NDP REALITY CHECK: Justin Trudeau and the Eve Adams defection: compromising principles

“[W]hen you start to compromise your principles, you’re through.” – Justin Trudeau, February 22, 2014

The reviews are in, and the Liberal backroom deals of Monday aren’t looking so good:

“I mean, that a Harper Tory from Mississauga all of a sudden is going to run here in the middle of Toronto with no connections and no awareness? You know, it’s a real insult to the local Liberals in this community.” – Liberal MPP Mike Colle “In welcoming into his caucus the turncoat Eve Adams, Justin Trudeau violated the most important promise that he made to Canadians: putting an end to the ‘old way of doing politics…’. In this decision, Mr. Trudeau has shown that like his Conservative counterpart, he is ready to do anything to win elections. This manoeuver risks disappointing many Canadians. They can say that when it comes to voting for someone who wants to win at any cost, they may as well chose someone who has demonstrated his ability to govern.” [translation] – Andre Pratt, La Presse, February 11, 2015 “But it was not Ms. Adams who was called upon to deliver the day’s most crawlingly demeaning performance. That honour was reserved for Justin Trudeau. Ms. Adams, after all, was desperate. Mr. Trudeau had a choice. “That he chose to receive her, not with a shrug of ‘hey, a seat’s a seat,’ but in the same spirit of feigned high-mindedness, proves beyond a doubt his fitness for the rigours of high office.” – Andrew Coyne, National Post, February 8, 2015 “But by comparison the political calculus behind Trudeau’s decision to offer Adams political asylum does not easily add up. If one had to select a pied piper to lead voters (and MPs?) out of the Conservative fold, Adams, whose main claim to political fame was borne out of partisan brawl rife with alleged dirty tricks and involving one of the leading architects of Harper’s take-no-prisoners approach to politics, would be a counterintuitive choice.” – Chantal Hébert, Toronto Star, February 9, 2015 “[Trudeau] called his new recruit ‘value-driven’ and pronounced himself ‘incredibly proud of the process we’ve established’ for selecting candidates…I had so many questions, I was fit to bust. Samples: What are the other things that have impressed him in recent weeks about Eve Adams? And: Does his process for selecting candidates involve, by any chance, a jug of hooch and a wheelbarrow?” – Paul Wells, Maclean’s, February 9, 2015

Indeed, without principles, what kind of leader are you?

Canadians deserve better.