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Veterans affairs has a new minister but has not managed enough new action. The same goes for Indigenous affairs. Trouble abounds with procurement (writ large), and with government IT projects, such as Phoenix and email consolidation. And don’t forget illegal border crossings and the pressures on the immigration system.

There is also a tough legislative slog ahead for the new anti-terror regime. With the clock ticking to 2019, will the government need to be heavy-handed in jamming through this and other bills in order to say it has a strong legislative record?

With all of these tough files in play, I’d rather sit down for on-brand pleasantries with Tina Brown, too.

If past is prologue, this government will open Canadians’ cheque books to buy time and peace. But it will also frame that spending in terms meant to bait Conservatives into fury.

Any opposition to spending will be “mean-spirited” or “divisive.” Any complaint about competence will be parried by hearts being in the right place. And any Conservative anger will be reflected back to Canadians through the prism of Donald Trump’s horror show version of conservatism.

Therein lies the conundrum for Conservatives.

If people like a government that does little but sounds nice and looks good doing it, the Conservatives need to have a good think about which end of that clause to criticize. The Liberals have certainly mastered which part of it to emphasize.

As they try to come to grips with the challenges of their agenda, the Liberals will double down on branding it to their advantage. Every last drop of soft power will be applied. They will Vogue. They will film fest.

They will hop on every panel where issues such as gender equality, the environment and fairness are being discussed.

Here, Justin Trudeau remains the Liberals’ best asset. As long as Trump exists, Trudeau will remain the darling of the foreign intelligentsia whose cues Canadians still take.

The tougher things get, the more we’ll see Trudeau being Trudeau.

Andrew MacDougall is a London-based communications consultant and was director of communications to former prime minister Stephen Harper.