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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement at Northumberland High School in Alma, Nova Scotia, on June 20. Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
In his must-read children's poetry book, Alligator Pie, Dennis Lee writes a poem about Ukpik, a fluffy, wide-eyed snowy owl doll that became popular as an Inuit craft toy in the 1960s.
Ookpik is a sublime Lee poem in that the poem has such a bouncy, mischievous feel to it, and its profound brilliance creeps up right behind you. The poem begins:
“Ookpik is just hair.
If you shave, he won't be there.”
I think about this couplet a lot, and like many pieces of alligator pie, it's so helpful when trying to make sense of the world. There are many people, especially in Ottawa, who, when you shave off the obscurantism from what they say and do, are left with only a handful of hair and more questions than before you tried to untangle it.
Justin Trudeau was interviewed live for 25 minutes this week on CBC's Power & Politics, and because it's so rare to have an extended conversation with a prime minister, it's a rare and special opportunity to hear him explain at length the sequence of events, decisions and thinking.
The interview didn't start off too enlightening: The first half of the interview was about foreign interference, and there was that irritating Okpic quality to Mr. Trudeau's responses to moderator David Cochrane's pointed and thoughtful questions.
The prime minister said the ongoing confusion about the extent to which MPs are at risk (Green Party Leader Elizabeth May tried to defuse the flames, only for NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to show up 24 hours later with a jerry can after reading the exact same report) is why the investigation Trudeau has requested is necessary and beneficial. He did not answer questions about limits on what the investigation can reveal or reveal publicly.
He went on to ramble on about Canada's relationship with the Indian government and his conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 a few days earlier (Canada is investigating the murder of a Sikh separatist in British Columbia, and Trudeau has alleged that Indian officials are involved), with so much nonsense that it would be hard to feed a hamster.
“One of the really great things about the summit is that it gives you an opportunity to engage directly with a wide range of leaders on a range of issues,” he said.
When someone answers an interview question in a useful way, it's like playing catch: You throw the ball, it lands firmly in the glove of the other person, who catches it in their palm and throws it back. Ideally, you'll learn something new, like a politician's performance rating.
The defensive mode that Trudeau and his government have fallen into so often recently is more like ping-pong: hit the ball back as fast as you can while keeping it light.
But later in the interview, he engages in a bit of catch-up that is genuinely enlightening in some ways.
When asked whether the government's changes to capital gains tax would hurt Canada's prospects as a high-tech hub, Trudeau argued that companies purely seeking to maximize profits would choose “some tax-free island location,” but that Canada offers highly trained workers and a high quality of life.
“I think there are a lot of very wealthy people among those affected by this who, because they make a significant amount of money, think this is going to make a big difference to them and are trying to convince others that there are a lot more people affected by this,” he said.
Trudeau also said he and the other G7 leaders shared their feelings about the rising cost of living that is now a global issue. The most interesting question Cochrane asked came toward the end of the conversation, right after Trudeau had spoken about how well Canada is doing globally.
“But despite that optimistic outlook, the public is still angry, you can see it in the atmosphere. And increasingly, Prime Minister, many of the public are angry with you,” the host said. “You say you want to defeat Pierre Poirievre, you keep saying that, but what if you're the reason the Liberals don't beat the Conservatives in the next election?”
It was a shock: Mr. Trudeau, who often portrays Mr. Poirierbre and his party as an existential threat, was now being asked to consider whether his own unpopularity would help his opponents win.
Trudeau said he doesn't believe Canadians are currently in “decision mode.” Instead, he portrayed his party's dismal polling results — it has been trailing by about 20 points for months — as an emotional outlet for the public as inflation, the cost of living, housing and interest rates push people to the brink.
“And as we choose to step up to solve these challenges, [it will] “This is in contrast to what the Conservatives have done so far, which has been to make Canadians more angry and tell them everything is broken,” he said. “I know Canadians are practical people who are solutions-focused, and that's exactly what we're going to do.”
So in the prime minister's view, at least in this public version, economic anger anxiety is a global phenomenon, the polls are an outlet for those emotions, and while Poirierbvre's Conservatives are stoking everyone's anger, Trudeau's Liberals are trying to offer tangible relief. If that takes hold in the time left until the next election, he believes the tide could turn.
The final stanza of Dennis Lee's poem goes like this:
He dances from morning until night.
Then he blinks, and the lights go out.”
This Ookpik doesn't seem ready to blink just yet.
