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Things had been going so well for Justin Trudeau. His new modus vivendi obliged him to stay out of the public eye and do nothing in particular. It was proving wildly popular – the Liberals have had a healthy lead in recent polls.

But his Captain Ahab act, in pursuit of his own Moby Dick – a seat on the UN Security Council – threatens to undo all his good un-work. As the country grinds to a halt because of rail blockades, our peripatetic prime minister risks comparison with his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, who took a family vacation in Hawaii while wildfires raged across his country.

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Trudeau, who is set to head to Barbados on Monday to try to persuade Caribbean leaders to vote for Canada’s bid, has hemmed and hawed about the blockades across the country that have led to gridlock of the nation’s rail service.

“We are, obviously, a country of laws. And making sure that those laws are enforced, even as there is, of course, freedom to demonstrate free and to protest,” he said from Germany. “Getting that balance right and wrapping it up in the path forward … is really important.”