‘I’m the Guy Who’s Stealing Christmas!’ Canadian Provincial Leader Offers Emotional Plea for People to Stay Apart Over Holidays
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister delivered an emotional and teary plea for Canadians to stay apart during the holiday season, telling them, “I’m the guy who’s stealing Christmas!”
During a press conference, Pallister revealed that a reporter asked him “why I like to be hated so much.”
“Look, if you don’t care for me, I understand. I totally do. I’m the guy who has told you that you cannot shop,” he said. “I am the person who has come forward here, in front of you seventy-five times, and has asked you to do things you’ve never done before, and has asked you to do that every day.”
“I am the person who has told you you can’t go to work. I am the premier who has said you can’t run your business because we have the toughest restrictions in Canada, and it affects people who put their lives into their businesses,” he went on, adding, “I am the person who has come before you and said you can’t go to church, you can’t see your friends, you can’t travel. I’m that guy.”
“And I totally get that you don’t like that. I don’t like saying it. But it’s got to be said,” Pallister declared. “Someone has to say it, and so I’m the one that took on this job to say it.”
Pallister then recalled a time when he was fourteen-years-old and late for school, prompting the school principal to shout at him before saying, “You don’t like me right now, son, and that’s okay. I want you to respect me in ten years.”
“That was good. It stayed with me, and I do respect him,” Pallister said as he started to tear up. “I respect him for what he did. He did the right thing. Wasn’t the easy thing.”
“I will do what I believe is right, and right now I need to save lives. If you don’t think that Covid’s real, right now you’re an idiot. You need to understand that we’re all in this together. You cannot fail to understand this,” he continued. “So I’m the guy who has to tell you to stay apart at Christmas, and in the holiday season, you celebrate with your faith or without your faith. That you celebrate normally with friends and with family, where you share memories and build memories. I’m that guy, and I’ll say that because it will keep you safe.”
The premier shouted, “I’m the guy who’s stealing Christmas! To keep you safe. Because you need to do this now. You need to do the right thing, because next year we’ll have lots to celebrate, and we’ll celebrate this year if we do the right thing this year.”
“You don’t need to like me. I hope in years to come you might respect me for having the guts to tell you the right thing,” he concluded. “And here’s the right thing. Stay safe, protect each other, love each other, care for each other. You got so many ways to show that, but don’t get together this Christmas.”
Watch above via cpac.
