It’s official: Justin Trudeau has finally given up on being the prime minister of Canada.
There have been plenty of previous warning signs. During the NAFTA renegotiations, for instance, Trudeau pressed the United States and Mexico to include progressive concepts like gender rights and Indigenous rights, which have nothing to do with free trade.
His ignorance of the nuances of the job was on full display in 2021, when he said, “You’ll forgive me if I don’t think about monetary policy.” And his decision to go surfing in Tofino, B.C., during the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in 2021 showed his complete disinterest in national leadership.
What Trudeau recently said about U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, the U.S. election and feminism proves that he’s shifted from a lame-duck to a dead-duck prime minister.
On Tuesday evening, Trudeau spoke at an event hosted by the Equal Voice Foundation, a “registered charity dedicated to improving gender representation in Canadian politics,” according to its website. He clearly decided that this was the perfect venue to spout off several buckets of drivel about Trump and the U.S. election to a largely like-minded audience.
“Just a few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second time to not elect its first woman president,” he said at the Equal Voice Gala Marking International Human Rights Day in Ottawa. “Everywhere, women’s rights and women’s progress is under attack. Overtly, and subtly. But I want you to know that I am, and always will be, a proud feminist. You will always have an ally in me and in my government.”
These lines perfectly define Trudeau’s nine years as prime minister: divisive and delusional. Let’s start with his decision to keep calling himself a feminist. That’s pretty rich, all things considered. Two former senior cabinet ministers, Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, would likely disagree based on their experiences in pushing back against the prime minister during the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Trudeau’s former parliamentary secretary, would also likely disagree based on the “hostility” and “anger” she reportedly faced in private conversations with him. Ruth Ellen Brosseau, a former NDP MP who he bumped into during a May 2016 parliamentary session, in what came to be known as “Elbowgate,” might like a word, too.
Meanwhile, over half of eligible American voters didn’t decide not to elect its first female president. They decided that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was a lousy choice who lacked the political knowledge, policy understanding and horse sense to lead the country. Trump may have his faults, but as I wrote in these pages recently, he’s a “far more competent political leader on his worst day than Harris would ever be on her best.”
Also, when has Canada ever elected a female prime minister? The only woman to hold the position, Kim Campbell, was chosen by delegates at the Progressive Conservative leadership convention in 1993. It appears that Trudeau has a selective memory — or no memory at all.
Returning to Trump, it’s fair to say that Trudeau’s comment was his mealymouthed way of countering the president-elect’s recent trolling efforts. This goes back to their Nov. 29 dinner meeting at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Trudeau reportedly told Trump that his proposed 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods would destroy Canada’s economy. Trump then jokingly said that Canada could become the 51st state, with Trudeau serving as its governor.
Trump continued to tease Trudeau in the days that followed. There was the widely viewed Dec. 3 meme that Trump posted to Truth Social of an AI-generated image of him standing on a mountain next to a Canadian flag, with the words, “Oh Canada!” On Tuesday, he called Trudeau “governor” and Canada a “great state.”
Trudeau’s decision to push back by lamenting the results of the U.S. election may have given him some pleasure in private, but it was an extraordinarily stupid move to make in public. Trump, like most world leaders, knows this prime minister is weak and ineffective. He didn’t have much respect for Trudeau to begin with, and this indirect jab probably eliminated what little he had left.
In the midst of difficult discussions about forthcoming tariffs that could potentially hurt both countries’ economies, it is beyond comprehension that the prime minister would choose to poke the presidential bear. That’s not the way to save us from Trump, which Trudeau claims only he can accomplish.
No one is suggesting the prime minister should lay down and give in to every demand that Trump makes. Then again, Trump makes some fair points about this government’s lack of commitment to border security and national defence. This is the perfect opportunity to implement much-needed reforms.
If Canadian goods end up getting hit with a 25 per cent tariffs, it will be due to Trudeau’s decision to have seemingly given up on being our leader. What a disgrace.
National Post