Marching across the sands of a wind-swept beach in B.C., an angry Justin Trudeau walked away. He carried his hubris—his arrogance and haughtiness, in the stiffness of his back. His conceit carrying him away. Once again, his actions, ill-planned, ill-advised needed to be supported, not confused, by a bumbling office staff back in Ottawa.
Even an actor needs down time. The prime minister had just gone through a grueling, unrelenting election campaign, noted for its reversals and pressures. The intrusion on the beach could be called unfair. It could be, where it not a product of his own cynicism. Did Canada really need another bank holiday between Labour Day and Thanksgiving? It was proposed and implemented on his watch. It was his day. Who told Trudeau that he did not have to be there for Canada’s first day of honouring ‘Truth and Reconciliation’? All he was guilty of was bad timing. And, he has been there before.
There does seem to be a disconnect between the prime minister’s office and his family holidays. He needs a resident seer in his office to tell him when to avoid the Ides of March, the Agha Khan, trips to India, the angst of angry attorney generals and visits to the governor general.
He lucked into those pop-up appearances at Rideau Cottage throughout the worst of the pandemic. It might have reminded us of a cuckoo clock but it was a note of government stability through the months of Covid-19. It gave hope.
And yet, Justin is his own worst enemy. The cronyism, the elitism of the present prime minister’s office (PMO) defies what his father learned—as should his son—that the political balance is also a critical issue at all times in the PMO. In his father’s time, the political worker bees where also welcome at the Langevin Block.
Looking ahead, our prime minister needs to look to his legacy. If we could have our druthers, we would have him go to Glasgow and show the world what he has done to save our planet—not what he plans to do.
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Copyright 2021 © Peter Lowry
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