EDITORIAL: Put on your pants and leave the bubble

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s power grab, foisting an unnecessary $610-million election on Canadians during the fourth wave of COVID-19, failed spectacularly.

Voters showed good sense in rebuking the Liberals and sending them back to work with another minority government.

The message should be crystal clear.

We want a functioning, in-person government. That means no virtual Parliament, no hybrid.

Our MPs are paid handsomely to show up. If we can hold an election during a pandemic, then the people we elect to represent us must attend Parliament in person.

If the government can force voters out of their COVID-19 comfort zone to vote, then our parliamentarians can put on their big boy and big girl pants and show up in person.

We want them all back, fully dressed, on Parliament Hill — now.

Trudeau has proven himself to be remarkably bad at governing and remarkably good at manipulating parliamentary procedure in order to avoid accountability. His prorogation of the House in 2020 effectively shut down committee hearings into the WE charity scandal. What we want now is better government and more consultation with other parties. We don’t want another peek-a-boo government that hides from critics and manipulates the agenda.

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Good government isn’t just about the few minutes of Question Period. It’s about consulting, questioning and face-to-face discussions about countless matters of national interest.  It’s about committee meetings and exchanging ideas with people from other parts of the country. It’s about back and forth and give and take. You can’t do that on Zoom.

Trudeau went from tightly scripted news conferences outside his home to participating in huge, in-person election rallies in crowded hotel rooms and bars across the country.

For too many politicians across the country, the pandemic has become a convenient excuse to control and hide virtually from reporters. It’s time for them to leave the bubble.

We’ve learned a lot about COVID-19 since the early, fearful days. We know how to hold in-person events safely. We expect professionalism and accountability from our politicians at all levels.