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And ineffective. “I have to ask who is doing the damage control in the Prime Minister’s Office because this (SNC affair) has been like a relentless dumpster fire that they keep pouring gasoline on,” said New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus.

Frankly, even if the lawsuit is more than just a threat and lands a punch, no one will be the wiser. Such actions take months or years and bore voters to tears.

Clearly, this has been Trudeau’s “annus horribilis,” a year of multiple resignations, two eyebrow-raising expulsions from the Liberal caucus, policy flops and sagging polls.

In January, he dismissed as “false” a news story about the former Liberal Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould getting pushed around to overturn a decision to prosecute SNC-Lavalin on corruption charges. Turns out, it wasn’t false.

Then, he kicked Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott, another former cabinet minister, out of caucus for publicly criticizing him. Philpott alleges this contravenes the Parliament of Canada Act. He dismissed this, but opposition parties and experts disagree.

Last week, the Liberals also announced they were handing out $12 million to highly profitable Loblaws stores to buy emissions-free freezer cases. The money comes out of a $450-million federal fund designed to help businesses, not-for-profit groups and lower-tier governments cut their emissions levels.

This led Maxime Bernier, leader of the fledgling People’s Party, to pile on too, slamming “corporate parasites” that prefer to “lobby politicians” rather than offer better products or services. An NDP critic noted that since Loblaw bought its fridges from China the giveaway is essentially a subsidy to a foreign country that doesn’t even treat us very well.