PM should forgo the laughs
EDITORIAL: WHAT OTHERS THINK
It was all, it turns out, just “a dumb joke.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — whom nobody is going to confuse with Jerry Seinfeld — now claims his gender-neutral correction of the term “mankind” at a town hall event in Edmonton was a botched attempt at humour rather than an irksome exercise in overreaching political correctness.
The exchange took place during the Q&A segment that happens during each stop on Mr. Trudeau’s midwinter I’m-a-regular-guy roadshow. A woman was asking a meandering question about government support for religious organizations, and after a threeminute preamble that caused the assembled crowd to grow audibly impatient, she offered the observation that “maternal love is the love that is going to change the future of mankind.”
Mr. Trudeau interrupted, suggesting, “We like to say ‘peoplekind,’ not necessarily ‘mankind.’ It’s more inclusive.”
The crowd cheered. The woman laughed and said, “There we go. Exactly. Yes, thank you.”
Media reaction that followed, however, was not nearly as positive, with commentators — both in this country and around the world (including U.S. cable’s Fox News, Trump-buddy Brit columnist/TV host Piers Morgan and Australian columnist Rita Panahi) — leaping at the opportunity to deride the Canadian PM as, among other things, a “spineless virtuesignalling excuse for a feminist” and “the Kim Kardashian of political leaders.” Talk about losing the room. In the wake of the backlash, Mr. Trudeau attempted to reposition the ill-considered correction, offering the aforementioned “dumb joke” description and noting that his track record with attempted humour is less than stellar.
“It played well in the room and in context,” he said.
“Out of context it doesn’t play so well, and it’s a little reminder that I shouldn’t be making jokes even when I think they’re funny.”
What’s problematic here isn’t so much the weakness of Mr. Trudeau’s “comedy” material or the tepid, teacherly tone with which it was delivered; rather, it’s the manner in which the “Peoplekindgate” — if the PM can invent words, so can we — controversy is indicative of a bothersome tendency by the PM to portray himself as inclusive and supportive when he’s actually being quite snobbishly superior.
Correcting “mankind,” jokingly or not, is an exercise in condescension, as are the occasions when Mr. Trudeau whisper-quietly suggests a shouted interruption should be prefaced by “please,” or chastises a heckler for interrupting his response to another person’s question with a stern, “That’s not very polite.”
In Nanaimo, B.C., the PM invoked Winston Churchill’s “messy” definition of democracy as police escorted a couple of overly disruptive protesters from the hall — thereby combining a politeness lecture and a history lesson, each delivered in a manner that clearly positioned Mr. Trudeau as superior and the heckler(s) as inferior.
The prime minister’s ability to remain calm and speak quietly in the face of angry, shouted intrusions is admirable. His assumption of the role of Canada’s stern, manners-demanding parent in these sometimes unruly encounters falls more into the category of annoying.
Still, these are aspects of the town hall experience at which Mr. Trudeau is quite adept. One should play to one’s strengths. But if “peoplekind” really was the PM’s version of “A” material, he should ensure that his future open-mic performances veer as far away as possible from trying to get laughs.
Perhaps fortunately, the crosscountry Just For Cringes NotComedy Tour has concluded for this year.
An editorial from the Winnipeg Free Press (distributed by The Canadian Press)