The victory of October 19, 2015 had been impressive. Starting a distant third, the Liberal Party of Canada had crossed the finish line with a majority that very few observers had expected.
Those who, two years earlier, had greeted with a smirk the election of this fop, whose only qualities seemed to be to bear an illustrious name and to have won a boxing match against a more beefy Conservative senator , would they have to make amends?
Justin Trudeau celebrated his ten years at the head of the PLC this week, while his two predecessors, Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff, lasted only two years. He can legitimately claim credit for freeing his party from the opprobrium the sponsorship scandal earned it, but what about Canada? After the “great darkness” of the Harper years, has it become the most-best-country-in-the-world again?
Overtaking the NDP on its left like the PLC did in 2015 was undeniably clever, and it must be recognized that the Trudeau government has put the country back on a progressive trajectory with initiatives such as medical assistance in dying, the legalization of cannabis , carbon tax, etc. After daycare, it now promises a pan-Canadian dental insurance plan.
Generally speaking, Canadians are also grateful for Ottawa’s help during the pandemic, but the profligacy with which it continues to distribute billions left and right is worrying. Even the Parliamentary Budget Officer, whose means are disproportionate to those of an ordinary citizen, cannot figure out where they will be spent.
Moreover, the efficiency of federal services seems to be inversely proportional to the seemingly unstoppable increase in public service personnel, whether in the issuing of passports, the processing of immigration applications or simply the pay state employees.
Even more infuriating is the casualness with which Mr. Trudeau carries out his duties. His predecessors had their faults, but in the days of Stephen Harper, Jean Chrétien, Brian Mulroney and even Trudeau senior, the hand seemed firm and the direction clear. They even answered questions.
We sometimes have the unpleasant impression that the captain has fallen asleep at the helm. Decisions are made with desperate slowness and crises drag on. Could one imagine the capital of another G7 country paralyzed for weeks by a gang of truckers who went so far as to bask in a spa set up in front of parliament?
The Prime Minister’s lack of concern for ethics is equally distressing, from vacations on the Aga Khan’s private island to the well-paid sinecures offered to his family members at the WE charity, to his gross intrusion into the SNC-Lavalin file.
“Canada is back,” he said on election night in 2015. For a brief moment, some believed it. A wind of Trudeaumania swept the planet, but those who thought they had found in him a kind of antidote to Trumpism were quickly disillusioned. If any doubt remained, the fashion show in which he delivered during his trip to India made them understand that they were rather dealing with a boyscout.
Canada’s loss of prestige, consecrated by a second straight failure in its attempt to regain a seat on the UN Security Council, has nothing to do with its procrastination when seeking its services. . The rapid reaction force he promised in 2017 has now been postponed until 2026, and many doubt it will ever see the light of day.
There is, however, one area where Mr. Trudeau cannot be blamed for the slightest nonchalance. He spares no effort to impose his centralizing vision of federalism. In this respect, bringing the provinces to heel in the negotiations on the funding of health services is an undeniable success.
Despite the separatist claims of the Coalition avenir Québec, the Legault government has understood that the constitutional file was padlocked and that it is useless to insist. We no longer hear him claiming new powers, not even the single tax return, even less a new status for Quebec. Rather, it has gone to the point of defending before the courts the laws that it still believes it is authorized to have passed.
His claims are now pecuniary. It was almost embarrassing to see Mr. Legault jump for joy when Mr. Trudeau came to announce that the Davie shipyard will be entitled to a small fraction of the orders provided for in the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
If Ottawa were to now agree to participate in the financing of the third link, it would no doubt see it as an even more glorious victory than entrenching the Meech Lake accord in the Constitution would have been.