WARMINGTON: Trudeau or his staffers’ name-calling somehow tolerated

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One thing loud and clear in Canada in 2024 is that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s people are allowed to be rude and demeaning to people the government doesn’t like — just as he is.

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It’s as if they feel they are always right and those who don’t agree with them are scum.

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Saying there is “no excuse” for what Ottawa residents faced from the trucker convoy, the Trudeau government is doubling down in supporting vulgar responses of residents including a senior Liberal staff member who was reportedly caught on video hurling normally below-the-belt obscenities.

“We f***ing hate you,” said an at-the-time unidentified man from a balcony in Ottawa during a verbal dispute with protesters in February 2022. “The hostages are getting their f***ing revenge. Watch yourself.”

The vulgarity got worse. At one point he can be heard calling a woman a “dumb f***ing c***” and a “stupid b****.”

Known as “Balcony Man,” the mysterious resident also gave two fingers to protesters. This video was so hot it made it to the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

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Two years later, veteran Ottawa reporter Glen McGregor broke the story claiming that the star of this viral video was a Liberal government insider: “The man is Matt MacDougall, now a senior policy adviser for parliamentary affairs in the office of Liberal Government House leader Steve MacKinnon,” McGregor wrote in the National Post. “At the time of the convoy, MacDougall worked for then House leader Mark Holland, who is now health minister.”

But when asked about this extreme behaviour, the government took the approach the real culprits were the truckers and not the locals pushing back on what they felt was an occupation of the capital.

The Sun reached out to MacDougall for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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While “we will not comment on personnel,” Mark Kennedy, director of communications for the Office of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, told the Toronto Sun, “two years ago, the residents of Ottawa were subjected to an illegal and disgraceful blockade of their streets” in which “thousands of people who lived downtown experienced unimaginable treatment by those who participated in the blockade.”

Added Kennedy: “Trucks in the convoy honked their horns at ear-piercing levels 24 hours a day for three weeks, making it virtually impossible for residents to sleep at night. The trucks that occupied the streets pumped out toxic diesel fumes, creating an unhealthy environment.”

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As a fact check, the honking stopped in the first few days after a court injunction but the protest remained in place for three weeks until the government invoked the Emergencies Act — which, ironically, last week was ruled by a court to be unconstitutional.

Tamara Lich, still before the courts charged with mischief for being the alleged leader of the convoy, said after watching this video: “you never saw any of us behave like that.”

That is not how the Trudeau government saw it.

“Residents who ventured out into the streets had their safety imperiled, as they were met with aggressive and intimidating protesters who hurled insults at them,” said Kennedy. “We believe there is no excuse for what the people of Ottawa experienced in 2022. We supported those residents then, and we support them now.”

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One thing you can say about the Liberals is they don’t throw their own people under the bus when their behaviour is questionable and questioned. It’s one of the benefits, perhaps, of having a PM who has called people racists, misogynist, anti-vaxxer mobs and flat-earthers.

I have said it before but I don’t think any of these people should be cancelled but stress that such tolerance has to go both ways for both liberals and conservatives. If the PM and his pals can scrape the bottom of the barrel with impunity, it’s time to let people like fired AM 640 morning man Mike Stafford and Coach’s Corner legend Don Cherry back on the air because what they said was not even close in terms of offensive.

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This week there were criticisms lobbed toward Trudeau communications advisor Supriya Dwivedi who raised eyebrows with an X posting tirade which included her questioning her foes’ ability to satisfy women sexually that surely would not be overlooked if they were aimed toward her. However, sources close to this PM point to her final X post on the matter in which she accepted an apology from the man who originally tagged her in a tweet which, in essence, is their way of saying the matter is over.

This may also be case closed for the reported profane outburst by MacDougall who McGregor says used “81 F-bombs” in his tirade.

But as a Trudeau Liberal, he is permitted to.

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