Â鶹´«Ã½

Politics

    • Tom Mulcair: Justin Trudeau is still a celebrity, but does it matter anymore?

    Share

    For a fleeting moment on Monday night, it was easy to forget that Justin Trudeau is 20 per cent behind in the polls.

    Trudeau and his handlers scored a home run with their decision to have him appear on "The Late Show" with Steven Colbert. Justin Trudeau is one of the most recognizable leaders on the world stage and in this interview, he was playing to one of his strengths: star appeal.

    His previous foray onto a stage with American talk show host Hasan Minhaj had turned into a nightmare for Trudeau. He was quizzed on everything from his construction of the Trans-Mountain pipeline to his interference in the prosecution of SNC Lavalin.

    That they would take the risk again shows that his team is going for a three-point jump shot at the buzzer: they’ve got nothing more to lose.

    This time around, it could not have gone better for Trudeau. Well-prepared, he deftly answered the mostly softball questions from Colbert and sidestepped the problematic ones, like comparing Poilievre to Trump.

    He may have provided a clip to his political opponents, however, in trying to show empathy. Yet compared to his frustrating tendency to always defend his record at home, Trudeau was refreshingly candid when he admitted:

    “It is a really tough time in Canada right now. People are hurting. People are having trouble paying for groceries, paying for rent, filling up the tank... We've lost a little ground over the past decades on building houses, so the housing crisis is a little sharper.â€

    Attack ads from his opponents using those lines are inevitable but, as the saying goes, “a fault confessed is half redressed.†Maybe this approach will supplant the infuriating ‘we’re going to continue doing what we’ve been doing’ that has been Trudeau’s stock line up here.

    Celebrities and politics

    Trudeau won a convincing majority in his first election in 2015, defeating both Stephen Harper’s Conservatives and the NDP that I then headed.

    In the aftermath, we did a thorough job of going through the good moves and, especially, the errors. We looked at organization, messaging, candidates and allocation of resources, all the usual stuff, in the hope of helping the party in future elections.

    There was one observation shared internally by all of the senior folks who’d worked so hard on the campaign: we weren’t just running against another politician (and Trudeau is a very good politician), we were running against a celebrity, and we hadn’t realized just how important that was.

    Trudeau was born of Canada’s Camelot couple, Pierre and Margaret Trudeau. Canadians seemed to have a special attachment to him. They’d known him his whole life.

    Margaret Trudeau agrees with a reporter who complimented Prime Minister Trudeau on his speech in the House, Tuesday, May 7, 1974. Mrs. Trudeau was in the galleries for the speech. Justin, their 2.5-year-old son, found it a bit much and squirmed his way out of the galleries to wait it out with his nurse outside the prime minister's office (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand)

    Trudeau has in fact boasted about his special connection to Canadians even if the polling in the past year shows that much of the charm of that magic spell seems to have worn off.

    Not to belabour the point (and there are more differences between them than similarities), but Donald Trump also used his celebrity status as the key to open the door to the Republican Party leadership and ultimately the presidency.

    Leveraging the American angle

    There’s another reason Trudeau’s appearance on American television was so important and successful: Canadians love seeing themselves in a positive light when compared to their American cousins. Trudeau mastered that angle and he consistently referenced the struggle required to build universal Medicare and, now, childcare, pharmacare and dental care. He had no votes to get in the U.S., but a very large number of Canadians were proud of the boasts.

    Trudeau was speaking to another audience and his infuriating tendency to speak to Canadians in that condescending tone was gone. He was pitch perfect for the American audience but his real target, Canadians, got a fresh take on his standard lines that have grown so tiresome at home.

    World state a bigger struggle

    If Trudeau the celebrity shines on the television stage, Trudeau the international figure still has major problems of credibility on the world stage.

    The United Nations is in the process of a major institutional reset. On Sunday, Trudeau spoke at the Summit of the Future, as part of that process. His speech was empty. The stuff of an earnest high school valedictorian. It was cringeworthy.

    Here's a sample of one of his pearls of wisdom: “We can think beyond what has been, push ourselves to create a system that meets the moment and the opportunities for the future.â€

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets people during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24, 2024 at the UN headquarters (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

    Trudeau has treated freeing policy as an afterthought, changing ministers so often there’s never been consistency. It’s not one of his priorities.

    Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly’s successive positions on the current crisis in the Middle East have been amateurish and inconsistent, when not downright incomprehensible.

    On Trudeau’s watch, we’ve failed our NATO allies on financing, and he’s been unable to leverage Canada’s deep experience and expertise in peacekeeping into any meaningful role in the major conflicts still unfolding.

    When Trudeau says that Ukraine should be allowed to use Western weapons deep inside Russia, he’s playing domestic politics at the risk of a disastrous widening of that illegal Russian war. There’s little political payback to a reasoned and independent Canadian foreign policy, but it’s far more important, long term.

    How long left for Trudeau?

    Trudeau has refused to believe the consistent numbers from all polling companies showing him so far behind the Conservatives that his Liberal Party could get wiped out in the next election.

    If it is indeed true that Trudeau has always been about Trudeau, then the question remains: will he eventually step aside, if not for the sake of his party, then for the sake of his own place in history? Getting wiped off the map isn’t part of his career plan and he could still have a lengthy private sector career ahead of him.

    In Trudeau’s telling back home, he’s gotten most things right, despite the litany of bad results he confessed to Colbert. Canadians know better. There is a structural deficit being left to future generations, we’ve failed to meet our international obligations on climate change and there millions of Canadians going to food banks every month.

    Poilievre’s facile nostrums about axing the tax will do nothing to help those on the bottom rung of the ladder, they get more back for the carbon tax than they pay in.

    Parliament will be more important than ever in this fall session. In addition to the psychodrama of the inevitable confidence votes, Canadians will be watching for any sign of hope.

    Hope is something that Poilievre and his angry front bench have trouble providing. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but honey seems to be in very short supply with the Conservatives.

    Poilievre’s pitch is so strident that it’s becoming off-putting, as demonstrated by his personal attacks in the House against Singh. We’ll see how that works out in future polling.

    Hope is something that Trudeau can no longer provide. He’s about to start his 10th year and Canadians have simply decided to give him his walking papers.

    About the only hope for the Liberals is a change of leaders. The fact that the Conservatives and some of their mouthpieces have started slagging Mark Carney about is a sign that they fear his possible arrival as Liberal leader.

    It’s going to be a bumpy ride through the fall session. Canadians better arm themselves with patience as they try to make up their minds watching our tired, angry and embattled politicians.

    Tom Mulcair was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada between 2012 and 2017

    IN DEPTH

    Opinion

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster

    A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

    When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    The calls are growing louder for city council to tighten the rules governing short-term accommodations, including those advertised on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo, after students arrived by the busload at a rented house in the Masonville neighbourhood.

    Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton are apparently distant relatives

    Genealogy and family tree tracking site Ancestry announced on Monday that by using “billions of historical records and public family trees,†they’ve discovered that the two music powerhouses are actually seventh cousins, once removed.

    Canada

    • The calls are growing louder for city council to tighten the rules governing short-term accommodations, including those advertised on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo, after students arrived by the busload at a rented house in the Masonville neighbourhood.

    • The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported this week that officers in the agency's Montreal Marine and Rail Services seized 78 vehicles and transferred them to police. Numbers of stolen vehicles in Quebec continue to skyrocket.

    • A former Lethbridge pastor who bilked millions out of hundreds of southern Albertans has appealed his conviction and sentence.

    • Canada's grain farmers say a strike at Metro Vancouver terminals would cripple crop exports if it were allowed to take place.

    • A man accused of driving his truck into a march for B.C. residential school survivors two years ago has been found guilty of dangerous driving.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    • Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, season is just a few months away, but new vaccine options have already arrived for Ontario residents who may be vulnerable to the winter bug.

    • There are 'no restrictions' on the right to receive health services in Quebec for English speakers, according to a new clarification document issued by the Quebec Health Ministry on Monday.

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    Sports

    • Cole Perfetti will suit up for the Winnipeg Jets for another two years.

    • The Boston Red Sox kept their playoff hopes alive on Monday by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 in the first of a three-game road series.

    Autos

    • The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported this week that officers in the agency's Montreal Marine and Rail Services seized 78 vehicles and transferred them to police. Numbers of stolen vehicles in Quebec continue to skyrocket.

    Local Spotlight

    Giant gourds took over a Manitoba community this weekend.

    Fire has destroyed a barn and 17,000 plants at a family-owned business in Lower Coverdale, N.B.

    Before influencers on social media, Canada’s Jeanne Beker was bringing the world of high fashion down to earth and as Calgary’s Glenbow Museum gets a major make-over, it will include a new exhibition showcasing the pop culture icon.

    A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

    A Nova Scotian YouTuber has launched a mini-truck bookmobile.

    Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

    Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

    An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

    They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    • Mounties say a suspected drug trafficker who was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for being unlawfully at large was arrested over the weekend after he was found unconscious in a vehicle on Vancouver Island.

    • Temporary emergency room shutdowns have hit rural and urban hospitals, hundreds of cancer patients have been sent across the U.S. border for radiation therapy, and there's a shortage of nurses and doctors. Here's how B.C.'s major political parties plan to improve health care in the province.

    • The leaders of B.C.'s three main political parties will be going toe-to-toe next month for their first and only debate ahead of the provincial election.

    • Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, season is just a few months away, but new vaccine options have already arrived for Ontario residents who may be vulnerable to the winter bug.

    • One suspect is in custody and a second is still outstanding after Toronto police say cruisers were damaged while officers attempted to intervene in the theft of two luxury vehicles in an underground parking garage in the city’s downtown core.

    • A man is in critical condition following a shooting in the northeast Calgary community of Cityscape.

    • Faculty and staff at Mount Royal University will be demonstrating Tuesday morning to protest provincial legislation that they say could restrict research funding.

    • A former Lethbridge pastor who bilked millions out of hundreds of southern Albertans has appealed his conviction and sentence.

    • The Ottawa Police Service is seeking public assistance to identify a suspect who allegedly assaulted a passenger aboard an O-Train last month.

    • The Canada Revenue Agency has provided new data on the number of employees who were found to have received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    • Police were busy pulling over stunt drivers in Ottawa's east end last week.

    • A fire in a container at one of the Port of Montreal's terminals prompted the city to issue a containment notice for the area adjacent to the port on Monday evening, in the Mercier--Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

    • The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported this week that officers in the agency's Montreal Marine and Rail Services seized 78 vehicles and transferred them to police. Numbers of stolen vehicles in Quebec continue to skyrocket.

    • Montreal police (SPVM) are investigating after a man was stabbed shortly before midnight in the St. Henri neighbourhood.

    • EXCLUSIVE

      EXCLUSIVE

      Police have charged a former worker with Edmonton Public Schools with forgery and fraud over $5,000 for allegedly faking asbestos reports over two years. And Jason McCallum is still at large.

    • Alberta is one of the few provinces without the ability to seize a vehicle traveling 50 km/h over the speed limit.

    • The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) is urging the provincial government to implement a new compensation model for doctors and adopt a plan to stabilize acute care.

    • Public health officials in Prince Edward Island are investigating an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness reported among 50 people who attended a shellfish festival over the weekend.

    • A man in his 60s was struck by an SUV and killed while walking on Wheeler Boulevard in Moncton, N.B., late Monday afternoon.

    • The Halifax Regional Municipality is de-designating an encampment space on University Avenue due to snow-clearing safety concerns.

    • A dry, fly-in First Nation in northern Manitoba is putting drug and alcohol smugglers on notice.

    • The mayor of Lynn Lake, Man. is concerned about a bridge connecting to his community and what would happen if it became impassable.

    • Cole Perfetti will suit up for the Winnipeg Jets for another two years.

    • Health care is shaping up to be a major issue for this fall’s provincial election in Saskatchewan and on Monday both the Sask. Party and NDP announced plans on how they will work to improve the sector if elected this fall.

    • The Saskatchewan Government is in the province's highest court fighting to prevent a Court of King’s Bench judge from determining if its Parents' Bill of Rights actually violates the Charter.

    • Farmer are thinking about more than their crops this harvest. They're talking about the upcoming Saskatchewan election and how provincial and federal policies may impact their economic future.

    • Three people were killed Monday morning in a crash north of Wellesley.

    • Officials say Lixian, 29, is known to frequent Waterloo Region, Toronto and Niagara Falls.

    • Police say a toddler in Cambridge, Ont., who was reported missing early Monday morning, has since died.

    • The Saskatchewan Government is in the province's highest court fighting to prevent a Court of King’s Bench judge from determining if its Parents' Bill of Rights actually violates the Charter.

    • Fire crews are battling a blaze at the Candle Lake Golf Course clubhouse on Monday morning.

    • The Saskatchewan Ministry of Education says a woman facing an assault charge is no longer working at a private Christian school where the alleged incident took place.

    • We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.

    • A Verner man, 35, is charged after a fatal crash on Highway 17 last month that killed one and sent another to hospital.

    • The calls are growing louder for city council to tighten the rules governing short-term accommodations, including those advertised on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo, after students arrived by the busload at a rented house in the Masonville neighbourhood.

    • Showers are expected to push into the region through the afternoon as a moisture laden system moves into the Great Lakes Basin.

    • 519 Meets organized a car rally in south London on Saturday in a Value Village parking lot, and it turned out to be their largest ever.

    • Casino Rama announced three new performances will hit the stage this winter.

    • Provincial police laid charges in a luring and child pornography investigation involving an Orillia man who worked at a local recreation centre.

    • Weather warnings and weather statements have been issued for central Ontario.

    • A man swimming across the Detroit River from Windsor to Detroit was rescued by a mail boat, according to the J.W. Westcott Company.

    • Windsor police say a 37-year-old man accused of attempted murder has been arrested and charged with violating his bail conditions.

    • A road in Essex County has reopened following a multi-vehicle crash. According to OPP, County Road 20 had been closed between Iler road and McCormick Road in Harrow.

    • Mounties say a suspected drug trafficker who was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for being unlawfully at large was arrested over the weekend after he was found unconscious in a vehicle on Vancouver Island.

    • The leaders of B.C.'s three main political parties will be going toe-to-toe next month for their first and only debate ahead of the provincial election.

    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

    • The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

    • Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.

    • A former Lethbridge pastor who bilked millions out of hundreds of southern Albertans has appealed his conviction and sentence.

    • Farmers in southern Alberta are working to wrap up harvest, with 80 per cent of major crops in the bin, according to the province's latest crop report.

    • Monday marked the official start of Reconciliation Week in Lethbridge.

    • Opening arguments are expected to begin in the sexual assault trial of former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard at a northern Ontario courthouse Tuesday.

    • We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.

    • Officials in the City of Timmins say the state of Municipal Road, which connects Timmins and Iroquois Falls, is well beyond the patch-up phase.

    N.L.

    Stay Connected
    Follow Â鶹´«Ã½