National Post (National Edition)
‘The fresher the face, the more obvious the blemishes’
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA COVERING TRUDEAU’S SCANDAL IN FAR DIFFERENT TONES THAN WHEN HE SWEPT INTO OFFICE
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to office in 2015 amid a flurry of adulation from the international press, with magazine profiles, goofy web videos and stories about his flashy socks.
Now, as the Snc-lavalin scandal seizes his government, the tone has noticeably shifted. A persistent theme of the coverage is that the international Trudeau brand is massively under threat.
Here are the top headlines and opinions on the Snc-lavalin affair from around the world.
The New York Times isn’t mad, it’s just disappointed
In an editorial published on Tuesday, the New York Times writes that “Justin Trudeau came to office ... exuding charm, confidence, integrity,” but the SNCLavalin affairs shows that “the fresher the face, the more obvious the blemishes.”
Of course, from the standpoint of an American publication consumed by the investigations into President Donald Trump, the newspaper admits that “the entire matter may seem trivial” compared to allegations of collusion with Russian interference in U.S. elections.
For Trudeau, the “high ethical bar he himself set” may mean that the Snc-lavalin affair will deliver a major blow to his “personal brand,” the newspaper writes.
The BBC digs into the scandal that could ‘unseat’ Trudeau
In the wake of Trudeau’s former principal secretary Gerald Butts’s testimony, the BBC Newshour program delved into the Snc-lavalin affair Thursday, devoting more than 10 minutes of news and analysis from Canadian polling experts and politicians.
In terms of Trudeau’s brand, “that currency has been badly devalued.
But elections don’t happen in a vacuum,” said Shachi Kurl, from the Angus Reid polling company. Canadians will be choosing between Trudeau’s Liberals and the Conservatives and New Democratic Party, not simply casting judgment on the prime minister in isolation, she said.
Sunny ways shrouded in dark clouds, writes the Evening Standard
London’s Evening Standard newspaper muses that Trudeau may have lost his “magic touch.”
The Snc-lavalin affair “might damage Trudeau but not sink him.” Like most commentators, though, it notes that the worst damage may be Trudeau’s “image as a break from the old, corruption-stained Liberal party may be permanently tarnished.”
“Those ‘sunny ways’ looked shrouded in dark clouds,” the piece ends.
‘Justin Trudeau to be TOPPLED this year amid CRISIS?’ screams a headline in the Daily Express
The story doesn’t quite live up to the over-caffeinated U.K. tabloid headline, but the Daily Express examined polling data and declared that “the crisis poses a real threat to Trudeau’s ability to secure a second term in October’s federal elections.”
It’s a “deepening crisis” for the “once-popular leader,” the paper says, before providing an explainer of the Snc-lavalin affair for its readers.
Trudeau denies wrongdoing and refuses to apologize in rare address, Fox News says
Fox News in the United States reported on Trudeau’s media appearance on Thursday, saying the prime minister “remained defiant and rebuked calls to apologize during the press conference.”
The scandal has spiralled, Fox News says, “sparking calls of resignation from the opposition, which also demands an independent inquiry.”
Trudeau is ‘no Obama’ and could pay for his compromises, writes The Spectator
Canadian Leah Mclaren writes for the British magazine The Spectator that Trudeau “has proven to be a surprisingly effective leader until recently, despite the supreme unlikelihood of (his) candidacy.”
Trudeau doesn’t quite have the aloofness that allowed Barack Obama to shake off the grime that inevitably collects on left-leaning politicians who govern from the centre, Mclaren writes.
“That a failure of manners may ultimately be what brings him down is a painful irony, but it’s one that Trudeau and his government may have to accept,” she writes.
Trudeau faces ‘deepening crisis,’ Al Jazeera reports
Al Jazeera reports that the Snc-lavalin affair is hurting Trudeau’s popularity and jeopardizes Liberal re-election hopes. The party will have to take “urgent steps to save itself from defeat,” including lessening the power of the prime minister and the centralization of government, the newscast says.
Trudeau ‘blundered into a corruption scandal,’ The Times of London writes
In a paywalled article on the scandal, the Times writes that after he “cast himself as the Prince Charming of global politics,” Trudeau has “blundered into a corruption scandal.” Trudeau may be a fresh face, but this is an “oldfashioned scandal,” the Times says.
Trudeau ‘caught up’ in SNC-LAVAlin scandal, the Financial Times reports
On its daily news briefing podcast, the Financial Times says Quebec, the home of SNCLavalin, is “crucial” to Trudeau’s re-election hopes. “For sure, the Snc-lavalin affair has not played well for Mr. Trudeau,” the FT says.
THAT A FAILURE OF MANNERS MAY ULTIMATELY BE WHAT BRINGS HIM DOWN IS A PAINFUL IRONY, BUT IT’S ONE THAT TRUDEAU AND HIS GOVERNMENT MAY HAVE TO ACCEPT. — CANADIAN JOURNALIST LEAH MCLAREN, WRITING IN BRITISH MAGAZINE, THE SPECTATOR