I guess we don’t have my cuz to kick around any more, eh.

The Canadian federal election was held on October 19. A huge plurality of Canadians (OK, 39.5%) gave Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party the boot after nine years and elected Justin Trudeau to head a new Liberal government. Mr. Trudeau takes office on Wednesday.

Canada has 25 different political parties, all contending for seats in Parliament. From the Alliance of the North to the United (neither of which won a single seat) plus the Animal Alliance, Bloc Québécois, Bridge, Canada Party, Canadian Action, Christian Heritage, Communist, Conservative, Democratic Advancement, Green, Independent and no affiliation, Liberal, Libertarian, Marijuana, Marxist-Leninist, New Democratic, PACT, Pirate, Progressive Canadian, Rhinoceros, Seniors, and Strength in Democracy, There were almost as many Parliamentary candidates as Republicans running for U.S. President.

Like Mr. Obama, Mr. Trudeau campaigned on “Real Change” and “Hope and Hard Work.”

Voters could make up pretty much anything they wanted to match those slogans and the press did the same. Mr. Trudeau has promised to raise taxes and spending, run a deficit, oppose the oil industry, and plans to embark on a vast program of public works spending. Pretty similar to his father. And Mr. Obama. Except he supports international trade deals and the Keystone pipeline project.

Last week, we looked at the quantity of non-news behind the Twitter or Facebook “headlines.” This week, we’ll pay attention to the quality of the news and commentary you get from any source.

Americanthinkerdotcom says of the Canadian election, “the disasters have already begun. Fasten your seat belts, Canucks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

The Canadian online conservative political and social commentary platform Rebel Media reported “The Canadian dollar dropped nearly two percentage points after Justin Trudeau’s Liberals swept to a majority in the federal election.

“That’s almost two cents in four days.”

Two whole cents!

Almost!

The pundits used the bumpy road to mean way more failures than successes ahead for our northern neighbors. I agree that Canada has more troubles ahead.

But these pundits want to stir you up about it by cherry picking a fact and spinning it. (And, yes, this column has picked just one reported fact for discussion out of the Americanthinker article.)

Rebel Media was founded in February by former Sun News Network host Ezra Levant.

Mr. Levant noted that the “precipitous drop” has a profound effect on Canadians. What Mr. Levant didn’t note is that the Canadian Dollar has fallen pretty steadily since 2011 and is now back down to about where it was from the 70s on.

“It’s like every Canadian just got a pay cut.”

               Famous Fakery
• Faked peer reviews prompted 64 retractions at Nature.
• 60 Minutes aired a story in 2004 that showed memos that showed then-1st Lieutenant George Bush had gone AWOL. Except the documents were obvious forgeries.
• Both New York Magazine and the New York Post reported on a Stuyvesant High School senior who made $72 million on stocks. Except that alluring story was, well, fake.
• The Rebel Media claim that the Canadian dollar dropped two points after Mr. Trudeau’s election. Except the election had little to do with it.

CBS rightfully fired Dan Rather over the Bush-National Guard story.

The Globe and Mail noted back in August that the Canadian dollar is under attack on several fronts, from the collapse in oil prices to the different paths being taken by central banks. “The loonie lost about 4% in July, sank to below 76 cents U.S. at one point [August 3] and again [August 4], and won’t stop there, according to analysts who expect it to tumble further to about 73 or 74 cents. It’s at 76 cents today.”

The loonie has been weakening for several years.

Editorial note: as a consumer of Canadian dentistry, I’m quite pleased in the return of the “weak” loonie. An exam and cleaning cost me $68 U.S. last month. The same service cost $95 U.S. in 2014.

So, the Canadian dollar did indeed drop a couple of percentage points after Mr. Trudeau’s Liberals won a majority in the Canadian elections but that’s probably not Mr. Trudeau’s fault. The two very real questions Canadian Conservatives should ask are
1. Why should we trust any media that cherry picks a few facts to lie to us?
2. What will Mr. T do to strengthen the loonie?

The rest of us have just one very real question to ask of the Twitter or Facebook or even our traditional news feeds:
Why should we trust any media that cherry picks a few facts to lie to us?