It wasn’t that long ago where Justin Trudeau took his own version of his dad’s famous “long walk in the snow” and determined that he could no longer be Liberal leader, and by extension, prime minister.
Then Donald Trump came along.
The impact was immediate. Suddenly the Liberals start to rocket up the polls, as Canadians coalesce around their political leadership in response to an unprovoked war with the United States. And in a twist of cruel, ironic fate, it’s Justin Trudeau that seems to be the choice of Canadians in dealing with a dangerous mad man.
Are these the machinations of the political gods, keen to find opportunities for their own personal merriment?
That woke, feminist, communist traitor with his stupid socks and pretty eyebrows is now Winston Freaking Churchill?
Man, I thought that I had seen it all in my life, but apparently there’s more, much more.
Justin Trudeau is back.
Until later today.
Because that’s when Mark Carney will take over as the front man for the Liberals, and by extension, Canada. And while he has the economic chops on his resume to be the front-guy in any trade fight, it’s Trudeau who people tend to rally around. As Carney was an on-again-off-again advisor to the prime minister, I guess we could hope that Trudeau becomes an advisor, and maybe even more than that, to Carney.
I don’t know if Carney would be too keen on that, but there it is. Trudeau does seem to get under the Big Fella’s skin, maybe the same way he managed to get under the skin of some forty million Canadians until just recently.
And I thought I had a fairly steady feel for politics and political culture.
Two months ago I would have predicted that the Liberals would be so decimated in the upcoming federal election that security wouldn’t even let them in to the Parliament Hill MP Barbecue and Dance. Now, for crying out loud, it looks like they’ll be the ones handing out the hotdogs and dance slippers.
But Justin won’t be there at that barbecue, at least not as prime minister.
He’s fifty-three years old and in the prime of his life. Being prime minister since 2015 hasn’t aged him to the degree that he looks anything like Abraham Lincoln after leaving office, although the two left office quite differently from one another.
There has never been a North American to hold the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations. Although still young, the guy is a senior statesman on the world political stage. Who’s to say?
Donald Trump launched a trade war against Canada against a backdrop of what he perceived to be the political vulnerability of things up here in Canada. And, as a result, he ran right into Justin Trudeau.
I’m sure Trudeau himself would agree with me when I say that he seems to have this knack for being at his best when he’s dismissed, overlooked, underestimated, or otherwise short-changed.
He was relishing the opportunity to go head-to-head with Pierre Poilievre on the campaign trail, but the voices against that notion became too loud to ignore. Also, there was no guarantee that a guy like Trump would come along and seemingly unite the Canadian population, almost exclusively behind the Liberals. I mean really, who saw that coming?
It’s weird. On this day, likely the last day of his being prime minister, Justin Trudeau is seen as the nation’s leader in a time of crisis.
As the day closes, he’ll be gone from that job.
But maybe there’s a way for him to continue with the role of Canadian champion.
Clearly, Donny Dinks doesn’t like him. Probably because Trudeau isn’t much in the way of an ass-kisser, which is all Donny understands and expects.
Trump may well have bitten off a little more than he can chew.
Until maybe suppertime. After that, Justin ain’t likely to be prime minister no more.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 