Roundup: Kenney’s Washington mistruths

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Apparently the lure of trying to wade into American politics was too strong for Jason Kenney to resist over the weekend, and he joined Doug Ford in taking swipes at Democratic Party hopefuls over the Keystone XL issue, before telling a Washington audience that Justin Trudeau’s former principal secretary, Gerald Butts, had conspired with the Obama administration to kill the Keystone XL pipeline – which is funny, because it was during the Harper government, and Trudeau has been on the record of being fully supportive of Keystone XL the whole time. Kenney’s Mini-Me, Scott Moe, insisted that this fable was “absolutely correct,” which is a lie in and of itself. And of course, people brought their receipts.

Of course, Kenney has nothing to fall on but lies about the state of the oil industry in order to keep the attention off of himself and his government’s failings in trying to manage the shifting economy – and his convenient target is always Justin Trudeau, whom he needs to keep his voters angry at as a means of distraction. That said, his audience laps it up, and that has pretty much eliminated any sense of shame that Kenney had left. There was a piece in this weekend’s tablet edition of Maclean’s that interviewed so-called “Wexit” supporters, and they all repeated the same memes and lies that Kenney and company peddle, along with a healthy amount of self-delusion, that Kenney also stokes by way of his rank dishonesty. He is continuing to play with fire, as he feels he’s clever enough to put it out and be declared a hero before it gets too big, and trying to do it from Washington is not only a sign of hubris, but possibly of his own desperation.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau is making a surprise visit to Canadian troops in Kuwait following his trip to Ethiopia, and before he heads to Senegal.
  • During his visit with leaders at the African Union summit, Trudeau said that a seat at the United Nations Security Council would allow Canada to up its global game.
  • A Canadian epidemiologist is heading to Beijing to lead the WHO team investigating the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.
  • Chrystia Freeland is heading to Edmonton this week to talk to municipal leaders there about their economic uncertainty.
  • The government is concerned that apps like WeChat and WhatsApp could be used not only for misinformation, but also voter coercion.
  • Here’s a look at some Indigenous leaders who support the Coastal GasLink project, who feel they are being silenced by online harassment.
  • Indigenous protesters have been blockading rail corridors between Ottawa and Toronto in solidarity with the Coastal GasLink protesters.
  • Indigenous leaders in Ottawa say they should be able to access their refurbished building at 100 Wellington whenever they want, but still don’t have control of it.
  • A group of Conservative leadership hopefuls made pitches for their candidacy at an event in Halifax over the weekend.
  • Heather Scoffield delves into the unintended consequences that come with the “just transition” from fossil fuels, and ways in which governments need to do better.

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3 thoughts on “Roundup: Kenney’s Washington mistruths”

  1. Cynicism and lies, the stock and trade of conservatives, Kenney should be ashamed of himself but shame by the party of the christian right does not exist and he and his Ontario toady with others are becoming so transparent.

    • If this CON party has or feels no shame when they lie, cheat, steal and distort reality to their constituents and other Canadians, then perhaps we can’t leave it up to their ‘conscience’ to hold them accountable. Perhaps there should be a more revealing and democratic review of the claims and lies being told to Canadians. How are we to remain a well-informed electorate when we can’t distinguish between lies and truth?

  2. Kenney, Curly Doug, and Moe, three Con stooges for Big Oil and Big Religion under the Harper IDU Associates circus tent of Big Greed. I saw a photo of the cosplay cowboy at the Prosperity Gospel Prayer Breakfast next to some other god-fearin’ greaseball, and thought it was a before-and-after of Jason the swamp creature trying and failing to grow a beard out of jealousy of Trudeau.

    Then I realized it was Ted Cruz.

    Can’t even say the one with the goatee is the evil twin from the mirror universe.

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