Gloves Off: Justin Trudeau’s Fight to Stay in Power

In every politician’s career, there comes a time when one must decide how ambitious one wants to be and if one is ready to go after more power and greater glory—for Justin Trudeau, that moment occurred in 2012 with the “Thrilla on the Hilla” boxing charity event. 

The evening’s boxing match featured a muscular Patrick “Brass Knuckles” Brazeau, a black belt in karate and a veteran of the Canadian navy, four years younger and the heavy favorite versus a tall, lean, pampered young man accused of riding his father’s coattails to win a seat in the House of Commons. Brazeau came out with a ton of aggression, looking for a quick knockout. Trudeau absorbed several shots and demonstrated he could take a hit. After the first round, Brazeau was breathing hard. For the rest of the three-round fight, Trudeau utilized his jab, and when Brazeau was stuck against the ropes, he pounced and finished him off with a flurry of effective blows. Brazeau’s career in the Conservative party ended shortly thereafter and Trudeau would use the victory to define himself as a fighter. “Never underestimate the power of symbols in today’s world,” Trudeau said.

After nine years of the Trudeau Liberals in power, the country will take years to regain economic stability and international credibility. With scandals too numerous to list, a stagnant economy with little growth, a declining standard of living, increasing crime, and sky-high debt Trudeau has doubled from $600,000 billion to $1.24 trillion. As a result, most Canadians want him to step down and 47 percent are demanding an election now, but he remains defiant, refusing to give up power.

With his combative spirit in high gear, Trudeau declares: “I am not going to lose to Poilievre.” Insiders say that Trudeau sees himself as the comeback kid, a fighter who can beat the odds, and that he refuses to accept that there is widespread dissatisfaction with his government.

With his administration on the ropes and mayhem all around him, as his advisors and MPs resigned and two Liberal strongholds were lost in by-elections, he has turned to Marc Carney as his new economic czar. He has brought Carney on board not only to provide ideas about how to kick-start a moribund economy over-reliant on government spending, but likely to enhance his image and give his base a reason to vote for him.

The former Bank of England governor presents many conflicts of interest as he continues to advise the British government, sits on a plethora of corporate boards, and is Chairman at Brookfield Asset Management. He is also the U.N.’s Envoy on Climate and a World Economic Forum board member. “Mark’s unique ideas and perspective will play a vital role in shaping the next steps in our plan to continue to grow our economy and strengthen the middle class,” Trudeau stated. According to pollster Nik Nanos, “There is no one on the bench for him that he has confidence in, and Trudeau believes he can turn this around by himself.” 

Carney is already fast at work, as Brookfield Asset Management, which he chairs, has pitched the Canadian government a proposal to create a $50 billion investment fund seeded with $10 billion in taxpayer money. The question of whose interests Carney serves is practically transparent; it certainly is not the interests of the Canadian people.

The last time the Trudeau government appointed an advisory council to promote economic growth, it brought in global consulting firm McKinsey & Co. McKinsey, which controversially recommended open-door immigration and the removal of restrictions on temporary foreign workers, was awarded $200 million in new contracts by the Liberal government.

During the question period in the House of Commons, Trudeau no longer looks like an energetic fighter but appears tired and worn like a veteran boxer on his last legs. He and his fellow liberals often repeat the same old lines, accusing the Conservatives of wanting to cut social programs and claiming that if elected they will destroy democracy. This is the quality of allegation from a government whose immigration vetting process is so incompetent that in July the R.C.M.P. arrested a father and son for allegedly being “in the advanced stages of planning a serious violent attack in Toronto.” The father received his Canadian citizenship right before his arrest and may have appeared in a 2015 ISIS propaganda video.

Like other parts of the government, the House of Commons has become dysfunctional. Trudeau resorted to profanity to describe his opponents, and NDP leader Singh crossed the aisle challenging Pierre Poilievre to a fight. The Bloc, whose interest is to separate from Canada, is exploiting its dysfunction to demand more money from the Liberals in exchange for its support. 

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is pushing hard for an election, stood up in the House and nailed it: 

He can try to call himself Rocky Balboa and play fight songs to aggrandize himself as the Star, but the people lined up at food banks, 2 million of them every month, know better. The people who are living in the 1800 Ontario tent encampments know better. The 35 homeless encampments and Halifax, the people there know better. They know that we need to fire this costly carbon tax coalition so we can elect a commonsense government that will bring it home for them. 

An election can clear the air and restack the deck with new leadership. But the opposition Conservative party faces an uphill battle as the NDP and Bloc Quebecois continue to prop up the Liberal government. The question remains whether the opposition parties will take the necessary steps to initiate an election. Time will tell.