The Trudeau Liberals’ 2024 “scorched earth” budget

A scorched earth approach refers to an intent to deliberately destroy everything as one retreats, so that your advancing opponent is left with nothing of value. It is a malevolent military maneuver (outlawed by the Geneva Convention) that is described in the classic 19th century manuscript “On War” by Carl von Clausewitz: “All that the country yields will be taken for the benefit of the retreating army first, and will be mostly consumed. Nothing remains but wasted villages and towns, fields from which the crops have been gathered, or which are trampled down, empty wells, and muddy brooks. The pursuing army, therefore, from the very first day, has frequently to contend with the most pressing wants.”

The federal budget presented this week has been likened to a scorched earth document, a parting testament for the hapless and increasingly unpopular Trudeau Liberals. Political commentator Spencer Fernando writes of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s current disposition: “… as he faces terrible…