transitioned into what has now become the Canada Child Benefit.

 

It’s strange that Trudeau now seems to have forgotten, or conveniently ignored, the long tradition of Canadian governments providing families assistance.

 

Paying a per-child bonus to parents was brought about in 1945 by then Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. 

 

In fact, according to a March 2019 National Post article ... in 2019 alone, Trudeau has mentioned the child benefit 36 times in the House of Commons, sometimes several times a day...

 

I asked Kamloops Thompson Cariboo Conservative MP Cathy McLeod about the Canada Child Benefit and she reminded me about how the Liberals of past had dismissed the Conservative “Universal” Canada Child Benefit (UCCB) plan which had been in place to provide assistance to families.  She stated:

 

“The bottom line is that a program that the Liberals alluded to as being simply ‘beer and popcorn’ money, they now embrace.”

 

McLeod went on to tell me, “The Conservatives created the UCCB program, and it has been enormously beneficial to Canadian families.”

 

Providing assistance to Canadian families with children didn’t begin with Mazankowski in 1993 ... it didn’t begin with Paul Martin in 1998 ... nor did it begin in 2006 under Prime Minister Stephen Harper ... and it most definitely didn’t, as Trudeau claims, begin in 2016.

 

I guess, however, credit must be given where credit is due.  Trudeau was a drama teacher and I guess he learned his trade well because no one I know even questioned the claims his office made one week ago.

 

Still, as Abraham Lincoln once said ... “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

Canada’s media needs to start fact-checking the Prime Minister, because the misleading claim of May 28th – one of many made by Trudeau – need to be refuted when blatantly untrue.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BC cannot regulate, redesign, and reinterpret its way to a stable forestry sector. Communities need clear rules, predictable timelines, and accountability for results.

Photo credit:  Atli Resources LP   BC’s Forestry Crisis Continues with Closure of Beaver Cove Chip Facility   As industry leaders, Indigenous partners, and contractors gather this week at the BC Natural Resources Forum in Prince George, the gap between government rhetoric and reality could not be clearer. Just hours after the Eby government once again touted reconciliation, certainty, and economic opportunity under DRIPA, Atli Chip Ltd, a company wholly owned by the ’Na̱mg̱is First Nation, announced it is managing the orderly closure of its Beaver Cove chip facility. The closure comes despite public tax dollars, repeated government announcements, and assurances that new policy frameworks would stabilize forestry employment and create long-term opportunity in rural and coastal British Columbia. “British Columbians are being told one story, while communities are living another,” said Ward Stamer, Critic for Forests. “This closure makes it clear that announcement...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stamer: Hope for Forestry Completely Shattered After Another Provincial Review Driven by DRIPA

IMAGE CREDIT:  Provincial Forestry Advisory Council Conservative Critic for Forests Ward Stamer says the final report from the Provincial Forestry Advisory Council confirms the worst fears of forestry workers and communities; instead of addressing the real issues driving mill closures and job losses, the NDP has produced a report that ignores industry realities and doubles down on governance restructuring. Despite years of warnings from forestry workers, contractors, and industry organizations about permitting delays, regulatory costs, fibre access, and the failure of BC Timber Sales, the PFAC report offers no urgency, no timelines, and no concrete action to stop the ongoing decline of the sector. “ This report completely shatters any remaining hope that the government is serious about saving forestry ,” said Stamer.  “ We didn’t need another study to tell us what industry has been saying for years. While mills close and workers lose their livelihoods, the NDP is focused on re...
Post a Comment
Read more

FORSETH – My question is, ‘How do we decide who is blue enough to be called a Conservative?’

How do we decide who’s blue enough to be a Conservative? AS OF TODAY (Friday January 30 th ), there are now eight individuals who have put their names forward to lead the Conservative Party of British Columbia. Having been involved with BC’s Conservatives since 2010, and having seen MANY ups and downs, having 8 people say “I want to lead the party” is to me, an incredible turn-around from the past. Sadly, however, it seems that our party cannot seem to shake what I, and others, call a purity test of ‘what is a Conservative’. And that seems to have already come to the forefront of the campaign by a couple of candidates. Let me just say as a Conservative Party of BC member, and as someone active in the party, that frustrates me to no end. Conservatives, more than any other political philosophy or belief, at least to me, seems to have the widest and broadest spectrum of ideals.   For the most part, they are anchored by these central thoughts --- smaller and less intru...
1 comment
Read more

Labels

Show more