When Premier Danielle Smith looks at Ottawa this time, as the federal Liberals desperately try to regroup, she sees “somebody who is trying to shuffle their way out of chaos.”
That somebody is the embattled and wildly unpopular Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“You can’t do that. The only way you can solve this kind of chaos is to get a mandate. It is to have an election.”
Not a change of leader, shuffling those deck chairs of the Liberal Titanic when the ship is already sinking to the bottom.
The Alberta premier sees Trudeau limping along, flailing, clinging to his office, even losing the support of supporters.
Smith realizes with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump breathing down our necks, threatening a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods going stateside, it is not the absolute best time for an election.
But she far prefers the leader of the country having the support of the people of this country at the ballot box and the strength to go to the bargaining table with the Americans.
If Trudeau actually believes he has the backing of Canadians, delusional as that belief is, then go to the people.
The prime minister should prove he has their support.
Fighting a “crushing tariff” on Canadian goods is “more important than Justin Trudeau’s ego. We have to make sure we’re putting the country first.”
“Put the politics aside and do what’s best for the country.
“If they can’t prove it and there is a change of government, we’ll be much better shape.”
Smith says what she is really worried about is seeing delay after delay after delay.
“He’s done this game before,” says the premier.
The playbook?
He gets bawled out by Liberal members of parliament, says he’s going to reflect, takes a few weeks off and then pretends nothing ever happened.
“I suspect he thinks that the same thing is going to happen this time. Let’s pull the plug and solve this once and for all.
“I think there’s a real danger if this just drags on and on and on for months when we’re right in the middle of a very serious threat from a biggest trading partner, the United States.”
How bad are things? Smith says the premiers are doing their best to deal with the Americans in these trying times.
But they are, more or less, on their own.
“The reason why I’ve had to take our argument to the Americans is I don’t trust the federal government is organized enough to be able to do it,” says Smith.
“They are so enraptured with their internal turmoil they’re not taking care of the basics.”
Smith would like to see the Trudeau government’s plans on the tariff front.
Good luck.
“They don’t seem to be that interested in governing. They don’t seem to be that interested in communicating their strategy with the premiers.
“They don’t seem to be that interested in going to an election.
“It’s leaving everybody exposed to what could be a devastating tariff threat. We’re sleepwalking into it because everybody is trying to save Trudeau’s ego.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has propped up Trudeau and his Liberal government time and time and time again.
Now that the federal politicians have gone home Singh tells Canadians in an open letter how he will vote to deep-six the Trudeau government in the next sitting of the House of Commons.
Smith is not impressed.
“He has been standing beside Trudeau through every misstep, every failure, every harm he’s caused the Canadian people,” she says.
“The NDP are just as culpable and just as responsible for the mess we find in Ottawa. Make no mistake, this Liberal-NDP coalition has been devastating for this country.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who says the prime minister is “egomaniacally” holding onto power even though 80 per cent of Canadians want to punt him, writes the Governor General confirming 70 per cent of parliamentarians do not have confidence in Trudeau.
Poilievre asks for the MPs to be brought back to Ottawa for a non-confidence vote, followed by an election.
“We cannot have a chaotic clown show running our government into the ground.”
Alas, methinks the clowns will star in a few more episodes.