Western alienation is at a level not seen since the 70s. Trudeau demonstrates no greater grasp of the problem than his father did

In the midst of the mess brought on by John McCallum’s evident inability to pass up an interview, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer made a remark that could stand as a key theme in this year’s election.

“This is, I think, part of a bigger problem,” he observed. “And that is Justin Trudeau’s approach to diplomacy, where he thought he could conduct image-over-substance foreign affairs. And now Canadians are paying for his mistakes.”

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Image over substance has come to define the Trudeau Liberals’ approach to government. It contributed substantially to their 2015 victory, when voters keen on a change after nine years of dour Conservatism chose “sunny ways” over the unsmiling rigour of Stephen Harper. It turned him into a global celebrity when a wave of selfies and carefully staged photo ops led to an outpouring of swooning headlines.

Image over substance has come to define the Trudeau Liberals’ approach to government

It didn’t hurt that the Liberals armed themselves with a deep bag of expensive promises, the impracticality of which got overwhelmed in the excitement. It took time for the glow to fade, but the third year of the Trudeau mandate has not been kind to the prime minister or his record, and much of it derives from the question of depth, and whether Canada’s prime minister has enough of it to protect Canadian interests.

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Scheer expanded on his initial remarks Monday, when the House of Commons resumed sitting after a long Christmas break.

“After clowning around in India and inviting a convicted terrorist along with him, he then was forced to take concession after concession from Donald Trump. He even angered our partners in Japan and Australia. And now we have the debacle with China. Why did the prime minister show such weakness and wait so long to fire his ambassador?”

Photo by Paul Chiasson/CP

After initially refusing to give a reason for McCallum’s firing, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland — acknowledging that McCallum is a personal friend — indicated that it resulted from his going spectacularly off script in discussing the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and the ensuing confrontation with China. The chief job of an ambassador is to accurately transmit the government’s position, she said. Instead, McCallum fed China’s contention that the situation is wrapped in politics.

“That is what made it untenable for ambassador McCallum to remain in his role,” Freeland said.

Scheer may have overreached in accusing Trudeau of mucking up NAFTA. Ottawa, like the rest of the world, is just trying to get through the Trump years with as little damage as possible, and Scheer’s Tories were noticeably mute on how they’d have handled the situation. But the prime minister’s much-ridiculed sashay through India, his trade troubles with Asia and the debacle in China are gaping, and self-inflicted, wounds the Liberals desperately hope can be bandaged over before votes are cast in October.

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The prime minister’s much-ridiculed sashay through India, his trade troubles with Asia and the debacle in China are gaping, and self-inflicted, wounds

Scheer could easily expand his criticism to include the prime minister’s idealistic approach to domestic matters. The crisis in Alberta relates directly to Trudeau’s conviction that environmentalists could be won over to construction of a much-needed oil pipeline in exchange for a national carbon tax plan. In pandering to “social licence” and environmental activism, he grossly misunderstood the level of zealotry that drives the anti-resources industry, and the absence of compromise in its DNA. As a result, Alberta’s NDP Premier, Rachel Notley, has been turned into an oil industry champion and staunch pipeline advocate, pulling her province out of Ottawa’s climate change plan , while other premiers from Ontario west accuse the Liberals of dividing east and west into opposing camps, much as Trudeau’s father, Pierre, did in the 1970s. It’s no exaggeration to say that western alienation is at a level not seen since those years, or that this Trudeau demonstrates no greater grasp of the problem than his father did. Pierre Trudeau shrugged it off with typical disinterest; his son seems bewildered by the outburst of anger.

Photo by David Bloom/Postmedia News

Trudeau’s approach to governing could be blamed as well for the absence of progress in Aboriginal affairs, where grievances continue to abound despite formal apologies and the assignment of two full-time cabinet members to Indigenous programs. One of the two, Carolyn Bennett, recently claimed the gridlock over pipelines is all the fault of the Indian Act , thereby uniting two of the top priority agenda issues the Liberals have failed to remedy. Aboriginal opposition is now an important impediment to two mammoth energy projects: the government-owned Trans Mountain oil pipeline and the $6.2-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia. Faced with questions about the B.C. project at a meeting with regional chiefs, Trudeau reportedly recounted an Aesop’s fable about the power of the sun.

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At a caucus gathering prior to Parliament’s return, Trudeau set the stage for the approaching election by reprising the party’s 2015 claim that its opponents are pawns of the privileged few.

Faced with questions … at a meeting with regional chiefs, Trudea reportedly recounted an Aesop's fable

“Make no mistake: The Conservatives pretend to be ‘for the people,’ but that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is still very much the party of Stephen Harper,” he charged. “All to protect the wealthy, the well-connected and the powerful.”

But it’s Trudeau who’s been prime minister for three and a half years, and a Liberal majority that will be facing judgment.

Bedtime stories may work with a certain demographic, but many Canadians expected a more practicable approach when they chose to give an inexperienced young politician a chance at governing three years ago.