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Had the PM let this pass he’d have been less than human. Plus, he leavened his digs with a classically Trudeau-esque call for the assembled Red legions to thank former prime minister Stephen Harper and family for their service. This the Liberal assembly dutifully did, in a standing ovation, all but former interim leader Bob Rae, who simulated a gag reflex. (a joke for which he later apologized).

Now, for this particular cohort to render any sort of homage, even dutiful, to the man deemed by many Liberal true believers to be an arch-fiend out of a Stephen King story, stretches credulity beyond the breaking point. But ironic self-awareness is not a Liberal convention strong point. And the thing is, Trudeau is sticking with what works: Where the Conservatives are harsh and partisan, he will be magnanimous, to provide a contrast. As he did during last year’s campaign, he will slip away from the oncoming blow and allow the Tories to defeat themselves with their own dark energy.

Ah, but there’s the rub: What if the Tories were to stop playing along?

Fuddy-duddy debates prompted by the party’s long-suffering social-conservative wing aside (and calling it a wing at this point is a stretch, it’s more of a tail feather now due to long years of calculated neglect) the upshot was a big vote in favour of individual liberty. The state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation. Or, your right to swing your fist ends where the other person’s nose begins, as my Grade 5 teacher put it. This is an idea principled conservatives and small-l liberals both can get behind.