Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got himself into hot water last week, again.
“Uh huh,” some of you are probably thinking. “What else is new?”
Well, this controversy was different. It’s the first time he’s admitted publicly that he’s thought about quitting.
The PM revealed this during an with Radio-Canada on Mar. 15. With his Liberals well behind Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives, radio host Alec Castonguay on ICI Première asked him whether he was going to leave politics.
BBC News’s Jessica Murphy the story for English-speaking audiences that same day. “I could not be the man I am and abandon the fight at this point,” Trudeau reportedly told Castonguay. After this ridiculous moment of bluster, his tone began to change. “I think about quitting every day. It’s a crazy job I’m doing, making the personal sacrifices. Of course, it’s super tough. It’s super boring at times.”
Before we go any further, it should be noted that the French-language translation for one small part was incorrect. Trudeau didn’t say, “It’s super boring at times,” but rather remarked, “It’s very challenging at times.”
Fair enough.
It wasn’t an intentional mistake. I know Murphy. She’s a very good reporter from Canada who used to work at Sun Media. She could have made the translation error, or it came from a translator associated with the BBC.
Either way, it was corrected. These things happen.
What happened next was both amusing and predictable. Some Liberal partisans immediately tried to bury the Radio-Canada interview because of the translation mishap. Since the PM had said “very challenging” instead of “super boring,” they felt there was nothing further to discuss.
Au contraire, mesdames et messieurs.
That wasn’t the most important part of this story. The fact that Trudeau thinks about quitting every day is.
The PM has been hounded by the media and pounded by his critics for years. The reasons for this are plentiful. Here are a few of them:
Three older instances of Trudeau wearing blackface.
Two ethics violations.
Public spats with female MPs and ministers.
Spending taxpayer dollars like a drunken sailor.
SNC Lavalin affair.
The two Michaels and the Meng Wanzhou affair.
Allegations of Chinese election interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
The crippling national carbon tax.
WE Charity scandal.
ArriveCAN app controversy.
Surfing with his family in Tofino, B.C. during the first National Truth and Reconciliation Day.
The Freedom Convoy and the Emergencies Act.
Shifting Canada back to the foreign policy kiddie table.
Talking out of both sides of his mouth about Israel and the Middle East.
Allowing a Nazi to be honoured in Parliament.
Icy relations with China, India and two U.S. presidents, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
These issues (and others) have made him a laughingstock at home and ruined Canada’s reputation abroad. The vast majority of Canadians, both left-leaning and right-leaning, understand this quite well and are fed up.
Four recent make this abundantly clear.
Angus Reid had the Conservatives at 40 percent, followed by the Liberals (23 percent) and NDP (21 percent) on Mar. 4. Abacus Data listed the Conservatives at 42 percent, followed by the Liberals (24 percent) and NDP (18 percent) on Mar. 6. Nanos Research placed the Conservatives at 40.6 percent, followed by the Liberals (23.3 percent) and NDP (21.2 percent) on Mar. 8.
Here’s the real eye-popper. Mainstreet Research put the Conservatives at 46 percent, followed by the Liberals (25 percent) and NDP (15 percent). This was the first poll to show a 20-point or more gap between the two major parties with Poilievre and Trudeau at the helm.
It’s also important to keep this in mind. The Poilievre Conservatives have led in every poll except two since Mar. 13, 2023 – and in double digits since last September. The trend has been consistently leaning in one direction, and it’s not anywhere close to the Trudeau Liberals.
That’s why the PM is thinking about quitting his “crazy job” every day and why he believes it’s super tough and very challenging. He’s failed as a national leader time and time again. He’s repeatedly lost the narrative and the plot. His international reputation is in ruins. His heart doesn’t seem to be in the job, either.
Trudeau has also been unable to withstand the waves of criticism coming at him from every corner of our country. Many Canadians either don’t trust him or respect him. Quite a few Liberals and other progressives are publicly and privately tired of all the drama (if you’ll pardon the pun).
The end is nigh. It’s just a matter of time.
There’s a way for this to end, of course. Trudeau could quit, and Canada could finally start to move forward once more.
That’s the type of response that would never be lost in translation.
Michael Taube, a Troy Media syndicated columnist and Washington Times contributor, was a speechwriter for former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics.
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