With Whom He's Dealing

Michael Harris'  disenchantment with Justin Trudeau continues to grow. He is particularly bothered by Justin's attempt to soothe the Great Orange Id. He writes:

It is true that Trudeau has vowed to stand up for Canada and the values of this country. But one has to think that defending supply management and the dairy industry against the free trade wet dreams of the state of Wisconsin may not be a noble enough fight to satisfy his critics. What about Trump the bigot and hater — the guy whose own scientists are marching against him as our scientists did against Harper. After all, evolution is only a theory, right?

The political opposition is already smelling blood in the water on bigger files. NDP leader Thomas Mulcair has repeatedly demanded that Trudeau stand up directly and denounce Trump’s “racism and hatred” as embodied in his doomed travel ban directed at Muslims.

Trudeau’s supporters argue, with a degree of honesty and accuracy, that he needs to be careful because of the special economic relationship with America. But according to a poll done for the Globe and Mail, Canadians don’t have much use for the Donald. A majority wants Trudeau to stand up against the US president — even if it leads to a trade war.

Harris contends that what we are seeing is a schizophrenic Trudeau, who stands with a man who stands for the opposite of what the prime minister proclaims:

Trudeau banishes two of his own caucus members after they were accused of unwanted sexual encounters with two female MPs of another party. Trump champions both Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, despite their long and sordid history of viewing women at Fox News as part of their star power perks packages.

Trudeau brought gender balance to his cabinet. Trump’s cabinet looks like a board meeting of the original members of Augusta National Golf Course. Trudeau brings Malala Yousafzai to Parliament Hill and gives her honorary Canadian citizenship. Trump defunds the global maternal health organization (the United Nations Population Fund), and fat shames ex-beauty queen Alicia Machado.

Trudeau proclaims his commitment to protecting the environment, while Trump cancels Obama’s climate change measures and appoints a man to head up the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, whose idea of celebrating Earth Day is re-opening a coal mine.

Dancing with the Donald only leads to disaster. Harris warns Trudeau that Trump " has no friends; just family members, hangers on, and patsies."

Justin should know with whom he's dealing.

Image: CBC

Justin's Nixon

The election of Donald Trump was not what Justin Trudeau expected or hoped for. Nonetheless, Bob Rae writes, when it comes to dealing with our neighbour, The Great Orange Twitterer is the man Justin will have to talk to. The Conservatives have decided that the sincerest form of flattery is imitation:

Conservatives are rushing to mimic his style and rhetoric, in the unlikely persona of Kelly Leitch and Kevin O’Leary. Conrad Black and Brian Mulroney have gone out of their way to reassure Canadians that we have nothing to fear from Trump and that he will be a good president for Canada.

Rae advises Trudeau to steer clear of that path:

He would be wise to [avoid] the twin temptations of “don’t worry be happy” and “the sky is falling.” But that does not mean there is any room for complacency. The Keystone pipeline may get presidential approval, but not because Trump thinks he owes us a favour. Domestic priorities for the Republicans will rule the roost, which could mean greater receptivity to Canada’s oil exports but not for softwood lumber.  

Still, Trump will present Trudeau with a number of conundrums:

The opening of NAFTA would put issues on the table that are decidedly harmful to Canada — the status of our dairy and poultry industries for example — and there are countless ways in which protectionist interests can be brought to bear against us.

It is not just the bilateral relationship that will be affected. We can’t pretend the premise of Trudeau’s vision and policies are the same as President Trump’s. We don’t have to pick fights or have rhetorical quarrels, but Trudeau’s political raison d’être can’t be thrown under the bus either. It will take every ounce of political skill and sophistication to articulate a different view of the world without sounding like the “anti-Trump” every day.

Justin's father had to deal with another deeply flawed president, Richard Nixon. Trump is Justin's Nixon. Let's hope the son learned a few things from his father.

Image: Huffington Post