The Line returns from the holidays with a solid betting pool on what the hell Prime Minstrel Justin Trudeau is thinking:
We at The Line have two theories, each championed by its respective editor; the prime minister is either three spins into a profound self-destructive spiral: or he really just does not care.
Theory 1: Trudeau is constitutionally incapable of stepping away from his current role. There are no viable leadership alternatives, and his party has been so centralized into a cult of personality that the Liberals may not not be able to recover from his departure.
At the same time, Trudeau is neither particularly capable as a prime minister, nor does he actually enjoy the role very much. After almost a decade in power, he’s been unable to champion a real vision for the country and he struggles to get anything done — long gone are the days of bold promises, replaced now by time extensions granted by the epically borked NDP. This has left him grasping for legacy policy changes that are largely superficial (and sometimes unconstitutional), if well meaning.
Most of Trudeau’s term has been reactionary, in the value-neutral sense that he has been forced to react to events and crises beyond his control or making, from the election of Trump and COVID, to the Trucker Convoy. Clearly, this job has taken a toll on him and his family and, at least subconsciously, he doesn’t actually want to do it anymore. But he just can’t bring himself to step aside and appear the coward before Pierre Poilievre.
So, essentially, this theory goes — he’s engaging in self sabotage. Consciously or otherwise, he’s replaying his previous poor judgment and ethical lapses because, deep in his heart, he wants to be fired.
If that’s a little too much pop psych for you all, the second theory is that Trudeau simply DGAF. He got away with all of those previous fancy holidays. Why not get away with this one? The usual partisans will scream and whine for a few days and we’ll all move on. He’ll get a nice vacation, and if it pleases the ex and makes the kids happy, well, all the better. Trudeau doesn’t care about optics or ethics because he doesn’t have to care; his critics don’t matter, and his supporters have clearly signalled that they are along for the ride no matter what he does.
Both of these theories may be true or wrong, but it will be interesting to ponder as 2024 plays out whether Trudeau’s greatest bane proves to be self-sabotage or indifference.
Your Line editors are opening the betting table now.
Justin Trudeau was chosen as the leader of the Liberals on his name alone. The public voted for him on his name alone, and we suffer as Canadians that this incompetent person was given the responsibility to determine the fate of our nation. What stings the most are the idiots that will vote for this potato in response to the fear that the federal Conservative party has a “hidden agenda” or will do something vaguely Trump like. Sadly the roughly 60% of Canadians who are socialists, and who love free stuff, have no clue how bad this is for our country. They will continue to vote for free stuff until the government craters so badly that it defaults and we all suffer.
Comment by Dwayne — January 10, 2024 @ 14:17
Name recognition in politics is a hell of a drug. The Trudeau name just dampens the panties of so, so many Boomer and Gen X urban voters that he’d have to be far more obviously terrible to lose much of their reflexive support. Plus, for all his failings (we’d need a bigger blog, as the saying goes), he’s a very good political campaigner and he literally holds the Canadian media by the ovaries. He can still lose the next election, but it’s nowhere near as certain as recent polls might indicate.
Comment by Nicholas — January 10, 2024 @ 15:37