Dear Justin Trudeau I win. I almost gave up trying, but in the end, I won, and you didn't. And in keeping with who I am, I wanted to thank you personally for handing me this win. When you chipped away at my disposable income with escalating & compounding taxes, under the guise of saving the planet, I stood my ground, refusing to succumb to the fear of financial insecurity & predictions of doom. When you chose to actively & publicly belittle & disparage my fellow Canadians in a self-serving & unwanted pandemic elxn using fear, division and outright hostility, I stood my ground, rejecting your toxicity from within the walls of my home. When you prevented families from being together in very dark times, when seniors and children needed each other most, I stood my ground, refusing to give oxygen to the seed of embitterment growing by the day inside my heart, lest I accidentally expose it to my child. You lie to the world, Justin. You demoralized & manipulated the psyches & hearts of Canadians, myself included, for your own sick need to assuage your narcissistic & petulant self. You wanted the world to look at you as a savior, a hero, transcendent from your father, to have an annotated entry in the annals of history that says you are more beloved than your father ever was...we ALL know your need to be bigger, better and more beloved than your father is what makes you secretly tick, and we are just cosplayers in your psychological drama series. I started to bend when I had to sleep in vacant houses & in lofts above mechanical garages just so I could keep a minimum wage job, that I couldn't afford to commute to when carbon & payroll taxes climbed. I started to crack as I lost precious time with my child becsuse I couldn't afford to commute to work daily, having only my weekends to help her with her school work, to cherish her and help her be the very best person she could be. I nearly broke when my furnace stopped working during a brutal prairie cold snap in the -30C that lasted for weeks. I was so ashamed to cash in my daughter's RESP to pay the HVAC repairman who billed 12 hrs labour & couldn't fix it after trying everything, including a new pricey motherboard. I almost lost myself completely last July, when each of my coworkers got the company guaranteed annual pay increase, and I didn't, and got fired for asking my boss why. This week, when staring into my fridge filled with expired condiments, old moldy leftovers, and a rotten smell while wondering what I could send my daughter in her lunch for school, I snapped...The weight of 2 years of living in maximum overdraft, bottomed out credit, eating spoiled foods from food banks & living in squalor with no end in sight, with all the losses both financial & personal became just too much to bear. In a departure, so opposite to my very core, I told the world how much it hurts. And the world answered back Justin. The world that you insulted, the people you assumed as misogynistic science deniers, the ones who you pondered whether to tolerate or not , answered me back. The REAL heroes of Canada answered me Justin. They lifted me up onto their shoulders. They gave me courage and strength when I could no longer bear it. They answered me from the hallowed courtrooms in Ottawa, where you're trying to tear down & destroy yet another strong woman who chose to stand up to you. They answered from their own dark corners, themselves feeling lost, reassuring me when they themselves need reassuring hugs & words of solace. They answered from their hearts, & like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of despair, I felt a spark of burning pride for ALL of them, ALL of us, because we ALL stand stronger together & united in the face of your overreaching demagoguery. My fellow Canadians have my back, and I have theirs. What do you have, Justin? You're on notice, Mr. Trudeau. You have lost. You just don't know it yet. See you at the ballot box. Signed Melanie in Saskatchewan