It has been noted—with some surprise by certain observers—that the honeymoon with Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government continues. Why would anyone expect it to have ended? The major opposition parties are leaderless. There is no real competition on the horizon. And Justin is skating along very nicely, thank you.
Our Prime Minister must have been watching his predecessor Stephen Harper very closely as the former Prime Minister and his hairdresser took more and more road trips throughout his tenure. Trudeau was barely sworn in with his cabinet and the travels began. A guy famous for his selfies was out there doing selfies with the rich and famous around the world.
And almost everywhere Trudeau goes, he gets a rock star reception. Other world leaders find him eager to participate and affable. They are happy to share photo-ops with him. And he brings an attractive wife to the formal events of state.
At home, he treats the provincial leaders with respect and they know better than to try to get in a fight with him. When he needs a lift, he can meet with Liberals—they adore him. It is still all sunny days for sunny ways.
This is not to say that there are not a few missteps and less than ideal choices but you have to admit that he is batting at a pretty high average. No doubt he is keeping a file on who does their job best in cabinet and there are a few who are not holding up their end of things.
It is a good thing that he has been fronting most meetings for foreign affairs minister Stèphane Dion. While Dion likely gives good advice on the portfolio, he lacks the energy and charisma that Trudeau gives it. More and more we are seeing Toronto MP Chrystia Freeland being pushed to the forefront in her role as minister of international trade.
Trudeau would certainly like to take back the mess his government made of the assisted-dying file. He would dearly like to take a Mulligan on that one but the public seems to have given him a conditional pass. He can fix it when the Supreme Court sends it back to parliament.
He is going to have to watch as the parliamentary committee makes hash of his foolish promise to change how Canada votes. The more serious faux pas is the changes he made in the Liberal Party. He obviously got some very bad advice on party needs and we will just have to watch and see how it plays out.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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