Everyone realizes too late that Stephen Harper was right about Venezuela

At the time, left-wingers criticized then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper for issuing a statement on Chavez’s death that rightly offered no sympathy: “I hope the people of Venezuela can now build for themselves a better, brighter future based on the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.” At Rabble.ca, official home of leftist Canadian commentary, a writer implied that Harper could learn a lesson from Chavez, who — among other things — was said to be more representative of democracy since he won elections with big majorities that Harper never matched. In 2014, a Rabble headline read: “NDP should use Venezuelan revolution as inspiration for Canada’s labour struggles.” The list of Canadian enthusiasts for Chavez-style socialism ranged from journalist Linda McQuaig to celebrity author Naomi Klein More…