“I would say amen to raising taxes…”
After five years of Chrystia Freeland holding public office, this phrase from 2011 is the best the Conservative Party’s opposition research team can come up with?
That’s pathetic.
For reasons I will never understand, the Conservative Party’s communications team is in love with taking one-liners like this out of context, then torquing them beyond all recognition to fit @CPC_HQ‘s talking points.
Take the video tweeted by outgoing Party leader Andrew Scheer on August 19th and referred to by Pierre Poilievre in his press conference the day prior.
Amen? ? Yikes! That’s not a reassuring sign for struggling Canadians. pic.twitter.com/QhV6Vlhdhb
— Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer) August 19, 2020
My only hope is Mr. Scheer neither knew about nor approved this video before it was shipped, because it makes both him and the Conservative Party look like childish buffoons.
And I’m equally disappointed in Pierre Poilievre for his comments.
“For Freeland, higher taxes is a religion. She said amen to higher taxes.”
Pierre Poilievre is so much better than this, as we’ve seen over the past many weeks, so I’m baffled why he would stoop to this type of low-IQ political antics.
For those who, like me, give a crap about intellectual honesty and integrity, here’s Freeland’s entire statement, delivered on an American television show about George Bush’s taxation policies back in 2011:
“Well, I would say amen to raising taxes, but I‘m getting a little bit tired of people beating up on Europe and claiming that the U.S. economy is in such better shape. If you look right now at the western industrialized world, I think that Germany is doing better than anybody.”
When read in context, it’s abundantly clear Freeland’s words have nothing to do with Canada.
It’s also abundantly clear @CPC_HQ hopes Canadians are too stupid to notice they cut Freeland off at the first comma.
“I would say amen to raising taxes…”
About the only thing the Conservative Party can claim is that Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s freshly-minted Finance Minister, actually said these seven words, albeit four years before she entered politics.
But…
“Amen To Raising Taxes!”
It’s such a great quote!!!
No.
It’s really not.
It’s merely @CPC_HQ’s latest intellectually dishonest hack – one any first-grader can unravel in less than 60 seconds.
Canadians respond to and respect authenticity.
There is nothing authentic about the CPC’s long-running love affair with “gotcha” politics, and this breaks my heart.
Why?
Because I believe Canada cannot survive another four years of Liberals mismanagement and ethics scandals.
But when this type of political stupidity is the best the so-called government in waiting has to offer, why on earth would anyone vote Conservative?
Had this crap come out the day before I paid XpressPost $19.22 to deliver my leadership ballot to Ottawa in time, I probably wouldn’t have wasted the money.
Unless and until the Conservative Party fires their entire communications team and brings in professional, authentic communicators, they will continue to lose elections.
Canada can’t afford that.
Just stop already. And when will @CPC_HQ get a real COMMS team?
The quote is out of context, has NOTHING to do with Canada and just makes @CPC_HQ look childish and stupid.
It’s this moronic “Gotcha” political crap that cost you the last election. Will it cost the next one too?
— Christopher di Armani ?? (@ThatLibertyGuy) August 21, 2020
Well said Chris. The Repubs in the US were no better until Trump came along and started ‘telling it like it is’ and actually doing what he promised, causing most GOP fence sitters (RINOS) to develop painful hemorrhoids. Is there anyone in Kanada’s con party with the cohones of a Trump? A resounding NO in most cases! Maybe the young fellow Sloan, but does he have a chance?
Christopher, The biggest obstacle to CPC success and communication of message is their limited access to media. When following a minute long Liberal justification of wrong doing your quotes and comments are limited to a 10 second pull quote (usually a negative shocking or rude quip). This never shows well on the news, and as in Trump case is usually taken or edited out of context. Until Canadian Conservatives get a voice in the media we will remain subjected to the Liberal bias and forced back to the internet for truth or at minimum another side of the same story. If you happened to read this … thanks!
Hi Gary,
I read every comment left on this site. I figure if a reader such as you are willing to respond to an article I write, the very least I can do is read it. :)
In my opinion, one of the reasons the Conservative Party doesn’t have a voice in the media is precisely because of these moronic antics. When they start behaving like adults and stop playing the childish games of 5-year-olds all that will change.
“… all that will change.”
Uh huh, sure it will. Funny that when the Libs pull the same moronic antics like “there will be blood in the streets if the LGR is abolished” or “AR-15s are designed to kill the most amount of people in the shortest time” or “I didn’t know how much WE Charity pays my family” or “I forgot that WE Charity paid for my $41k vacation” they seem to have a voice in the Fake News no problem.
This attack ad stuff may not work on you, but there are a lot of stupid people and people with attention spans of a gnat, on which this does work. Until Canadians demand that parliamentary privilege be immediately revoked so that politicians face consequences for blatantly lying to us, this will keep happening in all parties. If the politicians won’t give up the right to lie, and the RCMP keep protecting them, it is time for revolution..
Thank you for this. I so hate the politics of hate and attack. If you have a policy, let’s hear it. I’m a long-time liberal voter and I’m not so thrilled with them by a long shot right now. CERB payments had to happen, but many other things leave me wanting. But the Conservatives spend lots of time attacking candidates and are pushing so far off-centre, thinking it works so well in the USA, they seem to like it. Give me an alternative that’s conservative and not right-wing and you could get my vote.
You’re welcome, AJ. I hate this crap too.