Rock-star PM still dazzles Victoria, but can we keep meeting this way?
Is the Second Coming over? Can we drive downtown again? Victoria sure likes to give Justin Trudeau the rockstar treatment. During September’s royal visit, it was hard to say who got the bigger cheers outside the legislature, Kate and William or JT and Sophie.
The prime minister pulled the crowds again this week, too, though this time they were divided over whether the rock star was Saint Bono the inspirational reformer, or Jerry Lee Lewis after he married his 13-year-old cousin. Some of those outside Victoria City Hall wanted a selfie, others wanted Trudeau’s head.
This is what happens to charismatic politicians when the hard decisions become inescapable, leaving believers feeling betrayed.
And it makes you wonder: How long will Trudeau remain this accessible, this eager to mix with the Great White North’s great unwashed?
As it is, his visibility in Victoria is a break from prime ministers past. His predecessor Stephen Harper was the bubble boy, never exposed to dissent. Harper was so shielded from the public on his visits to the Island that he might as well not have been here.
Extraordinary steps were taken to hide his whereabouts from the unwanted. Typical was a 2009 visit in which journalists were bused from the Juan de Fuca rec centre to a secret location that turned out to be Royal Roads University, which was packed with friendly party insiders who had been given the heads-up. A single protester — a well-dressed speech therapist bearing an anti-seal-hunt sign — had the clever idea of trailing the media bus, but she was politely but firmly kept at bay by security. After Harper’s announcement — something about university funding — the journalists were hustled out the back door like a drunken uncle at a wedding, leaving the room to the party faithful, who got to pose for photos (old-school selfies) with the PM.
In his defence, Harper had reason to worry about security. Whenever his itinerary was known, demonstrators appeared. Even his son — a kid, for heaven’s sake — got booed at a high school volleyball tournament after protesters discovered his dad would be there.
And at least Harper showed up here. Some prime ministers were seen less frequently than Halley’s comet, couldn’t find British Columbia, let alone Victoria, on a map. (“B.C., is it one of the flat ones, like Saskatoba?”)
When they did come, things didn’t go well. (See “Salmon Arm Salute.”) Every time Jean Chrétien popped up in Vancouver, someone got pepper-sprayed. The infamous APEC conference of 1997, which prompted Chrétien’s glib “for me, pepper, I put it on my plate” line was followed a year later by the Riot at the Hyatt. Eventually, everyone agreed that maybe it would be best if le p’tit gars de Shawinigan just stayed back East, and we pulled off our gas masks and sighed in relief.
Chrétien was one of those whose personal popularity only guaranteed he had further to fall when he lost the public trust. It was Victoria’s David Anderson, as revenue minister, who found himself in the unenviable position of having to explain to Chrétien that the Goods and Services Tax, which Chrétien had campaigned against (“We hate the GST and we will kill it”), was, after thorough study, the best thing for Canada. Keeping the GST might have been the right decision, but Canadians never forgot that Chrétien said one thing and did another.
Now it’s Trudeau’s turn. Mixed with the cheers outside Victoria City Hall were jeers for the man who OK’d the Kinder Morgan pipeline and broke his promise about electoral reform.
Even those whose eyes glaze over at the mention of the latter can quote Robert Munsch: “A promise is a promise.” It speaks to character when one is broken. To some, Trudeau has lost his new-car smell.
To others, at least for now, Trudeau’s rock-star qualities transcend all. At her post-meeting news conference Thursday, Mayor Lisa Helps, bless her, shut down a questioner who asked whether she had seen new photos of Trudeau shirtless, and what she thought of his eyes. “You know what? This is ridiculous,” Helps replied. “Guys, I just met with the prime minister of Canada. I’m not going to talk about shirtless and I’m not going to talk about eyes. I’m going to talk about serious issues.”
It’s only going to get more serious for Trudeau. When it does, will we still see as much of him, and will he see as much of us?
> To watch video of Mayor Lisa Helps respond to questions about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, go to timescolonist.com/more
VANCOUVER — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the opioid crisis is devastating communities and families across Canada.
After going on a ride-along on Friday with Vancouver police in the city’s Downtown Eastside, Trudeau said the number of drug overdose deaths is particularly high in British Columbia.
“The impact has been devastating. Families ripped apart. Communities forever altered. Loved ones lost too soon,” he told a news conference after meeting with first-responders and healthcare workers.
“This is a crisis that seems, for most Canadians, to be very far away. Something that’s limited to certain tougher parts of town, to the West Coast, but we are seeing a spread of opioids across the country and we’re seeing it spread far and wide across socio-economic levels, across communities.
“We need to come together as a country to help our most vulnerable.”
Asked if the government would help fund heroin treatment programs, as has been recommended by officials in British Columbia, Trudeau said there is no one solution to the problem. Social policies that tackle mental health, housing and economic opportunities are also key components in the fight against the overdose crisis, he said.
Trudeau said the government has reintroduced harm reduction as “a pillar of our comprehensive drug strategy” by expanding access to the opioid antidote naloxone.
Ottawa is also trying to streamline the application process for communities that want to open safe-consumption sites.
The illicit drug overdose crisis claimed 922 lives in British Columbia last year. Trudeau said he discussed the issue with Premier Christy Clark on Thursday night and has been speaking to big city mayors as well.