Dear Editor,
Justin Trudeau’s government (including our federal riding MP Sophie Chatel) – maintained years of silence on the issue of anglophone rights within the province of Quebec. Two weekends ago, he finally took a stand on the issue in a transparent bid to win votes, desperate to avoid losing the long-held Liberal federal riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun in Montreal.
Trudeau brought Premier Legault to task for attacking English-Canadians, accusing Legault of “trying to pit people against each other” via provincial legislation that diminishes anglophone rights within Quebec.
Well, Mr. Trudeau, we appreciate the support but where were you and your ministers when Legault’s ethnic nationalist legislation was enacted?
You, your ministers, and your MP’s sat on your collective hands for the last two years as Legault passed divisive legislation in this province. Now, for transparently political purposes, you feign outrage. By slowly sauntering in as a white knight on this issue during a by-election, you are blatantly using anglos within Quebec as political pawns.
The anglos and morally-reasoned francophones within Quebec have been hung out to dry for years, and have lost faith in your ability to be stewards of rights and freedoms for Canadians. Many anglophones, in the absence of federal government protection, have had to engage in covert, grassroots resistance to Bill 96 with no help whatsoever from the federal government. Ordinary people have suffered increasingly frustrating and hostile interactions with Legault’s government. Entrepreneurs, such as myself, work hard to make a living while our businesses are under constant threat of financial penalty for non-compliance.
Our Charter rights are being violated in Parliament’s backyard, but this didn’t catch the attention of many federal Liberal Party politicians (nor the federal Conservatives, nor the NDP, for that matter).
Apparently, Trudeau’s government has been too busy shedding tears for every other cause around the world, but now that he wants votes he’ll pretend to care.
We’re used to being let down, and we’re used to fighting for our rights without help, as demonstrated by local protesters who post hand-crafted signs opposing Bill 96, jam phone lines of government agencies, resist linguistic governmental laws on social media, and create products bringing awareness to the issue. All these forms of active and passive resistance are genuinely Canadian in nature, unlike the fascist machinations of the Quebec government. Legault has been allowed to run wild, unchallenged by the Trudeau government, which has now fallen into the hands of the separatists who are capitalizing on Trudeau’s need for support in order to prop up his failing government.
If there was ever a time for a fresh and direct approach to federalism in this country, the time is now. The time has come to rally behind a Party that champions rights and freedoms. This is why I have presented myself as the People’s Party of Canada candidate in the next federal election.
Todd Hoffman, Campbell’s Bay
