There’s not a government on earth that doesn’t have political staffers. History and Shakespeare are littered with them. Their job is to keep their leader in power. Occasionally, they need to speak truth to power so their leader doesn’t go off the rails. But in Canada today, the Prime Minister’s staffers face a very different task: speaking truth to lack of power.
The number of Presidents and Prime Ministers who, when their prospects for re-election looked dim, took their staffers’ advice and left with their heads held high in order to avoid a bloodbath at the polls is vanishingly small. This is because power is not just an aphrodisiac, it’s the crack cocaine of occupations.
So asking Justin Trudeau’s Chief of Staff, Katie Telford, to take him for a walk in the snow, just like his father did on Feb. 28, 1984, and decide not to run again, I don’t think that will happen.
Because the central quality of Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister seems to have shifted from love of power and all its perks, to a quality uniquely his own among world leaders. That is listlessness.
My point is, in order to decide your political fate, you have to at least care about the pros and cons of what you decide.
But last weekend, he told Radio Canada he thought about quitting his “crazy job” every day.
I ask you, have you ever heard any other political leader on earth say that? Any one down deep in the polls, like Theresa May, Jair Bolsonaro, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Winston Churchill, or Rishi Sunak?
Never.
Yet while Justin is being blamed for all kinds of political sins, he seems unable even to take credit for two huge new programs that embody the very essence of Liberal Party philosophy:
Earlier this year, Ottawa rolled out both a Canadian Dental Care Plan, with dental coverage for 9 million Canadians, AND will soon launch pharmacare in the biggest expansion of publicly-funded healthcare in decades.
Concluded Trudeau: “It’s a crazy job I’m doing, making the personal sacrifices.”
The
Personal
Sacrifices?
Better political minds than mine might say: Justin was just having a bit of fun, that all of us think about quitting our jobs more often than we’d admit.
But I think because he won’t make up his mind, he’s waiting for someone to make it up for him.
Katie Telford, you’re on.
Meanwhile….…
1. Been on a plane lately? Air Canada has 111 Boeing jets in active service and WestJet has 124. Boeing used to be one of the most revered companies anywhere. Used to be. Then again, as The Atlantic pointed out: “A statistician at MIT has found that, globally, the odds of a passenger dying on a flight from 2018 to 2022 were 38 times lower than they were 50 years earlier.”
2. Couch potatoes of the world unite. It seems you can get exercise and lose weight by popping a pill. It’s because of mimetics, “experimental drugs that “mimic” the effects of exercise and calorie reduction in the body without the need to break a sweat or eat less.”
Speaking of potatoes, the Michelin Guide published its latest guide to the best restaurants in France last week. “This year’s selection features 2 new Three Stars, 8 new Two Stars and a new generation of chefs earning their First Star before the age of 40.”
3. Bloggers worth reading. If you love public transit and its role in our cities and lives, subscribe to Taras Grescoe whose book, Straphanger, years ago made streetcars and subways suddenly exciting to me. If economics gets your heart racing, and especially economists critiquing other economists, read Diane Coyle and The Enlightened Economist.
4. Posts worth watching. No fluke that they all feature women. First, for Down Syndrome. Next, for young girls. Next, for old racists. Finally, for Mary Oliver among the trees.
5. Where the world’s wealthiest people live. If you’re worth more than $30 million, you’re a UHNWI – an Ultra High Net Worth Individual. Oddly, Canada ranks 4th in this sweepstakes, behind the US, China and Germany.
6. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Of all the tricked-up popinjays on our screens, Tucker Carlson drives me nuts. So I was especially pleased to see he fell victim to one of England’s finest traditions, being pranked by social critics Josh and Archie. Last week their 1 million viewers were treated to news about Kate Middleton and her famous photo.
7. Can AI make you safer on your bike? Find out for $399 USD.
8. Maybe I was wrong about Danielle Smith. Any Premier who apologizes five times in her first weeks in office – for saying vaccinated Albertans “had succumbed to the charms of a tyrant” (referencing Hitler); also for claiming that “The only answer for Ukraine is neutrality;” and much much more – is off to a bad start. But her interview last week with Amanda Lang revealed a much smarter politician.
9. Can you spot a ‘title drop’? It’s when a character in a movie says the title of the movie they’re in. They turn up in over 60% of the films you’ve ever seen or will see.
10. Arts Council England doesn’t much like opera. Its latest annual report turns Britons who do into deaf troglodytes. And remember, Arts Councils are meant to be friends of the arts. But as the report’s authors advise: “Terms like excellence are indicative of the way in which opera and music theatre still retains unhelpful hierarchies about what kinds of work are valued. ‘Good’, while permissible, should appear in inverted commas.”
Meanwhile, fellow Brit George Collier transcribes into sheet music video clips you might find interesting, like this.
11. What I’m liking. A friend sent me a gift subscription to a magazine long lost in my memory. I was surprised that Exile was still around. Founded 50 years ago and still edited today by Barry Callaghan, the quarterly has lost none of its punch in “engaging and eclectic words and art.” So if you want to take a stand for that rarest of all birds, a Canadian literary magazine that’s withstood the test of time, do for your friend what mine did for me – and subscribe.
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TOUCH THE HEM OF HEAVEN WITH US.
How would you like to hike a glorious hidden valley nestled beneath the Italian Alps?
Exactly.
A gang of 10 of us will be doing just that from June 7 to 13. Seven of those 10 places are already spoken for.
So if you want to be one of the few, the proud, the fellow-travellers who go far from the madding crowd, join us.
All the details are here.
Onward,
Bob Ramsay