Remember this video of a bus in Montreal after an ice storm? He was going down a hill in slow motion, his brakes unable to avoid the accident towards which he was inexorably tending.
This is the image that came back to my mind when I saw the political chaos caused by Justin Trudeau at the end of his mandate.
A plan that went off the rails
As early as September, in these pages, I predicted that Trudeau could use the prorogation, before his resignation. This remains the most likely fate.
Trudeau’s time was up, and a senior Liberal source informed me that the ruling party had already found his replacement: former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney.
But instead of quietly giving up his place to give his party a chance against Poilievre, Trudeau decided, in desperation, to try one last big show.
On Friday, he called his closest collaborator and Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, to inform her that he would replace her with Carney and that she would henceforth be responsible for relations with the United States!
Such is Trudeau’s excessive pride that he thought he would make one of the smartest politicians of his generation swallow this snake.
He even allegedly told her that she would lose her position as Minister of Finance the day after she presented her economic update. Too much, it was too much.
In a deadly letter, Freeland mocked Trudeau’s “tricks”.
History does not tell (yet) what happened between that fateful call from Trudeau on Friday and Freeland’s resounding resignation Monday morning.
What we do know is that Freeland and Carney are very close (he is even the godfather of one of Freeland’s children).
I know Mark Carney well and he is exceptionally straightforward. My hypothesis is that once he found out about Trudeau’s shenanigans with regard to Freeland, he gave up.
Instead of leaving his place with dignity, Trudeau undoubtedly hoped to use Carney’s exceptional experience and expertise to improve his own image. He didn’t care about the others.
Carney would have had too much integrity to get involved in this.
The new Minister of Finance, Dominic LeBlanc, knows absolutely nothing about finance, which makes him the perfect choice for Trudeau! It was LeBlanc himself who announced Wednesday evening that Carney was finished! What bullshit.
Inevitable departure
Trudeau’s ministers no longer want him, and around forty of his deputies have signed a letter demanding his departure.
Justin Trudeau still has the prerogative to go to his Governor General and (provided he asks her in English) request an early election, but that would be suicidal for the Liberal Party of Canada.
The masks have fallen. Trudeau liked to pose as a feminist, but he serially destroyed strong women in his cabinet, Freeland is just the latest example on the list.
For the good of the country and his party, he must finally leave.
