Trudeau needs to work with everyone now

Good morning, Mr. Prime Minister.

Did you have a sleepless night wondering what you are going to do with the mess the election left behind? I know I did.

Because your immediate goal is both obvious and challenging: making Canada, this magnificent and vast country built on the strength of its diversity, a more unified place than it is today. And I am not sure you are up to the task.

You and Andrew Scheer spent six weeks highlighting each other’s weaknesses in a campaign that was about personalities rather than big ideas.

But there was a strong storyline, based on policy, that developed nonetheless — one that pitted calls to scrap the carbon tax against demands for action against climate change.

You won that fight. But just barely.

You went into the vote asking Canadians for a “strong and clear” mandate and emerged with the largest number of seats. That is clear enough.

But with the support of just a third of Canadians who marked a ballot and with a smaller percentage of the popular vote than was won by Scheer, there is nothing “strong” about the endorsement given to you.

The other parties need time to replenish their bank accounts before going back to the polls, so you could probably govern as if you had a majority for a year or two. That’s what Stephen Harper did when handed a minority and it worked for him. But it was not a democratic move on his part. And it would not be on yours.

The right thing to do would be to set up co-operative alliances on specific issues to enact policies that are seemingly at odds with each other, but will benefit the greatest number of Canadians. You must find common cause

Most Canadians are concerned about global warming and they want you to do something about it.

with those on the left to do what is right for the environment and with those on the right to bridge national fissures that are now too deep to ignore. And you should give those parties credit for their co-operation, even if that goes against your political grain.

There are people who, for good reasons of their own, say Alberta’s oil should stay in the ground and that the twinning of the Trans Mountain Pipeline should not go ahead. Ignore them. Alberta and Saskatchewan are hurting.

The election results do not mean the Prairies are populated largely by angry climate change deniers. Albertans have a right to fear for their financial security. An expanded pipeline would do much to say the rest of Canada understands the anxiety and is prepared to address it.

The Trans Mountain expansion should be built quickly and with a defined timeline for consultations over how to accommodate those who oppose it. Because it will hopefully be obsolete in 20 years. Or, better yet, 10.

In the meantime, this country must transition away from fossil fuels. This is when we should be pumping money into renewable energy. And Alberta, with its massive stores of solar and wind power, is a great place to start.

You, Mr. Prime Minister, will have to make the left-leaning parties, whose support you now need, understand the trade-offs that are necessary as the transition takes place.

That said, there is no doubt about the message the majority of voters have given you. Most Canadians are concerned about global warming and they want you to do something about it. That message will only be amplified in the coming years. And unless Scheer and his party stop fighting the carbon tax and adopt a real plan of their own to fight climate change, they can count on occupying opposition benches for a long time to come.

You have been given a mandate to set real targets on emissions reductions and to meet them, even as you go ahead with the pipeline for the sake of national unity.

It would be a tough challenge for a majority government, Mr. Prime Minister. It will be tougher in a minority. Can you do it?

Ottawa freelance journalist Gloria Galloway has covered federal politics for more than 20 years.