This is not a partisan thread. By now politicians of all stripes have violated the public's trust by travelling outside the country during the holidays, albeit for varying reasons.

Fatuous, insincere, perfunctory apologies aside, I don't think a single one of them gets it.
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They don't even begin to comprehend that this time the offense and injury isn't just moral; it's personal, & it's VISCERAL.

Every single decent Canadian who cares about the country and his/her fellow Canadians made sacrifices this holiday season, deeply personal sacrifices.
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They did it because they thought it was the right thing to do. They did it because they cared about the people around them. They made the right choice, but it was a HARD choice.

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So when they see politicians flout the guidelines and expectations that they themselves chose to abide, they don't see a mistake; they see a personal insult. That insult has multiple layers. First, they feel they've been played for a sucker.
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And next they harken back to their own sacrifice and how that's been cheapened by those who should be setting an example for the rest of us. That's when sense of betrayal sets in.
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Politicians make decisions all the time that affect our finances. That's one thing. But when it affects our family, and when they thumb their noses at those impacts, that's an entirely different dimension. That politicians cannot see that is incomprehensible to me.
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Tracy Allard tried to "explain" her jaunt to Hawaii by saying that her family has spent holidays in Hawaii for the past 17 years. How emotionally retarded does one have to be not to see how infuriating that statement must be to any citizen who complied with the guidelines?
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[Sarcasm] Ah, you have family holiday traditions? How unusual. How unlike the rest of us. [/Sarcasm]

And those traditions involve annually carting the whole fam damn off to Hawaii? OK, that part truly is unlike the rest of us.
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So from all of us, to all of you politicians (of all stripes) out there whose unique circumstances set you apart from us silly rule-followers, a simple message: "A plague o' all your houses."
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Fin