The paranoid are out to get us
There should be zero tolerance for Trumpy conspiracy theories in the Conservative Party of Canada.
Ben Woodfinden draws the line at his fellow Canadian conservatives adopting Trumpist rhetoric and conspiracy theories:
…There is extremely dangerous rhetoric coming from across the political spectrum, but I have more responsibility to police people on my “team” than people who aren’t. And the rhetoric that this paranoid politics produces here too, not just in America, is worrying.
Let me give you an example. Back in October, Leslyn Lewis, the Conservative Party’s rising star and someone that I was extremely enthusiastic about and supportive of during the leadership election wrote that “Canada is quietly going through a socialist coup.”
What? A coup is an attempt to overthrow a government by non-democratic means. Suggesting that a coup is taking place is no laughing matter. I don’t quibble with her using the word socialism. She describes Trudeau “as an evangelist for a new type of 21st-century socialism — a quiet and bloodless revolution that seeks to control our lives through economic dependency.” I don’t think Trudeau is a socialist, and I don’t think his green agenda or high levels of public spending constitute socialism, but this is in my view perfectly acceptable political rhetoric even if I wouldn’t use it. But calling it a coup is serious.
Lewis sort of backs down as the piece goes on, and she ends by saying “we still have a democracy. For Trudeau to remake Canada into a socialist state, he will have to go through us first. He cannot do that if we get engaged, vote and volunteer.” Now this is again better. But this isn’t a coup. If we can go out and vote and we still have democracy then there is no coup taking place, and we absolutely shouldn’t use language like that.
I’m sure some of you will accuse me of being overdramatic here, but I ask you again what the logical ends of a statement claiming a socialist coup taking place are. Lots of other people and supposedly respectable figures use the language of coups, and of course Harper was ludicrously called a dictator by esteemed morons like Elizabeth May. It’s dumb, it’s incendiary, and it’s wrong. But “they do it too” is not a reason for you to do it. Be better.
[…]
Cutting and harsh political rhetoric is not a problem, but there are limits to what responsible people can and should say. Let me illustrate the difference in one more little way. I notice all the time now that #TrudeauMustGo trends fairly frequently. But increasingly I come across #TrudeauTraitor and #TrudeauTreason. Calling Trudeau corrupt, incompetent, inept, a radical or a socialist are all perfectly legitimate. But words like traitor and treason are not thrown around lightly. Words matter. And once again, ask yourself what is the logical end of this kind of rhetoric? What is to be done if Trudeau is truly treasonous or a traitor?
Most people are capable of using this kind of hyperbole, and mean no genuine harm. But all it takes is for one person to take the language of treason and treachery to a dangerous end. In July a man rammed a truck through the gates of Rideau Hall armed with two shotguns, a rifle and a revolver looking for the Prime Minister. According to the RCMP the man was “seeking to have the prime minister arrested for his policies related to firearms restrictions and COVID responses."
Is this a problem exclusively on the right? No. It’s a serious problem across the spectrum. But those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. If we condemn dangerous rhetoric from “the other side” we have to police our own even more. There’s been a lot of whataboutism this week, pointing to violence from the summer as proof that political violence isn’t just a right wing problem. Left wing political violence in America is also a problem and whataboutism isn’t always wrong. It’s important to point out hypocrisy. But you cannot do this if you are incapable of policing and holding yourself to account as well.
Most Conservative Party of Canada members oppose Trump, but most Canadians who do support Trump support the Conservative Party. (In that way, I’m somewhat disappointed that Maxime Bernier’s fringe People’s Party of Canada didn’t take off. He can have them.) The first time someone told me about QAnon was at an event for former leader Andrew Scheer. I recently left an “Erin O’Toole for Prime Minister” Facebook group because the conspirazoid commenters were getting to be too much.
The Republican Party bent over backwards to avoid alienating the Trump cult - look at all the energy and enthusiasm they brought to the party! - and look where they are now. O’Toole and other party leaders should be watching and learning what not to do.
Michael Chong, whom I enthusiastically supported for leader in 2017, has called out Trump by name. More of that, please.
Losing the Presidency was bad, losing the social media accounts was worse, losing the PGA tournament was still worse, but for Donald Trump, this might be worst of all:
More than two decades ago, Donald Trump the New York developer found refuge at Deutsche Bank after a syndicate of lenders, including predecessor firms to JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, cut ties with him.
Now, after followers of President Trump laid siege to the U.S. Capitol in a riot that caused at least five deaths last week, even Deutsche Bank wants nothing to do with him.
The moves by Wall Street institutions to distance themselves from Trump make his transition to a post-presidency life much harder. Deutsche Bank has been Trump’s primary business lender since the 1990s and is owed about $340 million in three loans, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
When those loans come due in 2023 and 2024, Trump will have to repay them in full or find another institution to lend him the money. He cannot refinance with Deutsche, which had been looking at cutting ties with Trump even before the horrific events of Jan. 6, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about private matters.
[…]
Still, the bank has never lost money on Trump, at least not yet, according to the person. If Trump defaults on his loans, Deutsche can seize the golf courses and hotels secured by the mortgages, and if their value isn’t sufficient to repay the debt, the bank can go after Trump personally, who guaranteed the loans, the person said.
Other institutions also stepped away from Trump after the Capitol siege: Signature Bank, a New York-area institution, has called for Trump to resign and said it was closing two personal accounts where Trump kept about $5.3 million. A spokeswoman says the bank won’t do business “with any members of Congress who voted to disregard the Electoral College.” The New York Times first reported news of the two lenders stepping away from the president.
Trump also had deposit accounts at JPMorgan and Capital One, according to 2019 disclosures. Both banks declined to comment.
For Trump, finding a new place to deposit his cash will be relatively simple; it will be harder to find a bank willing to lend him massive amounts of cash. Almost 30 years ago, bankruptcies at several Trump properties left banks with losses, and Deutsche was one of the only large institutions willing to work with him. A Trump organization representative didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
Trump was on top of the world before 2016. He lived a lifestyle of almost unimaginable luxury and fame, and had at least one big bank willing to finance it. Had he not encouraged his supporters to try overthrowing the government to keep him in power, Deutsche Bank may still have been willing to work with him. (To paraphrase an old saying: when you owe the bank a million dollars, you have a problem. When you owe the bank 340 million dollars, the bank has a problem.)
You can only sell so many MyPillows, so who will come to Trump’s rescue now? Maybe a sketchy Russian bank? Stay tuned.
Global News does a deep dive into Medicago, the Quebec company producing what might be Canada’s most promising COVID-19 vaccine contender - from an unexpected source:
The company’s name, Medicago, was Latin for the plant they were using at the time: alfalfa. But it wasn’t until Medicago shifted to Nicotiana benthamiana, a cousin of the tobacco plant, that it attracted an investor that would accelerate its growth as well as lead to some of its greatest controversy: tobacco giant Phillip Morris International (PMI).
In the late 2000s, PMI had a mandate to “explore adjacent technologies that could lead to new lines of profitable business” and a robust R&D division that knew the potential of the plant.
“There was a small group at PMI … that were producing proteins in the tobacco plant,” recalls Nathalie Landry, executive vice president of scientific and medical affairs at Medicago. “We were using a different plant that is in the same family … but it’s not the one used to produce cigarettes.”
[…]
But regardless of PMI’s ownership share, Medicago’s relationship with Big Tobacco has been an ongoing source of friction.
When trying to attend WHO meetings, Medicago found it difficult to get a formal invitation.
“We manage to always get the notification and invitation. But it’s not through the ‘big door,’” Landry said. “WHO, although they love the product and the technology, they have to deal with the fact that we’re supported by tobacco. … It’s difficult for Medicago to be associated with WHO.”
The WHO has a detailed framework about who it will partner with, stating it “does not engage with the tobacco industry or with non‑State actors that represent the interests of the tobacco industry.” However, a spokesperson for the WHO said “Medicago has been treated the same as all other influenza vaccine manufacturers and they have been in various WHO meetings.”
Big Tobacco money potentially saving lives for once would be an appropriately weird development for these strange times.
It’s nice to see more about Canadian politics. Sometimes it seems that we’re so glued to events across the border that it’s hard to focus on developments at home.
At first glance, it makes sense that a plant-based vaccine would have fewer side effects than a vaccine grown on animal protein. I’m interested to see how their Covid vaccine progresses. We shouldn’t be dependent on other countries for something that can be this vital.