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Words, words everywhere and not a brain cell in sight. Does anyone, including Trudeau, think we rid our oceans of plastic last year or gave vulnerable women and girls the education they need in 12 short months, because he chaired the G7 or for any other reason? Then why allow him to claim we did, except because we no longer expect political verbiage to be plausible let alone true?

I’m not being partisan here. The other press release I did not burn only because it was digital was from the Tories and said “SCHEER TO MARK THE BEGINNING OF 2019 — THE YEAR OF THE CARBON TAX.”

Photo by Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

I don’t know what will happen in 2019 and neither does Andrew Scheer. As the Post pointed out on New Year’s Eve, when 2018 started Doug Ford was a has-been or never-was, Jamal Khashoggi was alive and unknown, yellow vests weren’t a thing and Justin Trudeau was popular. Prediction is hard, especially about the future, and we fixate too much on trivia. (I don’t just mean the story headlined “What’s next for ex-N.B. premier” that said nobody knows.) But whatever we end up glaring back at a year hence, it won’t be a rebated $20/tonne carbon tax that only raised gas prices 4.4 cents a litre.

Such a sum isn’t going to change anyone’s habits and left and right alike know it. Including Scheer. He doesn’t think the carbon tax will matter, he doesn’t think it will dominate 2019, and he’s just as committed to Paris Accord targets with even less of a plan. He sent a press release that packs three lies into an opening one-sentence headline he probably never even read. Boo!