Leah McLaren, Opinion, London, 1 Mar 2019<\/p>\n
The political scandal engulfing the Canadian prime minister has outed him as not quite the hero we all believed he was<\/em><\/p>\n F<\/span><\/span>or Canadian liberals, or indeed any of us who cling to outdated ideas such as good governance and liberal democratic values, it was like watching a unicorn get flattened by a lorry. Earlier this week, Canada\u2019s undeniably gorgeous, halo-bound Liberal prime minister, Justin Trudeau \u2013 proud feminist, defender of minority rights, advocate for transparency, inclusivity and decency, and prince of the one-armed push-up<\/a>\u2013 was morally eviscerated over four-hours of astonishing testimony<\/a> by his own former attorney general and justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould \u2013 a woman of great integrity and a rare Indigenous Canadian cabinet minister.<\/p>\n To recap<\/a>, Wilson-Raybould was demoted to the position of veterans affairs minister in a cabinet shuffle earlier this year. Shortly thereafter, reports emerged that she and her staff had been subjected to a \u201csustained\u201d campaign by the prime minister\u2019s office over the handling of corruption charges against SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal-based engineering giant accused of bribing Libyan officials. It happens to be a large employer in Quebec, Trudeau\u2019s home state \u2013 the prime minister\u2019s office made sure to remind her of that, the job losses such charges might cause and the fact that it was an election year. There was a string of increasingly irate calls, texts and emails. Still, Wilson-Raybould held her ground. The prime minister lost the battle. Then she was demoted.<\/p>\n When the story broke, Trudeau denied any connection between the standoff and Raybould-Wilson\u2019s political punishment. He denied having done anything inappropriate or wrong. The press and public howled. His principle secretary, Gerald Butts, who has been his bestie since their halcyon days in the 90s at McGill University, tried to take one for the team<\/a> by resigning last week. But it was already too late. Now, Canada\u2019s Tory opposition and many respected commentators are calling for Trudeau\u2019s resignation. It\u2019s a political bloodbath, Canadian style.<\/p>\n For anyone familiar with The Thick of It<\/a> this might seem odd. In Britain, it is normal for party enforcers to rudely and aggressively pressure cabinet ministers. Delivering irate speeches along the lines of \u201cDo my master\u2019s bidding or I will personally tear your fucking skin off and wear it as a cape\u201d is essentially their whole job.<\/p>\n But in this case, it\u2019s complicated by Raybould-Wilson\u2019s role as attorney general, a position that is meant to sit above the fray of partisan politics. The decision she made was, legally speaking, entirely her own to make. If her testimony \u2013 based on copious meeting notes as well as emails and text messages \u2013 proves true, Trudeau\u2019s behaviour was way beyond the bounds of what was fair or decent. It was sleazy, plain and simple. And for a leader whose entire brand identity, right down to the toes of his cotton rainbow socks, is based on fairness and decency, that\u2019s pure political poison.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s been a bad week for Canadian Liberals, and indeed for \u201csmall l\u201d liberals everywhere. For those of us who earnestly and passionately believed in Trudeau\u2019s project (*slowly raises hand*), his moral disgrace is a bitter pill to swallow. The leader we believed to be special and unique has seemingly behaved in ways that reveal him to be probably not all that. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Except for the fact the old boss \u2013 Stephen Harper \u2013 ruled the country for nearly a decade<\/a> like a vindictive autocrat, stonewalling the press, overhauling the elections act to his benefit, ignoring climate change and proroguing parliament at a whim. Not that this excuses Trudeau, of course.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no need for despair quite yet \u2013 even with the social media outrage. It\u2019s important to remember that Trudeau\u2019s scandal does not cancel out the importance of his government\u2019s project. With any luck a majority of Canadians remain unshaken in the values of liberal democracy, fair governance and the international rules-based order. Come September, my country will, I hope, find a way to persist in its sunny ways and set a clear moral example in this fractious, uncertain world.<\/p>\n The message is still good and clear and true. Too bad about the chap in charge of selling it.<\/p>\n