Carlos Jasso/Reuters Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses participants in a roundtable discussion with civil society leaders in Mexico City, Mexico Oct. 12, 2017.

"The Charter protects all Canadians, every one of us, even when it is uncomfortable." Justin Trudeau said this, back in July, when he was asked about his government paying $10 million to Omar Khadr. And here's what Trudeau said three months later, when the Quebec legislature passed a racist law, a "law" that everyone agrees targets Muslim women: "It's not up to the federal government to challenge this." Stirring words about the Charter back then, mealy-mouth cowardice now. What's changed? Well, time has gone by. To be sure. In that time, the planet's leading Islamophobe, Donald Trump, has made serial attempts to pass similarly anti-Muslim laws. During that time, however, Trudeau has made clear he disagrees with Trump. "To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada," he tweeted, the first time Trump tried to bar refugees from Muslim countries.

To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 28, 2017

In recent months, too, expressions of hatred targeting Muslims (and Jews, and others) have surged in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Right around the time Trudeau was giving everyone a civics lesson about the constitution, in fact, Statistics Canada revealed that hate crimes against Muslims had exploded by 60 per cent, when compared to previous years. The problem has gotten worse, not better. So, Trudeau's whiplash-inducing reversal on the applicability of the Charter to difficult cases isn't because of (a) the passage of time, or (b) because things have gotten any easier for Muslims. No, it has to be something else. All it can be, of course, is this: seats. Quebec has 78, and Justin Trudeau won 40 of them in 2015. He thinks that, if his government challenges the National Assembly's indisputably racist law, he'll lose some or all of those seats. That's the only reason he isn't matching his previously-inspiring words with action. Talk minus action equals zero, one of my Canadian punk-rock friends likes to say, and that is what Trudeau and his government presently amount to: zero.

Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press A woman wears a niqab as she walks on Sept. 9, 2013 in Montreal.