— Feature, Musings —05.31.2025 03:08 PM
My latest: it’s like pro wrestling but less entertaining
I’ll let you in on a little secret: they’re lot friendlier than you know.
Members of Parliament, that is. Partisan differences notwithstanding, durable friendships persist behind the scenes. And evidence of that crept into full public view, this week, as King Charles alighted on Canadian soil to read the Liberal Platform Speech from the Throne. Ministers, MPs, Senators and staffers gathered on the Hill for the historic event, and things previously unseen became seen.
Conservative and Liberal partisans were astounded, for example, by the widely-circulated photo of former Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, clearly enjoying each others’ company. Harper was smiling, and Trudeau was seemingly convulsed with laughter. (Harper, unbeknownst to many, is a very, very funny guy.)
Some readers, who apparently actually believe Question Period is real life, were astounded and appalled. “Two-faced!” said “Macaw” over on a Reddit thread, although it is uncertain which leader he/she was referring to. Trudeau “behaved like a child!” pronounced “Ask Revolutionary1517.” And: “Weak men in suits!” declared “Basedregular1917.”
And so on, and so on. Knowledgeable commenters thought the Trudeau-Harper exchange wasn’t all that unusual – it was nice, even – but the uninformed still don’t seem to understand that Ottawa will always, always be our Hollywood for ugly people. It’s like pro wrestling, but without the sparkly wrestling singlets. The hate is fake.
Another example: Trudeau’s footwear. Several conservative members of the commentariat were positively in a lather that the former Liberal leader would have the effrontery to show up in running shoes. CBC (natch) even spent time researching the provenance of the Prime Ministerial sneakers: Trudeau was wearing a pair of Adidas Gazelle shoes, reported an agog CBC journalist – who (natch) was paid by you, the taxpayer, to find out.
The shoes cost about $150 over on the Adidas website, and Trudeau-haters were in a spit-flecked fury about the indignity of it all. Dimitri Soudas, who was one of Harper’s PR fart-catchers, declared: “I don’t know what to say.” (That’s a first.) Some Trudeau critics even consulted Debretts, the style guide for British etiquette: “Those invited to royal events usually want to do their best to be correct. Specific dress codes, such as black tie, should be adhered to. It is generally best to err on the more conservative side.”
Well, Trudeau didn’t. The world didn’t end, no one died.
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One thing about both of these guys. Mountains of assertive commentary was written that it was *impossible* for either of them to ever win an election and needed to be replaced. A lot of it came from people on their own side of the spectrum.
The next time anyone tells you a leader is done before an election, have a look at all the articles denouncing these guys and laugh it off.
Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau are both excellent examples of how Canada’s democracy, while very troubled, is still alive and breathing.
That is because the *people* marched up the ballot boxes, told the experts to go f&*k themselves and surprised us all. Nothing greater can happen in an election.
Harper and Trudeau also have a unique spot in Canada’s history as two Prime Ministers who figured out a way to drag their parties out of the miserable wilderness and put them back in the forefront.
I think the main reason they are able to have a friendly relationship is that they both had very similar careers.
Warren,
Soudas…unfortunately, once again bubbling up from the cemetery of largely anonymous ex-political aides. So many of them no longer have any meaningful attachment to a political party. I wonder why?
It’s even more apparent in Washington.
The AOCs and MTGs are actually few in number. For many it’s an act.
We should (and do) expect our political leaders to act like mature adults. The way the system is supposed to work in our democracy is that all parties are supposed to have the best interests of Canada at heart. They may have different philosophies as to what works best, and when there is an election, the voting public can chose to support the platform they think is best. The aberrant behaviour we see being displayed by out immediate neighbours to the south is not something we would wish to introduce into Canadian politics.