Canadian lawmakers returned from summer break yesterday – only two weeks after kids were forced back to school. At first, it was pretty much business as usual:
Pierre Welcome to housing hell. Population: everyday Canadians. It’s been eight years now, Justin. When will you finally leave us alone?
Justin I admit there’s a housing crisis. That’s why we eliminated sales tax on new rental construction, why we’re working with municipalities to get more housing built, and why we’re directly funding affordable housing development through the National Housing Strategy.
Pierre Tell that to people living in tents. Everybody knows that your reckless spending did this. Everyday Canadians can’t even put food on the table. When will you end their pain?
Justin I’ve given Galen Weston and the other grocery guys an ultimatum: Stabilize food prices, or I will.
Jagmeet Why are you even talking to them? Galen’s not our friend. He and his buddies are lining their pockets while Canadians suffer. Force them to cut food prices right now!
Justin We’re going to make changes to the Competition Act to help with food prices.
Pierre Do you know what makes food more expensive? Is it climate change? Is it corporate greed? No, it’s Justin’s carbon tax. It makes fuel cost more, and that makes farming and trucking cost more, and that makes food cost more – and before you know it, boom! You’re in housing hell.
Some Liberal All those forest fires this summer were really something, weren’t they? It’s almost like we need a tax to address the consequences of climate change…
Some Conservative Do you know what’s more expensive than climate change? Justin’s reckless policies!
… And so on.
But then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did something extraordinary. He stood in the House of Commons to accuse the Indian government of killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.
In June, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a vocal leader of the Sikh separatist movement, was shot in his truck outside a temple in Surrey, B.C. Trudeau said he has been provided with credible intelligence that “agents of the government of India” were behind it.
While the allegation is astonishing, the larger problem is not new. In India, support for Sikh independence is outlawed; but in Canada, which is home to the world’s largest Sikh diaspora community, it’s considered a matter of free expression.
That said, this alleged assassination will almost certainly make matters between Canada and India significantly worse. Tensions are rising, diplomatic ties have begun to deteriorate, and more is bound to come.