Opinion | Hello 'governor,' goodbye Canada?

By Philip Yeung

The Canadian penny has dropped. After weeks of agony, Justin Trudeau has finally thrown in the towel, announcing his decision to resign. Once the poster boy of liberal politics, Trudeau is now better known for "government by gimmicks", mischaracterized as the end of the Modern Progressive Experiment. His administration has long suffered from a lack of creative ideas of governance, feeding people only cheap and flashy slogans. There was never any carefully curated experiment, only political gambles that have misfired. He once promised the country "sunny days". But in the end, all it gets is a never-ending cycle of doom and gloom. He wears too many hats and juggles too many roles—feminist, environmentalist, defender of indigenous and minority rights, and more—all of them politically correct. But a political transformer he is not.

A day after Justin announced his decision to quit, out came Dairy Queen with this yummy offer: "Trudeau resignation special $2 burgers". Justin is on his last legs. The people have spoken. It's time to go.

If his trusted Deputy Prime Minister has left him on political ropes by resigning abruptly, then Trump has put the final nail in his coffin. The Trump factor is weird. Two weeks before assuming office, Trump engineered Trudeau's downfall. A Trump advisor had told him that meeting Trudeau would be a waste of time. It was not. It was a pure Trump magic moment, with a major Western leader crawling on his knees to kiss his ass. Trump now proves that he can topple a foreign leader before taking office. His 25% tariff threat has dramatically upended Canadian politics. By mere words alone, Trump has claimed his first foreign scalp, a Canadian scalp. Trump is on the throne.

Post-November election, Trudeau made a beeline for Mar-a-Lago to placate his tormentor. Clearly outmatched, Trudeau shows the world that he is no poker player. He knows nothing about the dark art of negotiation, opposite a big bad bully. He made the fatal error of kowtowing to Trump, offering to stem the flow of illegal drugs and migrants across the border, at a cost of over 1.3 billion dollars to Canadian taxpayers. He left empty-handed. Instead, it earned him Trump's undisguised contempt. Perhaps more than voter fatigue, plummeting popularity, and a faltering economy, it is Trump's deadly jibe, calling Trudeau the governor of America's 51st state that sealed Justin's fate. It was a typical below-the-belt Trump knock-out punch.

Trudeau forgot the golden rule in negotiation: Never show your weakness. Any display of panic would just whet his opponent's appetite for more concessions. Doug Ford, the premier of the province of Ontario, has the right idea. He threatens retaliation by cutting off the supply of Canadian energy to the border states. In the Trump world, there are no allies, only deal-makers. In a toe-to-toe with Trump, Justin forgot to carry a big stick. Strategically out-smarted, he left with his tail between his legs.

As Trump gloats, Justin knows that the damage to his dignity is unsurvivable. Donald quickly rubbed salt into Justin's wound by repeatedly calling him the "governor" of a new statehood. No US leader has ever hit his Canadian counterpart with such a low blow. For millions of Canadians from coast to coast, this is an insult too far. Trudeau, the toad, has got to go.

The unanswered question that Canadians must confront is: how can such an incompetent amateur stay in power for so long? Canadians have foolishly fallen for the slick style, not substance, for good looks, not good leadership. They also can't resist a famous family name.

Except Justin is no worthy son of Pierre Trudeau. He rose to power on his dead father's coattails. Cynics are beginning to circulate the rumor that Justin is the real bastard son of Fidel Castro, the accidental product of an illicit tryst between Margaret Trudeau and the Cuban leader. Otherwise, how can you explain his notable lack of his father's genes, street smarts, mental toughness, or agility in walking a diplomatic tightrope in befriending China and pursuing his independent foreign policies? With the US, Justin only knows how to play stooge, toeing America's line in antagonizing China. He also plays at politics. He made a fool of himself by going to India, monkeying around in that silly-looking garb of a guru. He is an embarrassment to his country.

If incompetence has a name, it is Justin Trudeau. Thankfully, Canadians won't have to listen to his silly chatter about sunny days anymore. The sun will come out when he calls it a day.

Who will succeed Justin? Not someone, who is, in the cruel words of the opposition leader, "Just like Justin". No more smooth talker with metrosexual charm. No more turban-spotting leader wriggling on wokeness. No more cheap guru-worshipping gimmicks. Just give us plain old Canadian blandness and common sense. After a decade of movie-star charm, people have had enough of optics. They just want a return to down-to-earth good governance.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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