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In post-election Justin Trudeau, with his minority government and salt-and-pepper beard, some observers have detected a new sort of seriousness. If he’s capable of sustained seriousness, it would certainly make sense for him to try it on: no one wants him photobombing their weddings anymore, and God knows the world is heaping problems at his door. There is more than enough serious business to occupy him and his ministers, of whom it’s promised we will see more.

It’s early days to pass any judgment on that narrative, though Trudeau’s handling of the Iranian situation since the downing of a Ukrainian airliner with 138 of 176 souls aboard bound for Canada, has struck almost all the right notes. It’s possible to imagine his younger self going disastrously off piste.

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On China, it has been gratifying to see Trudeau and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland dismiss the suggestion of a “prisoner swap” with Beijing — i.e., Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for Meng Wanzhou, the rule of law and our national dignity. That no less than John Manley (a former foreign affairs minister) and Jean Chrétien (a former foreign affairs, justice and prime minister) are pushing the idea is perhaps a useful reminder of how much worse a Canadian government could be. But an alternative solution does not seem near to hand.