It is hardly the spectre of Stephen Harper that keeps Prime Minister Justin Trudeau awake nights. It is the spectre of a democratic Liberal Party of Canada. It was something that was very real and credible to his father but for some reason haunts the son.
From day one of his winning the leadership of the party, Justin Trudeau has been trying to change the party. He started by breaking his word that he would not interfere with electoral districts selecting their Liberal candidates. He selected the candidates for a number of Toronto ridings and damn the consequences. Some of the choices were arbitrary and decidedly wrong. One of these was former police chief Bill Blair. The good news is that since being elected, Blair has disappeared into a cloud of marijuana smoke.
But since then, Trudeau has neutralized the Liberal Party. He emasculated it. He took away all rights and the ability to question his leadership. He took away membership in the party. He now defines who and what is a Liberal. The party lists are his Christmas card list. They are just his crowd funding.
And yet Justin Trudeau tries to play both sides of the street. He makes nice with the environmentalists while making deals with the tar sands exploiters. He picks and chooses the pipelines that might get some of Canada’s bitumen to the oceans—betraying promises to Canada’s first nations.
But, in the meantime, serious questions about Canada and its future get band-aids instead of repairs. His elitist solution to the Senate of Canada is a stop-gap at best. His senate appointments are a time bomb, ready to blow up at the first real controversy. And his elitist solution to Supreme Court appointments will not bring him any joy in the long term.
He tries to ignore the need to re-open the constitution despite that is where the majority of Canada’s problems are sitting. Just ask him about what to do about Canada’s constitution and he will run and hide under his bed. Instead he creates a farce of examining how Canada votes. He gives the job of democratic reform to a wet-behind-the-ears member of the cabinet and is surprised when she makes a mess of it.
It has been obvious since the overly long federal election of 2015 that the members of Justin Trudeau’s brain trust think too much like him. He desperately needs people with a knowledge of history and able to make clear plans for the future.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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