PM’s fame grows, along with troubles
Two phenomena follow Prime Minister Justin Trudeau everywhere these days — his own monumental celebrity, and anger at the $10.5-million settlement paid to Omar Khadr.
Trudeau is now so instantly recognized that he’s featured on a new episode of The Windsors, a brutally funny British comedy show about the royal family. The Trudeau character barely arrives with a gift of maple syrup before the royal ladies start fighting over him.
The PM was adored all over Calgary Saturday, from neighbourhood barbecues to the Stampede Indian Village, and then the rodeo. His appetite for photos and handshakes is insatiable. Selfies with this man will someday crash the cloud.
Many people seem to think his looks and fame mean he’s stupid. A national embarrassment, in fact. There’s some envy behind this, even a kind of maleon-male sexism. How could anybody that handsome possibly be smart?
But Trudeau has impressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and even managed to stay on even keel with the human powder keg to the south.
He has adroitly positioned Canada as the stable, sane, reliable part of North America. This is an invaluable asset in today’s turbulent world.
No, Trudeau is not stupid at all. Which does not mean he’s immune to misjudgments and troubles.
While he was being revered at the barbecue in the Parkdale neighbourhood Saturday, two guys stood on the roof of a half-finished garage, clearly visible to Trudeau, holding a sign saying “Trudeau why don’t you pay the widow?”
The reference was to the wife of the U.S. soldier alleged to have been killed by Khadr in Afghanistan, when Khadr was 15.
This settlement story has gone badly for the PM from the start. Most Canadians oppose the payment. Trudeau’s main line — that continuing to fight in court would have brought both a loss and far higher cost — isn’t working.
Essentially, he’s been trying to calm backlash among conservatives by playing to their deepest interest, saving public money. It’s a weak case when vital principles are at stake.
Trudeau reverted Saturday to the real reason for the payment.
“We decided it was the right thing to do to settle,” he told reporters, “both because it was the fiscally responsible thing to do, but also because we recognize that when governments violate Canadians’ fundamental rights, there have to be consequences.
“And we hope that the message going forward to all future governments is: You cannot ignore or be complicit in the violation of Canadians’ fundamental rights, regardless of what they did.”
Actually, the message is better applied to past governments, including Jean Chrétien’s and Stephen Harper’s, who let Canada be drawn into America’s inhumane treatment of prisoners.
The visceral anger of veterans and their families is understandable, especially in light of the shabby treatment and benefits they often receive. Many Americans are furious at the award, including the family of the slain soldier, Sgt. Christopher Speer.
But Khadr’s rights were violated by the Canadian government during his long incarceration at Guantanamo Bay. This is beyond doubt, clearly established by the Supreme Court in 2010. Constitutional rights can’t be set aside just because most Canadians don’t like a fellow citizen or what he did. Otherwise, we have no rule of law, and everyone is vulnerable.
Trudeau has made a public-relations mess of this payment. It’s likely that if there’d been a choice, he wouldn’t have done it. But he does stand firm on the principle that Canada is governed by laws, not passions.
Principles are not always immutable, however. Trudeau flat-out broke a major campaign promise to reform Canada’s electoral system.
This profoundly offended many urban millennials who voted Liberal precisely because of that pledge. They see little value in the system and long for reform that will give them influence. Trudeau may pay for the betrayal.
He was graciously welcomed at the Indian Village, but there was a sombre note behind the hospitality.
Two First Nations women, Glynnis Fox and Tiffany Ear, were found murdered and incinerated in a car this week. That coincided with the descent into shambles of Trudeau’s commission on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
The Prime Minister’s troubles appear to be escalating. That happens to them all, eventually. But confusing the real Justin Trudeau with an episode of The Windsors is, frankly, stupid.