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The Niagara Independent, February 3, 2023 \u2013<\/em><\/p>\n Should I stay or should I go now?<\/i> There was the usual excitement in Ottawa this week as MPs returned from their Christmas recess. Blowing across Parliament Hill for most of the week MPs were greeted by a crisp -7 C wind \u2013 and on the wind that unmistakable refrain from The Clash\u2019s hit song \u201cShould I stay or should I go?\u201d<\/p>\n Each day the lights of the House of Commons shone on the combatants, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, as they exchanged polispeak. Poilievre delivered rapid-fire zingers; Trudeau responded with scripted non sequiturs. The political theatre had resumed with its expected tone and pace, except for the unabating queries about the PM\u2019s future.<\/p>\n In the lead up to the re-opening of Parliament, there was great speculation bandied about by the national press corps regarding Trudeau\u2019s political future.<\/p>\n Campbell Clark baldly put the question in his Globe and Mail<\/i> op ed \u201cTo run or not to run?\u201d when he wrote, \u201cThis year, 2023, is when Mr. Trudeau will really have to decide.\u201d The Hill Times<\/i> posed the personal question: \u201cDoes Trudeau have the fire in his belly to stay in the game?\u201d The paper editorialized: \u201c\u2026no one is pushing Justin Trudeau out the door.\u00a0But it would be refreshing if he could\u00a0take a deep look inside and tell the rest of us if he still has the fire in his belly to stay in the game\u2014the way New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden did.\u201d<\/p>\n Through January, Canadians were treated to feature columns in mainstream media written with an apparent attempt to help the PM frame his legacy. There was a flattering piece in the Toronto Star<\/i> by Susan Delacourt, who lobbed the PM softies such as, \u201cWhat keeps you up at night?\u201d Another fluff piece appeared in the Globe and Mail<\/i>, written by Liberal apologist Lawrence Martin, who lauded Trudeau\u2019s toughness: \u201c\u2026he\u2019s not all that troubled by the torrents of abuse and derision\u2026. The more the haters come at Justin Trudeau, the more he will be determined to hold on to power.\u201d<\/p>\n The most embarrassing piece of adoration was presented by John Ibbitson in his year-end tribute hailing Trudeau as a remarkable PM. Ibbitson tells us that Trudeau\u2019s \u201cambitious agenda\u201d laid before Canadians in 2015 \u201chas been largely realized.\u201d He asserts that Canada is in a better place as a result of Trudeau\u2019s leadership: in world trade, immigration, the fight against global warming, progressive politics, decriminalizing drugs, bringing Canadians through the Great Pandemic, and more. Ibbitson concludes: \u201cIf Justin Trudeau wanted to be known as a transformative prime minister, he succeeded.\u201d<\/p>\n The exceedingly high praise and puffery from the likes of Delacourt and Ibbitson has put a spring in the step of the PM as he assumed his role at centre stage. Through the week, a reinvigorated Trudeau spent a great deal of his time in Question Period sidestepping any responsibility for the latest revelations regarding the $100 million worth of contracts awarded to the McKinsey & Company.<\/p>\n As the plot is unfolding, it appears the scandalous arrangements for McKinsey are similar to the cozy relationships struck between SNC Lavalin and the Prime Minister\u2019s Office. Yet, unfazed, the PM struck a pose in the House to swat away the facts about his fondness for former McKinsey senior executive Domenic Barton. Trudeau disavowed his friend Domenic. Then at a MP committee, Barton complemented the PM\u2019s performance with repeated denials of any friendship.<\/p>\n A much more spectacular scene occurred on Wednesday when the PM was being pressed by Poilievre about the financial strain being felt by Canadians. The Opposition Leader criticized the government\u2019s fiscal record and its gross overspending by citing criticisms made by Bill Morneau and Mark Carney \u2013 the Liberal government\u2019s former finance minister and former governor of the Bank of Canada. Trudeau sprang to his feet to debate the points and then chastised Poilievre for \u201cstumbling over himself\u201d by using quotes from \u201crandom Liberals.\u201d<\/p>\n Even for Justin Trudeau this line is too incredible, to debase these men of their Liberal pedigree. To be certain, Trudeau has been personally stung by the frank admissions of his former finance minister. In Bill Morneau\u2019s bestselling book, Where to from Here: A Path to Canadian Prosperity<\/i>, and in some forthright interviews promoting his book, Morneau\u2019s assessment of the PM and his government\u2019s performance is damning:<\/p>\n On Trudeau\u2019s character, Morneau stated: \u201cI came to realize that while his performance skills were superb, his management and interpersonal communication abilities were sorely lacking.\u201d<\/p>\n Morneau\u2019s disillusionment with Justin Trudeau has been recounted by others who left Ottawa\u2019s political fray with the same sour feelings about the PM: recall the first-hand accounts by former celebrated parliamentarians Jody Wilson Raybould, Jane Philpott, and Celina Chavannes. There are many long-serving, stalwart Liberals who have abandoned the party having lost confidence in Trudeau. In the wake of the government\u2019s low point having invoked the Emergencies Act<\/i>, Stephen LeDrew, the longest-serving president of the Liberal Party of Canada, put it this way about Trudeau\u2019s leadership: \u201cHe has cheapened public discourse and public life\u2026 the pain inflicted by this government has almost brought us to the tipping point.\u201d<\/p>\n Still PM Trudeau commands centre stage in Ottawa. He and his operatives have recently doubled down on his political games of dividing Canadians by purposefully highlighting controversial wedge issues. For example, Trudeau made racial accusations against conservatives in Delacourt\u2019s Toronto Star<\/i> feature: \u201cHe\u2019s [Poilievre] playing and preying on the kinds of anger and anxieties about some Canada that used to be \u2014 where men were men and white men ruled.\u201d<\/p>\n He followed up the accusation this week by underscoring Black History Month with the statement \u201cCanada has a history of anti-Black racism\u2026\u201d (Trudeau takes every opportunity to accentuate racial tensions and repeatedly fails to mention factual Canadian history, such as Harriet Tubman and those involved with the Underground Railroad.)<\/p>\n Another sorry example of this deployable tactic is Trudeau\u2019s heralded appointment this week of the racially-biased Amira Elghawaby as the government\u2019s new Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Trudeau was fully aware of Elghawaby\u2019s reputation for making intolerant, judgmental statements about Quebecers, conservative-minded people, and people of British descent. But, that is precisely the point. Konrad Yakabuski of the Globe and Mail<\/i> put it best when he exposed the PM\u2019s cynical appointment: \u201cHer nomination is meant to delight outspoken interest groups whose support is critical to Liberal political fortunes.\u201d<\/p>\n For political pundits and national columnists it has proven difficult to anticipate the PM\u2019s next act or political power play. In January, the pundits were certain there was going to be a cabinet shuffle; it did not materialize. Whispers of a spring election persist. The current rumour circulating through Hill offices is that Chrystia Freeland will be leaving Ottawa in the coming weeks, jettisoned away by Klaus Schwab for a position at the World Economic Forum, or some suggest by her friend and mentor George Soros. Everywhere, everyone is talking about the latest polls that have the Tories catapulting to their largest lead in more than a decade.<\/p>\n And with all this, Justin Trudeau struts back and forth across his stage. Can you not hear that music?<\/p>\n This indecision\u2019s buggin\u2019 me<\/i> Chris George<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of\u00a0CG&A COMMUNICATIONS<\/a>. Contact:\u00a0ChrisG.George@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/i>Should I stay or should I go now?<\/i>
\n<\/i>If I go, there will be trouble<\/i>
\n<\/i>And if I stay it will be double<\/i>
\n<\/i>So come on and let me know<\/i><\/p>\n\n
\nIf you don\u2019t want me, set me free<\/i>
\n<\/i>Exactly whom I\u2019m supposed to be <\/i>
\n<\/i>Don\u2019t you know which clothes even fit me? <\/i>
\n<\/i>Come on and let me know <\/i>
\n<\/i>Should I cool it or should I blow?<\/i><\/p>\n