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It’s also possible not to go away for Easter weekend at all — or at least not far. You could do a lot worse than Netflix and chilling by the fireplace at Harrington Lake. Some cross-country skiing, a schvitz in the new sauna. Let the kids run around outside until they’re dead on their feet, have chef prepare his finest ham, invite a few friends around.

But, no, Tofino it was.

At this point some significant chunk of readers will be rolling their eyes and asking questions such as “is Trudeau not entitled to time with his family?” and “I suppose you’d have them fly Westjet?” I do persist in my lonely belief that it’s not unthinkable for the prime minister of Canada to fly on a commercial airliner from time to time, and that it might send a useful if symbolic message. If David Cameron could do it, I don’t see why Trudeau can’t. But that’s not what this is about.

One might expect the PM to make at least minimal efforts not to be seen conspicuously consuming carbon in ways he is asking Canadians not to

No one is denying Trudeau time with his family, and no one except me is saying business class is acceptable for our PM. I’m not offended by the West Coast weekend. But I’m not the guy trying to finagle a carbon tax past skeptical Canadians while insisting the fate of the world hangs in the balance of the upcoming October election. It sure doesn’t help for him to appear unserious about that message, or to appear to believe it doesn’t apply to him and his family.

It also doesn’t help that these carbon-intensive trips tend to call attention to the Trudeaus’ wealth and connections — Florida’s North Captiva Island is no Bell’s Cay, where the Trudeaus were famously guests of the Aga Khan, but it’s very fancy indeed — and that three of them have resulted in very bad press: Trudeau’s mid-vacation 21-hour round trip from Florida to Ottawa for no good reason earlier this year; the Aga Khan debacle, which Ottawa’s lobbyist watchdog is about to reinvestigate; and his bewildering India junket-cum-Bollywood revue.

Trudeau’s woke feminist persona has taken a savage, largely self-inflicted beating since the SNC-Lavalin scandal broke. It seems like an awfully bad time for him to be nourishing his entitled surfer dude persona. But it may at least have the virtue of authenticity. If he hasn’t decarbonized his family vacations by now, it seems unlikely he ever will.

• Email: cselley@nationalpost.com | Twitter: cselley