KINSELLA: Time for Justin Trudeau to walk away – he’ll be happier, so will we

The Prime Minister should leave because he's had almost ten years at the top, and that's as good as it gets

Published Oct 19, 2024  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears as a witness at the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Ottawa on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Dear Justin Trudeau,

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Unhappy members of the Liberal Party caucus are reportedly getting ready to send you a letter, asking you to leave. So, several million of us regular Canadians got together to send you a letter, too. Here it is:

We haven’t seen the Grit caucus letter, yet. But, based upon past experience, it’s likely to be 90% flattery and only about 10% the subject-matter, which is this: it’s time to go, big guy.

Do we need to persuade you of this? We doubt it. You don’t get to be prime minister of Canada by being a total idiot. You can read a poll as well as the rest of us. And the polls – all of them, no exceptions – say that you and your Liberals have been behind the Conservatives by as much as 22% for more than a year. In politics, that’s death row, Justin.

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The main reason for your party’s unpopularity isn’t a policy, per se. Sure, Pierre has convinced lots of people that the carbon tax is the reason why every sparrow falls from the sky. After he becomes prime minister, however, and people still need to take out a second mortgage to fill up the tank, they’ll realize that “axing the tax” made for a boffo bumper sticker – but killing it won’t be the cure for every ill.

No, Justin, it’s not a policy that has reduced the Liberal brand to endangered-species status. It’s you.

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Now, we’ve watched you on the job for the past almost-decade. We’ve seen that calling you names and getting angry at you doesn’t work. In fact, it gives you energy. You’re like the Incredible Hulk of Canadian politics: when people come after you, you add muscle mass.

So, we will try a different approach. We will be kinder and gentler, like George Bush Senior memorably once said.

You have nothing left to prove, Justin. You have had three huge achievements. You have a legacy to be proud of.

One, you took the Liberal Party of Canada from third place to a big, big majority. That is something that no other party leader has done in our lifetimes. Circa 2015, the Liberal Party of Canada’s obituary had been written up by just about every member of the commentariat. But you created your own DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN moment, and made the punditocracy look like fools.

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Two, separatism did not once raise its head during your time in power. Every prime minister, for generations, has struggled with Quebec nationalism and separatism. You, however, led the country through nearly a decade in which, blessedly, we did not hear the word “constitution.” Call it luck, call it skill. Whatever the reason, you kept the Canada-wreckers at bay.

(Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, we note, will not be so lucky. His biggest challenge won’t be cutting back on your fiscal excesses – in government, any monkey can wield an axe. His biggest challenge will be the return of the Parti Quebecois at the National Assembly, and the fact that Quebeckers don’t ever like anglophones telling them what to think. But we digress.)

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The third reason why you can leave with your comely head held high: you lifted hundreds of thousands of Canadian children out of poverty. When children are going hungry, when children do not have a roof over their heads, you don’t really have a country anymore. Your Canada Child Benefit (CCB) didn’t fully eliminate child poverty – it will forever be among us, per Jesus Christ – but hundreds of thousands of Canadian children were given better lives. The last time the Tories said they’d “reform” the CCB they lost an election they should’ve won.

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So, there you go, Justin: you shouldn’t leave because we’re mad at you (even though several million of us are). You should leave because you’ve had almost ten years at the top, and that’s as good as it gets.

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Four of your ministers understand that: they have told you they plan to quit politics, necessitating a shuffle of your cabinet. They wouldn’t be leaving if they didn’t think your government is in its final months.

It matters to you, we suspect, that you led minority governments instead of majority ones. But that doesn’t matter to us, your bosses. For most of those years, we were comfortable with you being in charge. If we weren’t, you wouldn’t have defeated Messrs. Harper, Scheer and O’Toole.

Anyway, that was then, this is now. It’s over.

You are a proud guy, like your Dad was. In politics, you are only remembered for your last loss or win.

Be remembered as a winner, not a loser. Go. You’ll be happier, and so will we. Everyone wins.

Sincerely,

Canadians

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