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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to Regina Thursday night to talk about jobs and the economy.

There was no planned announcement. There was no scheduled meeting with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to sort out differences on the carbon tax and other issues crucial to this province. (For this, Moe is far more at fault than Trudeau. That Moe chose not to rearrange his personal schedule to at least facilitate a chance meeting with the prime minister of Canada is rather telling.)

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If Trudeau was truly about engaging those in Western Canada directly affected by the slowdown in the oil economy, he was actually two days too late. There was a rally in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on Tuesday, with real people who are hurting.

Really, Trudeau came here just so he could say he did. It was a pointless gesture.

Notwithstanding the fact that any prime minister in even the most hostile environment can find a friendly or at least civil audience, as Trudeau was hoping to find at the University of Regina on Thursday, Trudeau’s name is little more than a punchline in most of the West.