trudeau

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National Column: Trudeau government should adjust Trump strategy

Mar 1, 2017 Comments Off on National Column: Trudeau government should adjust Trump strategy

It’s time to conclude, on a balance of probabilities, that Donald Trump will be merely an ineffectual president.

For a while it seemed the White House’s listless new tenant might have some sort of trade strategy. For a few days he even seemed to be preparing for an attack on Iran. That seems so long ago. He may yet do something big domestically, like repeal Obamacare, although the news that massive new social programs contain fine print has rattled him badly. […]

Columns

National Column: Justin Trudeau explains Donald Trump to Europe

Feb 21, 2017 Comments Off on National Column: Justin Trudeau explains Donald Trump to Europe

Justin Trudeau has discovered Europe. The prime minister had hoped to find there a counterweight to Canada’s economic dependence on the U.S. He found instead a continent anxious about American intentions and desperate to find someone who could interpret Donald Trump. […]

Columns

National Column: Bouquet may be hiding thorns

Feb 14, 2017 Comments Off on National Column: Bouquet may be hiding thorns

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, Donald Trump handed Justin Trudeau the rose he coveted on Monday in Washington. Like all roses, it comes with thorns. Only time will tell whether those thorns matter more than the flower itself. […]

Columns

National Column: Liberals shore up their left flank

Feb 8, 2017 Comments Off on National Column: Liberals shore up their left flank

In the eternal balancing act of Canadian Liberalism, it’s a week for tilting left. One after another, cabinet ministers are lining up to resuscitate programs that please the Liberal base and that the Harper Conservatives fought tooth and nail. […]

Columns

National Column: Voting reform promise just a prop

Feb 2, 2017 Comments Off on National Column: Voting reform promise just a prop

As recently as his town hall tour, Justin Trudeau was insisting that he was still interested in changing the voting system.

In early December, the prime minister similarly told the Star editorial board that he remained committed to having a new system in place by 2019. […]

Columns

National Column: The loud actions of Trump drown out silence of Trudeau

Jan 31, 2017 Comments Off on National Column: The loud actions of Trump drown out silence of Trudeau

Even as Canada’s leaders were addressing the House of Commons to express their solidarity with the country’s grieving Muslim community on Monday, the White House’s press secretary was arguing that the murderous attack on a Quebec City mosque was “a terrible reminder of why the president is taking steps to be proactive, not reactive” on national security. […]

Columns

National Column: Uncommonly busy political pre-season

Jan 30, 2017 Comments Off on National Column: Uncommonly busy political pre-season

Here are some of its highlights:

Prime ministers do not normally shuffle their cabinet in a major way after little more than a year in office. Justin Trudeau used the extraordinary circumstance of the changing of the guard in the White House to rearrange his top deck earlier rather than later. So far, the reviews are mostly positive.
[…]

Columns

National Column: The PM tours while the world rushes ahead

Jan 18, 2017 Comments Off on National Column: The PM tours while the world rushes ahead

There’s an odd disconnect between Justin Trudeau’s industrious tour of small-town and mid-sized Canada this week and the events rattling the world outside.

Politically, the contrast is probably healthy. On Friday, Donald Trump will proclaim his faith in forgotten ordinary Americans. While he does that, Prime Minister Trudeau is wise to catch up with ordinary Canadians. […]