On Shaman's Rock

                                 Canada’s leadership crisis

There are times when I am ashamed of being a Canadian. This is one of them.

I’ve been reading about Justin Trudeau and Governor-General Mary Simon appointing the obnoxious Charles Adler of Winnipeg to the Senate.

Adler is the broadcaster who has called indigenous people “uncivilized boneheads.” He also once referred to senators as whores. Now he is one, collecting tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.

There have been calls for Trudeau and Simon to rescind Adler’s Senate appointment. Anyone who makes such racist comments about any other Canadian should not be allowed anywhere near the Senate, let alone appointed to it.

Mary Simon, the first indigenous person to serve as governor-general, should never have agreed to Trudeau’s request to appoint Adler. She should have refused, and backed up that refusal with an offer to resign, if necessary.

Senate appointments are officially made by the governor-general as requested by the prime minister.

Manitoba First Nations chiefs have called for Simon and Trudeau to rescind Adler’s appointment. One of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers has criticized Adler’s appointment.

“There are many eminently qualified Manitobans who are better suited to represent our province than Charles Adler,” Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal said in a statement. Vandal was a five-term Winnipeg city councillor and deputy mayor before being elected to Parliament in 2015.

This fiasco is yet another example of the lack of leadership in Canada. Trudeau is a wealthy elitist and one of the least qualified persons ever to serve as prime minister. The leaders of the principal opposition parties are no better.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre displays little beyond a scowling meanness. Jagmeet Singh, the New Democratic Party leader is focussed on keeping the Liberal minority government in power so his 24 elected MPs can continue collecting their $165,000-plus salary and long string of federal benefits.

Canada needs better, We need leadership that works for the people, not the political parties. We don’t have it because of ourselves, complacent voters who look after our individual interests while ignoring the overall interests of the country and its people.

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