In case there was any doubt, Andrew Scheer stands firmly behind both free-market capitalism and the messages conveyed by the animated children’s show “Paw Patrol.” The Conservative leader made that clear in a new video posted to his social media accounts on Sunday.
Scheer was responding to a CBC news article from earlier this month, titled “Does Paw Patrol encourage our kids to embrace capitalism?” The story quotes King’s University College sociology professor Liam Kennedy, who specializes in criminal justice.
Kennedy told the CBC that he takes issue with the show’s depiction of the government as corrupt and ineffectual, with the Paw Patrol — a group of do-gooder dogs — acting as a stand-in police force. He chronicled what he called the show’s “tenets of neoliberalism” in an academic article.
When asked why the video was posted Sunday, several weeks after the CBC article was published, a spokesperson for Scheer told HuffPost Canada that “There’s never a bad time to defend capitalism.”
In his video, Scheer took issue with the very premise of Kennedy’s research, his study’s findings, and the CBC’s coverage of that research.
“Sometimes a children’s show is just a children’s show. Not everything needs to be hyper-analyzed through a social justice warrior worldview,” Scheer said.
“Is the CBC conceding that capitalism is a bad thing? Capitalism and the entrepreneurial spirit built our country,” he said. “Let’s take a moment to celebrate free market capitalism.”
Scheer goes on to condemn socialism, which he says “destroys wealth and inflicts misery on all but the privileged few.”
“It’s why people flee countries where the state has too much control over people’s lives and too much involvement in the economy. You never saw a video of people trying to jump the wall to get into East Berlin or paddle a raft to get to Cuba.”
Scheer posted the same message in French, to ensure that his stance was clear to francophones as well.
Some social media users expressed confusion at the pro-capitalist, pro-“Paw Patrol” message.
Scheer’s video doesn’t address Kennedy’s mention that he knows his work will likely invite backlash.
“Some people roll their eyes. I think it’s a serious message but I also want to have fun in my job, so this was fun,” Kennedy said.
The video comes on the heels of socialist Bernie Sanders’ success in several U.S. democratic caucuses.
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