At a moment of crisis, the Prime Minister is choosing to speak only to small audiences of loyalists, rather than addressing the Canadian People.
For someone to be a leader, the first thing they have to do is show up.
Literally.
You can’t lead if you’re not there.
You can’t lead if people don’t see you and hear from you.
And this is especially true in moments of crisis.
In good or ‘normal’ times, it’s difficult to tell who is a good leader and who is not. It doesn’t take much to lead when the world is stable and the economy is strong. A few good advisors, some good speechwriters, and decently competent people in key positions can elevate a below-average leader into ‘good enough’ territory.
But when things get bad, when chaos reigns, when the world destabilizes, when the economy is at risk, that’s when we find out who is a leader and who is a pretender.
And on that front, we learned quite a lot last week.
The week started with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau getting outmaneuvered by former Deputy Prime Minister & Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, leading to chaos within the Liberal Party and the Government, and weakening Trudeau’s already dwindling authority.
Unsurprisingly, the incoming U.S. President sought to take advantage of this weekend by musing about Canada becoming the “51st State”.
Those disrespectful comments about Canadian sovereignty were the kind of thing you would expect to hear the Prime Minister address.
Pierre Poilievre made his position clear, saying Canada “First and foremost, Canada will never be the 51st state of the US.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said something similar, declaring Canada will “never be the 51st state.”
As for Justin Trudeau?
No response.
Trudeau has said nothing about Trump’s remark.
The Prime Minister has chosen not to push back whatsoever, nor make a statement in defence of Canadian sovereignty.
He also hasn’t addressed the nation at all since the near-crumbling of his government.
He has spoken twice to loyalists (if you can still call Liberal MPs loyalists), once by addressing the Liberal Caucus behind closed doors and once by speaking to an audience of top Liberal donors. Neither of those events were public, and in neither case were the Prime Minister’s remarks directed at the Canadian People.
This is an appalling abdication of leadership, at an incredibly fraught time for our nation.
And there is simply no acceptable explanation for it.
If Justin Trudeau is too stressed out and too distracted by trying to hold on to his job as PM that he can’t devote any effort to speaking to Canadians about our internal chaos and external economic threats, then he shouldn’t be the Prime Minister. He wanted the top job. He fought for the top job. And having the top job means he is supposed to be the leader for all Canadians, not just Liberal partisans.
And if Trudeau believes that Canadians don’t need to hear from the Prime Minister at this crucial moment, then his judgement is even more flawed than most of us think.
In Trudeau’s absence, much of the work of Canadian leadership has fallen to the Leader of the Opposition.
Pierre Poilievre has managed to strike a careful balance between pushing for a good deal with the United States while making clear Canada won’t just be walked over:
“He wants a deal, and my belief is that he wants America to win. There’s no question, but I want to show him that Canada can win at the same time,” Poilievre said.
Asked repeatedly by Mediwake about what pressure points he’s willing to push the U.S. on in a potential negotiation, Poilievre said, “We’re not going to compromise anything to hurt our country’s security or economy, period. And we shouldn’t have to because our interests are aligned.”
Poilievre later added that he would “have to respond with counter-tariffs that will hurt on the American side.”
This is what the Prime Minister should be saying.
But the Prime Minister is silent.
Trudeau is facing a decisive test of leadership, and not only is he failing the test, he hasn’t even shown up to take it.
And so, at a moment when so much hangs in the balance for Canada, Pierre Poilievre leads while Justin Trudeau hides.
Canadians will remember this.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
