The failure of Canada's climate change strategy under the Trudeau government brings to mind the prophetic words of American conservative thinker Thomas Sowell in his 1995 book, "The Vision of the Anointed." Sowell warned about the flawed strategy of liberal elites, whom he called the "anointed," that inevitably ends in dysfunction and disaster.
According to Sowell, the anointed approach issues in the following way: 1) assertions of a great danger to society, 2) an urgent need for action to avert a catastrophe, 3) a need for government to curtail the dangerous behavior of the many, and 4) a disdainful dismissal of opposing arguments.
These characteristics are remarkably relevant to the Liberal government's climate change strategy, which began in 2015. The Trudeau Liberals described the "climate crisis" in apocalyptic terms, ignoring the potential consequences of their solutions, such as abandoning fossil fuels in a cold, northern country. Those who pointed out these issues were attacked as "climate deniers."
However, the Trudeau Liberals later pivoted to the Carney Liberals, who scrapped the consumer carbon tax and acknowledged that Canada would not meet its emission reduction targets. The Carney Liberals also expressed support for producing as much energy as possible from Canada, produced responsibly, which was previously described as climate denialism.
True to Sowell's depiction of the anointed, the Liberals have never admitted that their climate strategy failed or apologized to Canadian taxpayers. Instead, they continue to promote their vision of a "net zero" emissions future, despite the impracticality of achieving this goal in 24 years.
Sowell's words from 1995 remain eerily relevant today: "Those who accept the vision are deemed to be not merely factually correct but morally on a higher plane. Those who disagree with the vision are seen as being not merely in error, but in sin." Sound like any political party we know?
