, 11.16.2019 09:44 AM

iPolitics notices the trend

Trudeau has apparently changed his behaviour, for which he deserves some credit.

Scheer hasn’t.

For which he deserves none.

Trudeau has maintained a low profile since the election, even avoiding media appearances this week in the midst of meetings he arranged with the other federal party leaders.

Political strategist and commentator Warren Kinsella raised the point on Twitter on Thursday, saying the prime minister has handled himself in the right way since the election.

“No stunts, no selfies, no over-saturation,” Kinsella wrote about Trudeau in a tweet.

The post drew a response from right-wing political activist and former Conservative staffer Jeff Ballingall, who said, “Andrew Scheer couldn’t be handling it worse.”

Ballingall is the founder of a collective of wildly popular “Proud” Facebook pages. With its 438,000 Facebook likes, the Ontario Proud page, the first founded by Ballingall, is more popular on the platform than both the provincial Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives, as well as boasting more likes than Scheer.

14 Comments

  1. the real Sean says:

    I agree. The best thing Justin Trudeau can do for Canada and the Liberal Party is to never be seen, never be heard, never take a position, never make a decision, never attend a meeting, never make a speech, never appear in an ad, never appear in a parade, never leave the house.

  2. I think it is a credit to Justin, who sounds like he is listening to someone (or a few someones) about playing the long game. Show some humility, look like you want to move forward and work cooperatively in parliament, and in 12 or 18 months, go for another majority.

    • ER,

      They know that Canadians have an exceedingly short political memory. They’re also aware that a lot of us are stuck with an overly forgiving nature. So yeah, it’s definitely all about the long game and it could work — as long as Trudeau gets over his gaffe prone nature. Don’t bet the farm on it either way.

  3. Don Johnson says:

    Well it looks to me like the press is doing all the talking for him. He doesn’t need to say anything, just sit back and watch his press minions attempt to take down Scheer.

    Oh, and apparently planning a *bigger* cabinet with a smaller caucus. Man. Same old arrogance.

    • Don,

      If you were Trudeau, who would you want to face next time? Definitely not a newly minted CPC leader.

      Scheer is the gift that keeps on giving in Central and Eastern Canada. Trudeau must pray every night that Scheer sticks around as leader.

      • Don Johnson says:

        I don’t know. I like Scheer and thought he did pretty well. I’ve always thought the decks are stacked against the Conservatives just due to demographics – Ontario and Quebec control the country and tend to be left-centre (as opposed to centre-left) IMO. Its very hard for Conservatives to win, unless there is enough left side vote splitting and they can do a bit better in Quebec, which means appealing somehow to voters who don’t necessarily share a nationalist agenda.

        I’m not sure any other leader would do any better

        • Don,

          Remember that Harper’s majority was long far removed from the Sponsorship boondoggle that ultimately sunk Martin. So maybe, just maybe, the alternation theory in Ontario really is not BS.

  4. Joseph says:

    Not buying it.
    Here’s another explanation, and it has to do with SNC.
    Minority parliament the committees are no longer controlled by the government, the same committees that got shut down opposition attempts to have JWR testify.
    The longer the delay in recalling parliament the longer reprieve the liberals get from the thousand cuts of the SNC scandal.
    He’s still a bad actor.

    • Joseph,

      I seem to recall the Pablo coup in committee on the environment — when the vote went the opposition’s way. And what did Harper do? Simply ignore what Rodriguez and the Committee had voted upon. So sure, they’ll be more showboating in committee but little in the way of concrete results for opposition parties. Trudeau will stick-handle the same way Harper did.

  5. joe says:

    Justin is busy learning his lines for his next series of public performances.

  6. Nick M. says:

    I agree in the sense that over exposure is bad. People get sick of you in the media everyday. Learned this from Harris in the 90s, he did just that.

    But I don’t agree now is the right time to keep a low profile. As the narrative in the news cycle is about how real Western Alienation is, and Quebec interested politicians are defending that system on behalf of the Feds.

    Today the headline in my newsfeed is Denis Coderre saying Alberta is Jealous of Quebec. Sorry, a low profile PM is not what we need right now.

  7. Mike Jeffries says:

    Well, Mr. Chretien likely spoke to him. I mean he appeared during the campaign to help Justin out.
    Despite Chretien, Justin lost the majority.
    So, likely Jean said: “You lost the majority dude. The knives will be out; that’s what we Liberals do. Play it cool bud, show some humbleness boy and maybe they will forgive you”.
    But I say: “Can a leopard change its spots?” He can always don a new costume though!!

  8. lyn says:

    Sorry Warren Trudeau hasn’t changed his spots he’s still the same old viper as always. He is laying coiled up somewhere to strike the next person he doesn’t agree with he is one vindictive person his smirk on his face said it all!

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