I have often dreamed of having the chance to ask PM Trudeau a question. I have many questions, but the idea of him having to answer any one of them honestly makes my spine tingle. So when I heard that he was finally coming to Saskatchewan as part of his cross-country town hall meeting tour, you can bet I jumped at the chance to secure myself a seat. It was last minute, as there was only a 36 hr space between when the meeting was announced, and when it was to take place. But this monumental moment – a moment which PM Trudreau himself explained as the time for him to listen to the concerns of the Canadian people, was something I very much wanted to be a part of.

I was surprised to learn that the only way to reserve a seat was through a Liberal Party website. I was required to provide them (with no privacy policy in sight) with my personal information, including my address and telephone number. I guess they needed to bulk up their data base.

After inputting my personal info (which I can honestly say I would never have freely given to the Liberal Party without the carrot of seeing PM Trudeau and possibly asking him a question), I received a confirmation email.

Having received the above confirmation, I quickly went about making the necessary arrangements needed for a last minute 600km trip. Child care was arranged, as well as chore duty. Even with a possibility of meeting the PM, our animals needs must come first. On top of the regular chaos of the ranch and children, the day of Trudeau’s town hall also happened to fall on my birthday. So party plans were called off, and I broke the news to my kids that they would have to save the celebrations for the following day.

I spent a large part of my day brainstorming ideas of possible questions to ask. I threw it out on social media, asking what respectful questions my peers would ask. There were many concerns, and thoughtful questions to go with them.

I was very surprised to see, almost 12 hours later, another email directly from the sole Saskatchewan Liberal MP’s office in my inbox.



I was shocked. How was this possible? There was only one way to register. They knew the exact size of the location. How could it be possible that they had over-booked the venue? The registration itself was only open for a few hours.

Something is not adding up.

I was not surprised to see that of all the people I knew that also had an RSVP’d confirmation, each had also received the same second email. The western rural voice I had so hoped to see represented well, is apparently not going to be there.

I am incredibly disappointed in this. Not in the idea of partisanship meetings. Not the favouritism to the Liberal supporters, but the dishonesty around it all.

If PM Trudeau wants to (only) speak with the people that voted for him, that’s fine. But don’t call it an open town hall. And don’t make the taxpayers foot the bill. Being shut out of this meeting makes me furious.

For a man so concerned with climate change that he is willing to force an unwanted, ineffective, carbon tax down our throats, it is shocking to me that he would expect a working mother to drive 600kms for the small chance of even getting in the door. For a man that wants to “listen” to the Canadian people, he has silenced my voice. I was ready to engage in a respectful conversation. I, like many people in the West, are not happy with the direction our country is going in. I have long suspected that PM Trudeau cares little for our western voice. This only confirms my suspicions.

Dear PM Justin Trudeau: Shame on you. I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. I wanted you to be open to our concerns. I wanted you to care. How disappointing.

Adrienne Ivey