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Our Leaders' Silence In The Face Of Trump Is Complicity

Overwhelmingly, most decent Liberal and Conservative politicians are appalled by Trump. They are disgusted and shocked. In private, they will certainly tell you that. But in public? They say, and have said, precisely nothing.
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Dear Justin, Tom and a Conservative player to be named later:

Up here in the clouds above Canuckistan and Trumpland, jetting south on a plane, we cannot help but think of you.

A few days ago, you see, my wife Lisa and daughter Emma travelled to Washington, D.C. with several hundred other Canadian women to protest the day-old Trump regime. More than a million people showed up, mainly women. Their principal focus was women's rights, but other issues came up, too.

In Toronto, where I marched with more than 60,000 people, it was much the same. There was a truly joyous, family friendly atmosphere to it all, and it felt wonderful to be there. The NDP and various union leaders tried to seize control of the day's events at the start, but we didn't let them. (More on that shortly.)

Where are our leaders?

In both cities -- and at Women's March events that took place around the world, involving millions -- one question could be heard, over and over:

Where are our leaders?

In Canada, the strategy of the Liberal and Conservative parties seems to be identical. That is, be very, very small. Be almost invisible. And, in that way, Donald Trump -- the Unpresident -- will not notice us, and he will hopefully leave us alone.

Now, sure, a couple Conservative Party leadership candidates are aping Trump, and saying awful things about refugees and immigrants and people who do not look/sound/pray like them. But, overwhelmingly, most decent Liberal and Conservative politicians are appalled by Trump. They are disgusted and shocked. In private, they will certainly tell you that.

But in public? They say, and have said, precisely nothing. They are invisible.

People are starting to notice. At a sold-out Mosaic Institute forum in Toronto I moderated a few days ago -- called "Canada In A Trump World" -- that was the very first question, in fact.

An elegant, well-dressed older gentleman stood up and said: "Where is our prime minister? Condemning Kellie Leitch is easy. Why isn't he condemning the terrible things Trump says and does?"

Many heads nodded. Mine did.

The political answer to that question, of course, is trade, security, blah blah blah. We're a mouse, he's an elephant, etc. etc. Diplomacy, yadda yadda. That sort of thing.

The Conservatives are no better.

The moral answer, however, is this: "You're right. He's going to do exactly what he's promised to do -- eviscerate trade deals, put up walls, gut NATO, implement a Muslim registry -- and we will strongly object. We think he's wrong. And we intend to say so, in a united front, to his face. If there's one thing strong men understand, it's strength."

That hasn't been said, however. Not even close. What's happened, instead, is the government's most-senior advisers have hurried down to D.C., and then leaked to the Globe and Mail what a swell guy Steve Bannon is. You know, Steve Bannon -- the guy who isn't opposed to keeping blacks from voting and who, according to sworn court documents, doesn't want to let his kids go to school with Jews.

What's happened, instead, are leaks of chatty, convivial phone calls between our feminist prime minister and the Unpresident. About how chummy they are. With Trump, a "man" who brags about sexually assaulting women and is facing multiple legal actions for sexual assault.

The Conservatives are no better. I don't know of a single smart Conservative -- and yes, Virginia, they exist -- who isn't thoroughly disgusted by the racist, sexist, fascistic Groper-in-Chief. But will any of them speak up and call him what he is, which is a menace to global stability? A creep? A pig? Not a chance. Not on your life.

The NDP, naturally, can be expected to claim the moral high ground. They have zero prospect of attaining power anytime soon, so they will denounce the Unpresident at every opportunity.

Fine. Good.

But if the Dippers do what they did in Toronto at the outset of the sister Women's March -- that is, to treat opposition to Trump like it's an exclusive socialist club, and to refuse to build alliances with similarly horrified Grits and Tories -- well, then Trump will win. Because the only way to defeat this piece of filth is with the aforementioned united front. Divided, we will never succeed. If the Bernie Sanders experiment taught us anything, it's that.

From four miles up, as we squint down at Canada and the formerly Unites States of America, what strikes us is this: the all-encompassing political silence. The people are mobilizing like never before, and the people are motivated. But our political classes? They're someone else, pretending to be ostriches.

Remember that old maxim, politicos? Because it is so, so true in 2017.

Silence in the face of injustice -- and hate, and cruelty -- is complicity.

Sincerely,

Us.

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