How PM aims to change the narrative
Every interview with Justin Trudeau now includes some variation on the question, why is the prime minister sticking around?
So of course it came up when Trudeau sat down for a chat with “Today, Explained” — a daily podcast from Vox, a U.S.-based news website. The show attracts 100,000 to 150,000 listeners each month, according to several podcast rankings.
“A question a lot of Americans are asking about our politicians right now, especially because they’re very old, is, ‘Why not give someone else a chance?’ ” said host Sean Rameswaram, noting the Canadian prime minister is definitely not as old as the main contenders in this year’s U.S. presidential election.
“But I wonder, what’s your answer to that question right now, as you seek out a fourth term?” Rameswaram asked.
Trudeau’s reply went a bit beyond his now standard answer about how he has a lot more to do and his keenness to do battle with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
He talked instead about how his main rival isn’t just Poilievre, but the backlash to progressive governments in general, and the backsliding that could follow a Liberal defeat.
Trudeau talked about how the “narrative out there,” mainly coming from Conservatives, is that everything the Liberals have done — whether it’s on climate change, Indigenous reconciliation or attention to feminism and diversity — has made Canada a worse place to live.
“The actual fact is — particularly when you compare us to other countries around the world — all these things have made life better in meaningful ways,” he said, “and it would be much worse if we hadn’t done all those things.”
The podcast was billed as being about how Trudeau intends to battle populism, and much of the halfhour interview was spent on what’s giving rise to populism and the threat of authoritarianism the world over.
“A big part of populism is condemning and ignoring experts and expertise, so it sort of feeds on itself and relies on a lot of misinformation and disinformation,” Trudeau said at one point, adding the best antidote is optimism. “Ultimately, you have to trust in people, you have to trust in democracy itself — that people are going to be thoughtful and reasonable.”
The conversation did turn to the 2022 convoy protest and occupation of Ottawa, which Rameswaram described as a sign that not all is well in Canada when it comes to populist uprisings. “Yep,” Trudeau said, when asked if the country’s reputation for generosity and tolerance was under threat.
“I think it’s absolutely under threat,” he said. “Canada is not a magical place of unicorns and rainbows … we have the same kinds of pressures that everyone is facing.”
Anyone who watched a recent episode of CBC TV’s “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” featuring a spoof of Trudeau surrounded by unicorns and rainbows and singing a version of “I’m Just Ken” from the “Barbie” movie, may wonder whether this was some kind of prime ministerial reply.
Trudeau is reportedly planning to do a lot more podcasts in the coming weeks, some based in Canada, others in the United States. On Wednesday, the prime minister is scheduled to be a guest on the popular “Freakonomics” podcast, although the precise release date wasn’t totally nailed down when I inquired with the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday.
It’s all part of an effort to put Trudeau in touch with different audiences, and to talk beyond the general news-of-the-day scrums in Ottawa and around the country. The strategy is obviously aimed at raising Trudeau’s profile out of the slump in popularity. Whether that will work is an open question. Some have argued that people have just tuned Trudeau out.
Coincidentally, this flurry of podcasts coincides with the launch of a new book by Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, released about eight months after the couple separated. In interviews, she has been talking of how the two have remained friends.
On CBC Radio’s “The Current,” she was asked about the anti-Trudeau sentiment on display across the country and what she made of it. Host Matt Galloway wondered how the pair talk to their three kids about the “F--k Trudeau” signs and other displays of visceral opposition to the prime minister.
“It makes me sad. It makes me sad that there is so much confusion. It makes me sad to see that people have so much anger and fear,” she said, adding she tries to remind herself that this isn’t personal, even if it feels that way.
“There are greater movements in our society that explain the human behaviour right now, and it would be irresponsible to analyze this as a constant personal attack.”
Trudeau himself has said much the same in interviews, and will likely be saying it a lot more as he plunges into the planned round of podcasts. It remains to be seen whether he can drive some of that anger back.
In a recent podcast interview, Trudeau talked about how his main rival isn’t just Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, but the backlash against progressive governments in general