Sorry, Justin, but it's time to go and hopefully soon
Author of the article:Warren Kinsella
Published Jun 22, 2024 • Last updated 5 days ago • 3 minute read
Dear Justin:
You don’t mind if I call you Justin, do you?
Because, for starters, I don’t think many people are going to be calling you prime minister for much longer. You need to get used to it, big guy.
We were never particularly close, Justin. I was a Jean Chretien guy, which means that I believe in being socially progressive and economically conservative. You, on the other hand, have a different approach: Spend like the drunkest drunken sailor and promote social policy favoured by the Deepest Annex Intersectional Pro-Hamas Front Hole Meatless Collective. Not Liberal, in other words.
The country voted for your “vision” three times in a row, you might protest, and you’d be sort of right. But that’s because you fooled everyone. You promised to be different than you are now. You promised to bring people together, not drive them apart.
Instead, you have become what you came to Ottawa to change. You have gotten people madder than I can ever recall them being. Ever.
I’ve been talking to Chretien Liberals, Martin Liberals, every variety of Liberal, Justin. Most of them know you, many of them like you. But they all say — every single one of them — that it’s all over. You’ve been 15 to 20 points behind for more than a year. That’s not just unpopular, that’s a death sentence.
So you have to go. And you will go, hopefully soon. Five reasons.
One, your best friend, apart from the guy you see in the bathroom mirror every morning, is Dominic LeBlanc. You’ve known him since forever. You have given him permission to discreetly pursue the leadership, which he is in fact doing. You wouldn’t have given him permission if you weren’t leaving. So quit pretending that you’re not.
Two, other folks are organizing for the Liberal leadership as well. Some of them, like human pocket calculator Mark Carney, aren’t being very subtle about it. A sitting prime minister always has the ability to derail that kind of leadership agitation (eg. Chretien, my former boss, went for a third term and extended his departure by 18 months when the aforementioned Paul Martin got too uppity). You could do likewise, Justin. You haven’t. We’ve noticed.
Three, Tories always thought they were insulting you by calling you a former drama teacher. They thought they were being clever when they said you were a phoney. They never understood that those were your strengths, not weaknesses. You always understood that politics is B.S. theatre, as John Turner memorably called it, and you always commanded central stage. No longer, big guy. You’ve been phoning it in for over a year. You’re an extra. Not so many want a selfie with you anymore.
Four, you’ve been quietly exploring post-PMO gigs. You have. It’s normal: Everyone in politics is always thinking about their next act. You haven’t had a lot of takers — you’re not a lawyer, as you’ve bitterly remarked to some folks — but so what? You’re a millionaire. You’ve got great kids. You’ll get a couple millions bucks for your memoirs, $100,000 for a speech, and an office at the UN promoting deliverology or something. You’re a young guy; don’t get old in Ottawa. There’s nothing worse than that, Justin. Nothing. Ottawa is where hope goes to die.
Five, contrary to what your critics think, you are not stupid. You understand optics and messaging better than just about anybody at your level in the G7. You know how to be likable when you need to be liked. So you know that everything you have tried for the past year and a half has not worked. Not your stupid capital gains budget thing, not the woke messaging, none of it. The polls are real and you know it, too. You don’t want to be the one who wears one of the biggest Liberal losses in a century. You won’t let that happen. Ever.
You’re going. You’re leaving. You know it, I know it. You can’t even hint at that until the last possible moment, for obvious reasons. But you’re going.
My advice, which you of course will not listen to: Announce it sooner than later. Prime minister Pierre Poilievre needs a viable opposition. So does the country. Don’t let it be the NDP or the separatists, big guy.
Not if you love Canada as much as you say you do.
Sincerely,
Your pal Warren.
Columnist Warren Kinsella gives five reasons why Justin Trudeau needs to step down as prime minister as soon as possible.
torontosun.com