​At long last, firm action from Justin Trudeau

From out of a very dark cave, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally took steps this week toward restoring his reputation as a man with a purpose.
 
Along with his Public Safety Minister, Dominic Leblanc and his chief of staff, Katie Telford, the PM flew down to have an important dinner with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate. It was not an earth-shattering occasion, but if was significant in view of Trump’s threat to impose a twenty-five per cent tariff on all goods entering the U.S.A.
 
Furthermore, when Mr. Trudeau returned to Ottawa, he quickly briefed the leaders of the Opposition parties, including Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre who until then had kept his distance from any involvement in a Team Canada approach to the tariff threat.
 
It was an action-packed week with yet another notice of a Conservative Non-Confidence Motion for the government. Get serious, Mr. Poilievre: A “Carbon Tax election” during the Holiday Season and when there is a national crisis over the tariff!

It was not a good week for Mr. Poilievre. As Globe and Mail journalist Shannon Proudfoot described it, Poilievre, was caught on his back foot, without his usual rapid-fire cliché-ridden responses to what was clearly an international challenge facing the country. The Globe’s top political columnist, Andrew Coyne, went further, saying that Poilievre fumbled the Trump crisis: a missed opportunity to show himself as a prime minister-in-waiting. 

This was Poilievre’s opportunity to take a lofty approach to the crisis, and something above his standard “Axe the Tax, Build the Housing, End the Crime,” approach while blaming Trudeau for all the ills facing Canada.

The latest Conservative Non-Confidence motion quotes the words of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who has been fighting to keep his head above water in recent months. Singh had said “the Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people.’
 
These words came back to haunt Singh and the NDP, particularly as the New Democrats will very likely support the governing Liberals in any Non-Confidence motion for the foreseeable future. The NDP and the Liberals share an important reality in the current Canadian political system. They both have a very poor showing in public opinion polls, compared to the still leading Conservatives.
 
According to Angus Reid polling, a majority (52%) of Canadians believe an election should be called, including at least half in every province, and a plurality of all demographics.
 
However, the Angus Reid polling finds that persons contacted by the polling firm find that NDP and Liberal voters are hesitant to make a long-term commitment to any political party. There is a great deal of flux in the electorate.
 
For his part, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc appeared very sure-footed and solid in his role riding shot gun on Justin Trudeau’s stagecoach in Florida. LeBlanc cannily disposed of Mr. Trump’s quip about Canada becoming the 51st American state.
 
For LeBlanc, this Trump quip was quite clearly a joke — and not a signal of a serious plan to annex Canada. "In a three-hour social evening at the president's residence in Florida on a long weekend of American Thanksgiving, the conversation was going to be light-hearted. The President was telling jokes, the President was teasing us, it was, of course, in no way a serious comment," LeBlanc said.
 
"The fact that there's a warm, cordial relationship between the two leaders, and the president is able to joke like that, we think, is a positive thing," Leblanc said.

Prime Minister Trudeau was a man of few words about the trip. In fact, it was through standard tracking of his government plane that there was confirmation that the trip to Florida was underway. But in this case, showing he can have a good relationship with Trump was a triumph, particularly as Trump had patronized Trudeau during his first term as president, 2017-21.

Trudeau was particularly astute in keeping the focus of the Mar-a-Lago meeting on border security including the key Fentanyl aspect, rather than the cross-border trade issue which is much more complex and offers fewer clearcut answers.

Trudeau’s successful Team Canada approach among the provincial premiers, has seen only one outlier, Danielle Smith of Alberta. She is still determined to keep selling her province’s oil into the United States, and this lack of unanimity plays into a divide and conquer strategy for Trump. Everyone can agree on strengthening the Northern border and stopping any flow of Fentanyl, however, small it may be compared to the Southern border with Mexico. Giving Dominic Leblanc free rein makes it easier for Canada to shine in this vital period.

Incidentally, the stature that LeBlanc has gained in the last short while makes him a strong contender to be a future Liberal Prime Minister, and he a New Brunswicker, to boot.

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Lastly, I turn to U.S. President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter. My first reaction to this revolved around the fact that Biden had said he would not use the amazing power of his Presidency to protect members of his own family. Also, we can fully expect Donald Trump to use the powers of his presidency to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters on Capitol Hill.
 
But a wise friend of mine urged me to rethink my blog position. Joe Biden and I have something in common. Biden’s oldest son, Beau, died of brain cancer. Biden has had a terrible amount of tragedy in his life. His daughter Naomi and his Biden’s first wife died in the same car accident in 1972.
 
My friend who is very attached to his family, urged me not to take a position against this pardon, solely because of Trump’s expected actions in the New Year.

I decided to reconsider my position on Hunter Biden and his pardon despite his Hunter’s gun and tax transgressions. My wife and I have two surviving children. Our younger son, David, died of brain cancer at the age of twenty-seven. This was a tremendous loss for our family.
 
If one of our other children or members of their families get into difficulty during their lives, I would help them in any way I can.

The Oxford Dictionary, states: “Families have their problems and jealousies, but blood is thicker than water.”
 
Whatever Joe Biden’s failings, he is a good and honorable man, and I believe we should continue to side with him on this issue.