Trudeau
“Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it”
William Shakespeare
Last May, I wrote a column called Canada’s Hobson’s Choice, in which I described the Canada that Prime Minister Trudeau was leaving behind. In the article, I suggested that he resign to give his party time to elect a new leader and establish a runway over which s/he could establish a reputation and potentially a new vision for governing Canada.
Instead, he waited until the last minute, leaving Canada and Canadians in a terrible situation.
In his resignation speech, Trudeau blamed a dysfunctional and frozen parliament and his own caucus colleagues, who are waging internal battles over the party's and country's leadership.
He blamed everyone else for his need to make this decision.
He blamed everyone but the main culprit in this sad tale – himself and his egocentric and entitled personality.
For over a year, his party has wallowed at 20% popularity, and Trudeau himself at a dismal 22%.
Yet, his narcissism and vanity drove him to cling to power, depriving his party of the time necessary to change its fortunes and establish a viable alternative to front-runner Pierre Poilievre and his Conservative Party.
Trudeau’s decision comes at the worst possible time for Canada.
In a few days, Donald Trump will assume the presidency of the United States and bring with him the real threat of a 25% across-the-board tariff on Canadian exports to the U.S. along with the ominous threat of economic, if not political, annexation.
Canada’s key ministers will be locked in a battle for party and country leadership, leaving it to the “B” team or even the “C” team to deal with the worst existential crisis in recent history.
Provincial premiers are deeply divided concerning a Canadian response to this threat.
Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford is calling for blocking essential exports to the U.S., which would cost American voters a lot of money. Alberta’s Daniele Smith advocates the exact opposite.
As a lame-duck leader, I doubt Trudeau will have the political capital or clout to forge a united front against the U.S. administration.
Nor will he have a cabinet or a parliament worthy of its name.
By proroguing parliament, Trudeau has left Canada leaderless. Parliament cannot legislate while it is suspended until March 28th at the earliest, and, as noted above, many of his senior cabinet ministers will be locked in a leadership contest.
Trudeau has created a leadership vacuum during Canada’s most critical time in recent history.
Once again, Trudeau has only thought of himself and his own interests, leaving Canadians in the lurch.
Incoming President Trump and his colleagues will have smelled the blood in the water and will likely pounce on Canada as of January 20th, sensing the country’s weakness.
In the interim, an election can be expected once Parliament reconvenes at the end of March or early April. The new Liberal leader will not have the time or space to present a new image for the party's leadership, nor will s/he have the time to campaign against an opposition that will have been in full campaign mode for months.
This is especially true since the senior party leadership will emerge from a bitter leadership campaign in which the party’s internal divisions will be glaringly obvious to all after weeks of criticism from their own colleagues.
Thus, an immature and self-centered prime minister has plunged Canada into its worst crisis in recent memory and still has the gall to cling to power and blame others for his inability to provide timely leadership and good judgment.
Trudeau’s departure from power reflects the worst of his narcissistic personality and extreme arrogance in the face of real danger. His party will likely follow him into oblivion for some years to come.
History will judge Trudeau harshly, and voters will judge Liberals who supported his egregious behavior at the polls sometime this year.
His smug expressions of superiority will continue to haunt Canadians for some time, and his legacy should be one of extreme opprobrium.
Nothing underscores Trudeau’s true self like the manner and timing of his departure.
A tragedy for Canada at the worst possible time.
Mild-mannered Canadians, at least that's how they are portrayed, are pretty harsh with their outgoing PMs. The "arrogant" Trudeau father remained a polarizing figure way past his time in office. Mulroney left as a "crook" and was a pariah, even in his own party, for years. Chrétien managed to escape resentment because he methodically cultivated anti- charisma. Martin, yes, he was PM, turned out to be a disappointment. The unloved Harper generated a pretty high level of antipathy that still hangs on his presumed heir. Justin Trudeau rode on the coat tails of charisma, the pubescent variety, until it slipped away, fickle as it is. What will "history" say of him? It seems to have started speaking pretty quickly.
This is what a narcissist does. It is sad & more than that, frightening.