— Feature, Musings —12.16.2024 10:49 AM
My latest: take that, Prime Minister “Feminist”
Chrystia Freeland, Liberal leadership candidate.
There can be no other rational explanation for why the former finance minister is sticking around. None. Having fired a rocket directly at Justin Trudeau first thing Monday morning, she has now cleared the way for a run at the Liberal Party leadership.
And, make no mistake, she fired that rocket right at Trudeau’s credibility, and left his claims to be a “feminist” and a prudent administrator in tatters.
Wrote Freeland: “Our country today faces a grave challenge. The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 per cent tariffs. We need to take that threat extremely seriously.
“That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill-afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment …That means working in good faith and humility with the Premiers of the provinces and territories of our great and diverse country, and building a true Team Canada response.”
“Costly political gimmicks!” Them’s fighting’ words, folks.
Freeland hit a bullseye, too. The markets dropped after her announcement — and, more critically, her planned lockup for reporters to go through the Fall Economic Statement was delayed, likely permanently.
Now, if Mark Carney joins Trudeau’s cabinet, it will be analogous not just to jumping on the deck of the Titanic — it will be like jumping onto a Titanic whose deck is ablaze, and which has a bubonic plague outbreak, too.
In official Ottawa, the most important part of any letter is the second-to-last line. Here’s what it is in Freeland’s declaration of war on Trudeau and his cabal: “I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues as a Liberal Member of Parliament, and I am committed to running again for my seat in Toronto in the next federal election.”
When Finance Minister John Turner broke with Pierre Trudeau, he left Ottawa and returned to a top-rung Bay Street law firm (where I was, full disclosure, a partner). He returned to run for the Liberal leadership in 1984, but his days away had made him rusty. He was prime minister for just 79 days.
So, when Paul Martin left, he stuck around, as Freeland plans to do — and plotted more or less openly against Jean Chretien. He won the leadership and became prime minister for the next three years.
Freeland is a woman and a Westerner. She is bilingual. She has been a journalist, and has held every major position in the federal government. While she will be tagged with many of the Trudeau government’s least-popular policies, she will also be campaigning more or less from the outside, now with some credibility. And, in the House of Commons, she will every day be a painful visual reminder of the failure of Trudeau’s government — and his “feminism.”
In the past week, Chrystia Freeland had been meeting with very senior Liberals to discuss her options. The advice, overwhelmingly, was to push back. Stop letting Trudeau humiliate you in public, they said. Quit. She has now done just that.
This is a government falling apart before our eyes, folks. If he had any sense, any self-awareness, Justin Trudeau would know that he has to go, too.
Somewhere, Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott are smiling. And nodding their heads.
Freeland did the only thing she could have done. It would have been a colossal failure on her part to stay in Cabinet. Trudeau probably offered her Veterans’ Affairs or something much below her current status. She is well placed to take next steps and if she wins her seat in 2025, very few people would be able to impede a leadership run.
Singh isn’t eligible to get his HoC golden pension until February 2025. Hold the popcorn until then.
Resigning doesn’t wash away Freeland’s sins. She will be forever known as one of the PM’s chief enablers. I think those would be rueful smiles on Ms Raybould and Ms Philpott’s faces. Where were you, sister, when…
100% what I’ve been thinking. Chrystia Freeland chose to spend every ounce of her credibility in 2019. She has no business running for leader. Should not even be allowed to make a speech at any convention or even attend as a delegate until she makes an hour long public apology for enabling the despicable conduct of the last six years. She finishes today as the most thoroughly disgraced Finance Minister in Canadian history.
I always liked her
Why?
Good question and in what world would someone think that appointing a former journalist as a finance minister would be a good idea.
Not so fast.
Freeland spent the last 9 years defending every move Trudeau made, including those against the aforementioned female MPs. Finally standing up and claiming to have had a miraculous conversion would make even Saul himself skeptical.
Bingo. Freeland has temporarily detached herself from the stench of the Trudeau regime, but that is a fleeting moment of saintliness.
It will not take long for the opposition to (rightly) remind everyone of the waste this government has laid to the Canadian economy, and reputation, over the past decade. And Ms. Freeland had a very active hand in all of it.
Her condescending demeanour has also not made her many fans outside of loyal Liberal supporters, or “feminists” who vote for someone’s gender rather than their qualifications. If she has designs on the leadership – which she may well get – I as a Conservative am very happy because she will ride that plague-infested burning Liberal ship right down to the ocean floor.
Think Bill Morneau-no one takes him seriously anymore and he got out much earlier and is likely smarter than Freeland.
Freeland has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning an election, unfortunately. Her political instincts (the “Disney+” comments; talking about taking the subway in PEI; going to an pricer grocery store to announce the grocery store rebate) are too poor and it’s hard to not see her as another Hilary Clinton or Kamala Harris type candidate; objectively wicked smart and competent but a policy wonk that struggles with connecting with average voters.
Also, while it is true that she did grow up in Alberta, like Mark Carney (who’s a Northwest Territories boy himself) their elite Harvard/Oxford educations and their cosmopolitan city dwelling lifestyles in New York and London respectively cancel out those roots.
I will give Freeland credit though for this being the final straw. One can image Katie Telford (like one of the characters in the signature song from the musical “Wicked”) informing Freeland of the PM’s decision to shuffle her out of finance:
Telford: “You can still be [in the cabinet]. What you’ve worked, and waited for. You can have all you ever wanted…”
Freeland: “I know. But I don’t want it. No; I can’t want it anymore. Something has changed within me, something is not the same. I’m tired of playing by the rules of someone else’s game. Too late for second guessing; too late to go back to sleep. It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap. I think I’ll try defying gravity.”
I think Freeland would make a great prime minister, it’s just that she isn’t a spectacular politician. She has the brains and values, but I’ve never been a fan of her delivery – I just don’t know if she’s likeable enough for the top job, but she has the brains and values.
There is something forced about her delivery.
Not sure about the values part of the equation – after all, she stuck with Trudeau for this long.
As for her delivery, you have put it very gently to say she’s not “likeable”. More bluntly, most times when she speaks it sounds like she has disdain for everyone to whom she is speaking, and that her overall view is that the proletariat class couldn’t possibly be as brilliant as she is. Condescending in the utmost.
She has always had a very smug expression on her face: that’s a turn-off for most people. I agree, she is just not likeable.
Not a prayer. She’s done.
Agree 100%!
Now it’s time for Trudeau to resign and allow a leadership contest – The only chance they have to win, or at least prevent a conservative majority is to elect a new leader – Time for Trudeau to write his memoirs – he’s young enough he can make a comeback in ten years – maybe the publics mood will change by then.
write his memoirs…. most likely he’ll never publish anything again.
I already have Zoolanders memoirs. Came with 24 free crayons. You can colour his face any way you want.
Somebody close to Trudeau has to sit him down, and explain to him that the best thing he can do for his legacy, for the country – for the party – is to resign and allow for a leadership contest – he has to see this himself I can’t believe he hasn’t resigned yet.
I personally think he’s still high on his own supply from the 2015 election and its immediate aftermath. The adulation, the Selfies with adoring fans etc. What he never realized (and a lot of his core supporters have the same blind spot) is that 2015 was a classic throw-the-bums-out election. And that his victory had a lot more to do with hatred of Harper than love of JT.
But all throw-the-bums-out elections result in (a) a fairly exaggerated honeymoon period and (b) the winner and the winner’s supporters overestimating both the size and the nature of their actual mandate. This is at the heart of JT’s problem — he just can’t let go of that 2015 drug high.
Doctor: your prescription is exactly right!
She’s a bit of a turd. After he cupped her face and lovely looked into her eyes to bestow his blessing and she like the rest of the women turned on him. Just terrible. ( read sarcasm)
As his father did with John Turner — can’t get along with a halfway responsible Finance Minister because it is not in the Trudeau DNA to give a flying fuck about fiscal responsibility. Note that JT has done his father one better/one worse by irretrievably alienating not one but two Finance Ministers (Morneau and Freeland) on account of being a fiscal reprobate.
PET and John Turner are… to JT and Freeland…
as Bach and Mozart are… to K-Pop.
That’s offensive to K-Pop(whatever that is).
My problem with Freeland – she’s all steak and no sizzle. Not much of a politician, you know, she’s very bright, straightforward and honest – not much of a politician – you know she might do well against the prince of poison.
I can’t add too much more to what has already been said. I guess those the see themselves as potential LPC leaders are making sure they get out while the getting is good (before the potential shellacking during the next general election that seems more certain every day). As I recall, (and will certainly stand corrected should Mr Kinsella indicates so), the LPC follows a leader from Quebec with a leader from somewhere else in the TROC. If so, Ms Freeland would certainly seem to be a frontrunner.
Watching the talking heads and I see a guy I went to school with, and I’m just shocked that he’s presented as an expert, and we are to assume he has opinions anybody cares about – Wow – puts it all in perspective
the lesson, folks, is that you can be the worst at what you do, but if you suck the right way you’ll be on tv – what a joke – i laugh and cry all at once
Ummm…take note of what Justin considers to be cabinet material. There is literally no one on the CBC that would not meet that bar.
PMJT, no longer in control, flailing away.
A lonely guy, who refuses to accept reality.
Nowhere man, please listen …
It’s a story with so many sides to it. Trudeau the “feminist” shits on another woman, yes that is a story. But, Christia Freeland is no Jody Wison-Raybould nor Jane Philpott.
I’ve been cringing every time one of my can’t vote for anyone but liberals friends (I do have some koolaid drinkers who are friends) departs from the argument they can’t win me over about Castro’s son they bring say what about Christia to which I benn saying, They are the same person.
If liberals can do no better than Freeland, Joly or Carney they may as well go to bat one more time with Trudeau.
Look folks, my dad shook hands with everyone the liberals ran from King to Chretien. This is NOT the liberal party of my parents generation – that party was mortally wounded in the Chretien Martin wars. It died under the Dion Rae Ignatieff triumvirate.
These people were all candidates for the cult of personality that is Trudeau.
If you voted for Trudeau the first time you were simply tired of Harper. If you voted for Trudeau a second or third time, you were not listening to the tide of anger his character has been not that much better than orange man bad.
IN my opinion If you vote for any of the current Liberal leadership contenders (barring a dark horse carrying a white knight entry that no one is seeing coming) you simply care more about your team winning than you do about your country..
You can forgive a Liberal for voting for Justin in 2015(not the Red Tories that did though but I digress) but how anyone with half a brain voted for him in 2019 and 2021 is not compressible to me.
I was being generous
Freeland is in a similar posiiton to Kamela Harris – she was a n enabler and conspired to deceive the public that her boss wasn’t a complete moron, but some sort of brilliant, visionary statesman. Her death-bed conversion is no more convincing than Kamela’s.
Somewhere… quietly studying in an elementary school… sits Canada’s next Liberal Prime Minister. That’s how long it will take.
lol
You laugh, but Justin Trudeau is so reviled among Millennials and Gen-Z that his stench will stick to the Liberal Party for many decades to come.
Virtually all Canadian men under 50 throw up in their mouths at the sight of him or the sound of his voice, and a large percentage of Canadian women under 50 are getting to that point as well.
As a narcissist, he will perpetually seek the spotlight for the rest of his life. As a result, Canadians will be regularly reminded of how much they dislike him and his regime. He will not be content to slink away and let the Liberal Party rebuild in peace.
Well, if the first thing they talk about is his good looks, back in the day when he ran for the leadership – it pisses off guys. Men have a hard time warming up to other men who women all say is gorgeous – they’re shallow and vulnerable inside with a rugged exterior hiding their sensitive feelings – explains why they’re so fond of trump – he makes them feel good about themselves.
I don’t know who you’re talking to but the only people I encounter who care about Justin’s looks are women over 75. Who are all these women who say he is gorgeous? Are you polling nursing homes?
Among non-elderly, there actually isn’t much of a gender gap anymore. The Trudeau Liberals are despised by both sexes, just that the antipathy is particularly heightened among men whose working class jobs were more impacted by Trudeau’s immigration surge.
The posts by those 75 year old plus women are quite funny to read.
A journalist doesn’t belong in finance. She never proved to me that she belonged where she was. She wants to get re-elected, and resigning from cabinet improves her chances.
House just adjourned on a 177-140 vote. They would not agree to adjourn with unanimous consent. Bloc could have made them keep sitting but voted in support. Justin has now kicked the can down the road to January 27th. I think anyone who thinks that it’s over for him will likely be sorely disappointed.
I remember watching some political panel a few weeks back where the smart one(s) sort of regrettably observed that Selfie Boy and the Liberals can, and probably will, hang on to power and put off an election for a lot longer than most of us would like. That is proving to be true.
The government will fall in 2025. Sometime between March, when Jagmeet’s pension is a lock, and October, when it has to happen. The Conservatives will win a massive majority. Freeland will easily win her seat and can then enter the Liberal leadership race. If she wins, come, then in 2029 she has a good chance of putting a dent in the Conservative majority if not winning one herself. That’s why she did what she did and it was smart.
Disagree. Telford et al have taken what they did to the provincial Liberals to whole other level and they have no signs of life 6 years later. And the only way Freeland wins a seat is if she doesn’t run for the Liberals. Saw some theories that this whole thing was orchestrated as a way to promote her which never crossed my mind because it’s so insane. But I suppose that is an argument in favour of the theory.
Near the 48 hour mark on this shit show within THE shit show.
My guess if not today, no resignation from Trudeau and it will be up to when the No Damn Path party decides when it pulls the plug.
Justin’s gonna resign, and with a new leader we’ll see how sturdy the prince of poisons numbers really are – a lot happens in an election
Yep
100%. I predict a 10 point change overnight.
So, based on the last poll 39% to 24%. I’ll take that.
All three of you may be correct.
For me it’s a case of show me the leader. A number of Trudeau cabinet ministers including Freeland could be as off putting to centrists as he himself. Right and centre right won’t drift much if they don’t see a real difference.
Carney the fly in business choice may be equally off putting to centre left Liberals.
I’m sure polls will change but at this late game, can it be enough?
Doug Ford turned the mop up roll into a win but the party was already primed to win.
Kamala Harris fell hard like Kim Campbell once did.
For Goodness sake whoever leads should aim to win but accept they may well be in opposition a very long time.
For this reason alone I wish Trudeau would put his balls on the table and ask GG to drop the writ. That would force Liberals to speak to the common people supporters as opposed to figuring out which pig to dress up next- given the beleifs that when they loose Canadians just want to give them a time out.
Trudeau planning to shuffle cabinet on Friday according to CTV that tells me he ain’t planning on going anywhere without a shove
He shuffled the cabinet when he should be offering his resignation – Justin, please – the writing is on the wall – thank you for your service, but it’s over. Resign so somebody else can lead us against that mouth piece Poilievre.
The pandemic, the cost of living crisis that followed when supply chains narrowed – they blame it all on you Justin. I don’t agree, of course, but the fact remains, sir, that Canadians have turned on you – but they don’t really like Poilievre either – so give us a chance with a new leader – please Justin, take a bow and write your memoirs.
Voters are tired of a government that blames every problem on COVID, Ukraine and climate change. Spending is out of control, and the Canadian dollar is very weak. I doubt the Prime Minister can write his memoirs. He needs a ghostwriter.
A particular hilarious take by Justin’s groupies was that the inability for him to meet his 2015 budget projectios was because of Covid. Reading a calendar is hard.