Canada's Spanking New Prime Minister: Trudeau Redux

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets newly-arrived Syrian refugees Lucie Garabedian, centre, her father Vanig Garabedian, second left, mother Anjilik Jaghlassian, second right, and sister Anna-Maria Garabedian, right, at Pearson International airport, in Toronto, on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015. (Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The new Liberal-led Government of Canada has a smiley-face and a chuckle for anyone who needs a  hug to brighten their outlook on the future, depressed and concerned over the state of the world's conflict areas. This is, after all, 2016, as the improbable new Prime Minister of Canada keeps trilling happily, and he and his Parliamentary team are bringing Canada back to its traditional role within the international community. Which is to say, the Liberal way.

Like his father before him, Justin Trudeau is certainly different. But where his father was an academic and an intellectual and a lawyer, Trudeau junior has another type of background altogether, although both were born with the proverbial silver spoon jammed securely where it counts. Both placed a huge value on money; Pierre Elliot Trudeau famously never spent a dime he didn't have to and went about with empty pockets so aides would pick up tabs for him.

His son established himself as a public speaker, picking up hefty speaking fees, based primarily on his name-recognition and the bold assertion that he had something worthwhile to impart to a devoted public willing and able to pay him for the privilege of being in his company. He distinguished himself academically - not at all, but he did give ski and snowboarding instruction at Whistler, B.C. And he did teach drama at a private boys' school.

And this background, his supporters felt, prepared him more than adequately to lead the Liberal Party of Canada back to its entitled executive seat of power in Parliament with him at its helm. He lost little time overturning all the initiatives both internal and external that the previous Conservative-led government under the able and distinguished former Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed to both at home and abroad.

While going about government business, he also arranged for several nannies to be paid out of public funds, for his wife appears to be too posh to tend to her three youngsters. Somewhat on the scale of her husband, who while being paid a handsome salary as a Member of Parliament, spoke for hefty fees as an MP to health, educational and other groups who felt they could profit by listening to his solutions to weighty problems. Don't worry, be happy.

They see nothing amiss in Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau wearing costly gems to social occasions, boosting the sales potential of the lending jewellers. Fancying themselves glittering celebrities with the kind of vaunted sex appeal that Hollywood is famed for, they haven't been averse to flaunting themselves as owning all the attributes that make for fame in that film capital; youth, flare and consummate thespian skills, cemented by a willingness to pose shamelessly and suggestively.

While in opposition he promised to divide his cabinet equally between the genders, and this he did, appointing two more women than the previous government had done, and congratulating himself warmly in the process. Mr. Trudeau was hell-bent to retrieve Canada's paltry but effective contribution to the U.S.-led war on Islamist violence in the Middle East, offering humanitarian aid as a more palatable substitute.

His new government's pledge to inundate Canada with tens of thousands of Syrian refugees without adequate security checks went somewhat awry, but they still congratulate themselves on the successes they see resulting from their fixation on rescuing victims but not protecting those victims from the violence their bloodthirsty dictator has imposed upon his population to begin with.

The world's attention swivelled from the butchery of Islamic State to the millions of Syrian refugees fleeing mostly Bashar al Assad, not the jihadi forces of the ISIL caliphate, to take in the plight of desperately fleeing Syrians, anxious to escape the regime's barrel bombs. Imagine the surprise when Syrian refugees were loathe to leave the camps for Canada, but that hardly stopped Mr. Trudeau from bragging in Davos to leaders who were suffering under the weight of impossible numbers of refugees.

Now, some issues among refugees are cropping up, mostly relating to the tight housing market in Canadian cities where suitable accommodation for their very large families is proving to be difficult to satisfy. Temporarily placed in hotels at taxpayer expense, all other expenses paid for as required, from food to health care, education and language training, families await houses with backyards for their children to play in.

"The problem is that we have kids and we would rather be outside in a settled house than sitting at a hotel", stated Zaneb Adri Abu-Rukti, in an interview with the CBC, speaking of the ten days her family has been put up in a hotel, when they'd been assured the hotel stay would be no longer than four days. Clearly, this is representative of Syrians who fled with their money intact, leaving behind the poorer Syrian refugees who harboured no lavish expectations.

Presumably, no one would want to inform this Syrian refugee that within Canadian society there are a great many people who would also like to be established in a house of their own, so their children too might have the privilege of feeling settled and well cared for. The "desperate" people awaiting rescue from "danger" don't appear to be those whom Canadian officials who flew to the Middle East to round up refugees, actually selected.

Many of whom now long to be returned from whence they came, since some have expressed just that opinion; that they would prefer to be back at the camps in Lebanon and Jordan. Whoever might have imagined?