Well, that was a short honeymoon.
New PM Justin Trudeau was ushered into power amid a mood of positivity and change. After a Conservative government that, in its later years, had been mired in numerous spending scandals, from $8 orange juice to Mike Duffy’s trial, any new leader had to campaign to be clean.
And Trudeau did, decrying tax cuts for the rich that would have benefitted him and other members of Canada’s one per cent.
But now, having settled in, Trudeau suddenly has no problem accepting taxpayer money for things he could easily afford for himself.
The Trudeau family’s two nannies will be paid for out of the public purse, not the Trudeau family bank account.
That’s an astoundingly tone-deaf decision for a government just coming into power to make. Especially after an election that wasn’t just fought over corruption and overspending, but over public access to child care.
On the spending side, Mr. Trudeau can certainly afford to pay for his own childcare needs. This year the PM will be paid $334,800, which happens to be more than 10 times the median income in Canada. While other Canadians fret about finding a daycare they can afford, has space, and trust with their kids, at least one family can relax.
During the campaign, each of the parties had their plans for child care, with the NDP advocating a publicly funded system, the Tories looking to tax breaks for the middle (and wealthy) classes, and the Liberals… they promised to start working on a plan within 100 days of taking office.
Well, they certainly applied that zeal for action to taking care of their leader’s childcare needs. Let’s hope they drop the government funded nannies and start worrying about the rest of Canadians within the next couple of months. C’mon Mr. Trudeau. The clock is ticking!
– M.C.