Trudeau’s first move doesn’t bode well
Justin Trudeau’s first move as prime minister is to take Canada out of the fight against the Islamic State.
We will no longer be fighting the terrorist group that burns people alive in cages, is partially responsible for the refugee crisis, and has identified Canada as a target for attacks.
While the incoming prime minister has the authority to pull Canada out of the mission right away, it’s poor optics to do so for a number of reasons.
Late Tuesday afternoon we learned Trudeau told U.S. President Barack Obama over the phone that sooner rather than later our CF-18 fighter jets will no longer be engaged in sorties over Iraq and Syria.
We will still “engage in a responsible way” -- presumably meaning we’d continue some version of advising and assistance -- but, Trudeau said, Obama “understands the commitments I’ve made around ending the combat mission.”
This is a very big decision for Trudeau to have already announced as a fait accompli before he has even moved into 24 Sussex Dr.
It’s no surprise that Trudeau wanted to do this. It’s on the record. But it’s important to note it wasn’t one of the key parts of his platform.
It wasn’t something he repeated on every occasion as he did with his infrastructure spending plan.
Did voters give him a majority predominantly because of this position? No. Polls have consistently shown that a majority of Canadians support Canada’s role against the Islamic State.
An Ipsos Reid poll earlier this year showed 67% of identified Liberal supporters were in favour of extending Canada’s mission in Iraq and Syria.
Trudeau is offside from his own party.
But perhaps more important is the question of teamwork. One of the ways in which we were told Trudeau would be different than Harper is that he would be less of a one-man show. Less dictatorial, more of a team player and consensus builder.
In fact, whenever someone criticized Trudeau’s credentials -- as I frequently did in election columns -- the main response was that what matters more in a leader is that they listen to those around him.
Yet this first move of Trudeau’s was made without listening to the team that was elected to join him in Ottawa. It was made from the top down.
There hasn’t been a caucus meeting yet. No defence minister has been announced. There is no cabinet.
This first move by Trudeau is as equally single-minded as decisions made by Harper that prompted the outgoing PM’s detractors to label him a “dictator”.
The Sun’s Tarek Fatah wrote a column just before the news broke about Obama’s call to Trudeau, hoping that the incoming PM would listen to those around him:
“Men such as former Toronto Police chief Bill Blair, Toronto Centre MP Bill Morneau and Canada’s first-ever Somali-Canadian MP, Ahmad Hussen from York-South Weston, are just three who give me hope some Liberals MPs will resist moves to pull Canada out of the war against ISIS.”
It looks like that didn’t happen. This should be cause for concern for those who thought Trudeau would “do politics differently.”
Before the mechanisms of government were even in place, before the Governor General has even sworn him in, he spoke to the leader of the free world and withdrew Canada from a coalition committed to tackling the world’s worst human rights abusers. All by himself.
Justin Trudeau’s first move as prime minister is to take Canada out of the fight against the Islamic State.
We will no longer be fighting the terrorist group that burns people alive in cages, is partially responsible for the refugee crisis, and has identified Canada as a target for attacks.
While the incoming prime minister has the authority to pull Canada out of the mission right away, it’s poor optics to do so for a number of reasons.
Late Tuesday afternoon we learned Trudeau told U.S. President Barack Obama over the phone that sooner rather than later our CF-18 fighter jets will no longer be engaged in sorties over Iraq and Syria.
We will still “engage in a responsible way” -- presumably meaning we’d continue some version of advising and assistance -- but, Trudeau said, Obama “understands the commitments I’ve made around ending the combat mission.”
This is a very big decision for Trudeau to have already announced as a fait accompli before he has even moved into 24 Sussex Dr.
It’s no surprise that Trudeau wanted to do this. It’s on the record. But it’s important to note it wasn’t one of the key parts of his platform.
It wasn’t something he repeated on every occasion as he did with his infrastructure spending plan.
Did voters give him a majority predominantly because of this position? No. Polls have consistently shown that a majority of Canadians support Canada’s role against the Islamic State.
An Ipsos Reid poll earlier this year showed 67% of identified Liberal supporters were in favour of extending Canada’s mission in Iraq and Syria.
Trudeau is offside from his own party.
But perhaps more important is the question of teamwork. One of the ways in which we were told Trudeau would be different than Harper is that he would be less of a one-man show. Less dictatorial, more of a team player and consensus builder.
In fact, whenever someone criticized Trudeau’s credentials -- as I frequently did in election columns -- the main response was that what matters more in a leader is that they listen to those around him.
Yet this first move of Trudeau’s was made without listening to the team that was elected to join him in Ottawa. It was made from the top down.
There hasn’t been a caucus meeting yet. No defence minister has been announced. There is no cabinet.
This first move by Trudeau is as equally single-minded as decisions made by Harper that prompted the outgoing PM’s detractors to label him a “dictator”.
The Sun’s Tarek Fatah wrote a column just before the news broke about Obama’s call to Trudeau, hoping that the incoming PM would listen to those around him:
“Men such as former Toronto Police chief Bill Blair, Toronto Centre MP Bill Morneau and Canada’s first-ever Somali-Canadian MP, Ahmad Hussen from York-South Weston, are just three who give me hope some Liberals MPs will resist moves to pull Canada out of the war against ISIS.”
It looks like that didn’t happen. This should be cause for concern for those who thought Trudeau would “do politics differently.”
Before the mechanisms of government were even in place, before the Governor General has even sworn him in, he spoke to the leader of the free world and withdrew Canada from a coalition committed to tackling the world’s worst human rights abusers. All by himself.
