A picture that I actually personally took of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during happier times, while celebrating the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 2017.
Quick! Name me major, yet polarizing North American political leader who is currently embroiled in enormous controversy that might threaten his future political career in the upcoming election, and has some even calling for him to resign.
If you would answer Trump, you might be forgiven for having overlooked our neighbours (Canadian spelling) to the North, where the previously seemingly stellar golden boy Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is tangled up in what has proven to be far and away the biggest political scandal of his life.
Trudeau is a bit of an oddity in Canada, a country that is used to being in the shadow of it’s obviously much larger neighbor to the south. After all, it was Justin Trudeau’s own father, Pierre Eliot Trudeau, who once explained to a room full of Americans:
“Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt. Let us overthrow the totems, break the taboos.”
Canadians have felt that they have done well for themselves in the shadow of the superpower to the south. While American living standards began to fall, and while Americans were choosing a political direction that has grown more extreme, to the point of isolating itself from much of the rest of the world, Canadians, mostly as a result of the influence of Canada’s only predominately French-speaking province of Québec, gravitated in a decidedly different direction, closer to Europe. On many levels, Québec has a similar impact on Canada to what the South has for the United States, only on completely different ends of the political spectrum. The irony is that the people of Québec have mixed feelings about the Trudeau political dynasty.
Yet, Justin Trudeau rose to become Prime Minister, much like his father before him. And in a country that often rejects homegrown celebrities when it seems like they get too big for their britches, Trudeau has become hugely popular perhaps precisely because he seems to embrace being a celebrity, and has somehow managed to get Canada to embrace his celebrity status along with him. This was a man who was born in Ottawa, and the nation’s capital, and lived at the Prime Minister’s office while his father was serving in that capacity. After politics, Trudeau moved his family to Montréal, but they remained very much in the public eye. His father was somewhat of a celebrity in his own right, but his son has taken that much, much farther. In fact, I always felt like he was a cross between John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama during the early days, but with a decidedly Francophone feel.
Of course, Trudeau has political opponents. Every politician does. But Trudeau’s popularity remained very strong, and his supremacy in Canadian politics seemed to be virtually unchallenged.
At least, that was, until now. This is his first major controversy, but his opponents are jumping on the opportunity. They are all over him, and suddenly, for the first time, there is a chink in the younger Trudeau’s armor. A major one, at that. So major, in fact, that right now, it is not entirely certain whether or not he can even survive it.
Trudeau is a bit of an oddity in Canada, a country that is used to being in the shadow of it’s obviously much larger neighbor to the south. After all, it was Justin Trudeau’s own father, Pierre Eliot Trudeau, who once explained to a room full of Americans:
“Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt. Let us overthrow the totems, break the taboos.”
Canadians have felt that they have done well for themselves in the shadow of the superpower to the south. While American living standards began to fall, and while Americans were choosing a political direction that has grown more extreme, to the point of isolating itself from much of the rest of the world, Canadians, mostly as a result of the influence of Canada’s only predominately French-speaking province of Québec, gravitated in a decidedly different direction, closer to Europe. On many levels, Québec has a similar impact on Canada to what the South has for the United States, only on completely different ends of the political spectrum. The irony is that the people of Québec have mixed feelings about the Trudeau political dynasty.
Yet, Justin Trudeau rose to become Prime Minister, much like his father before him. And in a country that often rejects homegrown celebrities when it seems like they get too big for their britches, Trudeau has become hugely popular perhaps precisely because he seems to embrace being a celebrity, and has somehow managed to get Canada to embrace his celebrity status along with him. This was a man who was born in Ottawa, and the nation’s capital, and lived at the Prime Minister’s office while his father was serving in that capacity. After politics, Trudeau moved his family to Montréal, but they remained very much in the public eye. His father was somewhat of a celebrity in his own right, but his son has taken that much, much farther. In fact, I always felt like he was a cross between John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama during the early days, but with a decidedly Francophone feel.
Of course, Trudeau has political opponents. Every politician does. But Trudeau’s popularity remained very strong, and his supremacy in Canadian politics seemed to be virtually unchallenged.
At least, that was, until now. This is his first major controversy, but his opponents are jumping on the opportunity. They are all over him, and suddenly, for the first time, there is a chink in the younger Trudeau’s armor. A major one, at that. So major, in fact, that right now, it is not entirely certain whether or not he can even survive it.
Yes, indeed, once the literal political darling of the entire world, largely for his heartthrob good looks and his willingness - even seeming eagerness, at times - to accept his role as a bona fide celebrity, Trudeau is now facing a backlash following revelations that he was behind a controversy (some might say a conspiracy) to protect a Montréal-based corporation from a lawsuit.
Trudeau is alleged to have applied serious pressure, to the point of directing, for Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould regarding the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, while Wilson-Raybould was still a member of Trudeau's cabinet.
As a result, the Trudeau cabinet has seen numerous high profile resignations in protest of what some are viewing as Trudeau's corruption. Unlike here in the United States, where top-level political resignations and/or outright firings have become an almost daily occurrence, things like this generally do not happen in Canada.
Last month, Wilson-Raybould testified that while serving in her former capacity as attorney general, Trudeau was responsible for "veiled threats" and "consistent and sustained" interference while she was seeking criminal prosecution of the Montreal-based engineering firm.
For his part, Trudeau has adamantly denied it, chalking it up to what he called an "erosion of trust." Here is a bit of what Trudeau said in his response yesterday:
"I was not aware of that erosion of trust, but as prime minister and leader of the federal ministry, I should have been," Trudeau said, and added that Wilson-Raybould "did not come to me and I wish she had."
Trudeau did admit to contacting her, but claimed that he had merely done so in order to keep Wilson-Raybould "open to considering other aspects of the public interest."
"The context is a tough one, with potential job losses in the thousands. These are the types of situations that make governing a challenge."
Upon first becoming Prime Minister, Trudeau had famously made every attempt to create the most diverse Canadian cabinet ever seen. Wilson-Raybould was a part of that, becoming Canada's first indigenous justice minister. And while Trudeau continues to consistently deny undue influence on the case, Wilson-Raybould was pretty much demoted when she was reassigned to be the Veterans Affairs minister.. Many feel that this was largely due to her unbending position regarding the SNC-Lavalin case.
Naturally, Trudeau's political opposition are jumping in. Canada's Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer has demanded Trudeau's resignation, He said that the prime minister "has lost the moral authority to govern" and undermined the rule of law:
"What we heard from Justin Trudeau was an attempt to justify and normalize corruption. It's clearer than ever that inside his government, political interference and contempt for the rule of law are a matter of course."
This might seem like small potatoes compared to what is happening here in the United States with Donald Trump, where it sometimes feels like every new day will bring a fresh round of new controversies regarding inappropriate actions and/or blatant corruption. But in Canada (and elsewhere, presumably), they are not so accepting of those kinds of controversies as the United States has become ever since the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon. Indeed, this might just cost the once incredibly popular and promising Prime Minister Trudeau his political future, as well as a legacy that had formerly seemed stellar.
Below are the links to the two article that I used in writing this particular blog entry about the political scandal brewing up in Canada:
Oh, Trudeau. Charm will not extricate Canada’s Justin Trudeau from a spreading political mess. Only honest answers will. By The Editorial Board The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section. March 5, 2019:
Justin Trudeau Chalks Recent Political Turmoil Up To 'Erosion Of Trust' by Sasha Inger, March 7, 2019:
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/07/701104472/justin-trudeau-chalks-recent-political-turmoil-up-to-erosion-of-trust
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