They say that bad luck runs in threes. The Queen died last week. Justin Trudeau said he was staying as leader of the liberals for the next election. And Pierre Poilievre won the leadership of the conservative party. That is certainly a hard-luck week.
Queen Elizabeth II has been the rock that anchored the United Kingdom for many years. Even in the depths of the roiling public concerns over Diana’s death, she was obviously evaluating options available to her. She, and the rest of the royal family, got on board the bus and rode it to a fresh acceptance. Charles cannot not compare with her and will soon start to wear on the family’s mystique.
Justin Trudeau was probably never able to understand his father’s relationship with Canada’s liberal party. Pierre Trudeau recognized in his second election that Trudeau mania was not reality. It was his realizing that he had to work with the party that gave him the majorities needed over most of his time as prime minister. Justin Trudeau’s weakness is that he has no respect for the liberal party. He has taken away its annual membership fee and turned it into a faux automated teller machine to which he can turn to for financing.
What the younger Trudeau fails to understand is that the liberal party is not just a financial backer but the workers who can validate party policies, do the door knocking, distribute the literature, erect the signs and bring out the vote.
To nobody’s surprise, MP Pierre Poilievre won the conservative leadership. It was a carefully orchestrated, overly long and unappealing event. What felt wrong was the lack of a future vision of Canada. Poilievre sits on the extreme right of Canadian conservatism. He spells out an austere and cruel vision of small and uncaring government. Despite the obvious objectives of the carefully crafted speech on the teleprompters, Poilievre lacks the warmth and personality needed in the party leadership. He has no life accomplishments to justify his new position. Using his wife to overcome his personal limitations is unlikely to help.
So those were the low points of the week. And the kids are back in school, so please drive carefully.
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