It isn’t the ice on the moguls that endanger our prime minister on his downhill run. It is the heat he generates among his detractors. Even the pollsters are noting that he is having trouble attracting voters among men. In a recent poll quoted by Susan Delacourt in the Toronto Star, we are told he is favoured, as prime minister, by just a third of male voters.
But we have known that he was turning off certain types of men since he told the media in 2015 that he was a feminist. Those of us, who knew what he meant, let it slide, but there are men who did not understand. Those detractors take great delight in calling him ‘Justine.’
The prime minister’s major mistake was to be the most helpful during the worst of the pandemic. He became the face of the pandemic, as an actor on a stage, in front of Rideau Cottage. He ended up with more blame than credit among the anti-vaxxers and small businesses that took the brunt of the closures and lost income and bankruptcies.
The rejection of Trudeau’s help after the crisis, is similar to the rejection of Winston Churchill by the Brits after the Second World War. Change is too often a part of putting those bad times behind us. (In a similar way, it will be interesting to see how the Ukrainians treat their hero Volodymyr Zelenskyy, when peace can be achieved with Russia.)
What might save Justin Trudeau is the appalling vision of Pierre Poilievre possibly replacing him. For the conservative leader is disliked by women. He is a nonentity in Quebec. He promises little and would deliver less. He rejects the facts of global warming. He feeds on anger and envy.
Setting aside the opinions of our Delphic pollsters, it is highly unlikely that an election right now would resolve anything. We could end up with the same split as we have now, with new democrats and Bloc Québécois holding the balance of power.
It would be far better for Mr. Trudeau to hand in his resignation as leader of the liberal party. The country needs positive change and a new opportunity to build past the pandemic, the world-wide recession and the political bitterness that infects us all. Justin Trudeau has reached the bottom of the hill. His ‘sunny days’ are done.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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