Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doesn’t look defeated, defensive or worried.
He may be down 20 per cent in the polls — a fact he shrugs off — but says he’ll be around to fight the next federal election.
“I could not be the person I am and choose to step away from this fight right now when it is so important, just because it’s getting a little difficult or people are wondering if they’re not tired of me,” Trudeau told Ryan Jespersen of the Real Talk video show.
“Let’s talk about the things that actually matter and let’s deliver them for people.
“When the next election comes . . . yes, I will absolutely be part of it.”
The PM was in Edmonton on Wednesday to announce $175 million in funding for new housing. It was more like a Liberal campaign stop, with Trudeau sounding off about Premier Danielle Smith (for transgender measures) and Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre (for “ranting”).
After nine years of Trudeau, Alberta is packed with voters who can’t stand the sight of him and don’t believe anything he says.
But they would be wise not to underestimate him. Trudeau is still a masterful pitchman. After many battles, well-earned scandals and a family split, he looks as energetic as he did in 2015.
On the Jespersen show, Trudeau seemed genuinely excited about a variety of government plans, from housing to grocery prices and completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
I tuned in mainly to hear what he had to say about his clownish Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault, who proclaimed recently that Ottawa will spend no more money on new Canadian roads.
Trudeau’s answer suggested he sees Guilbeault as a useful tool (or fool). Guilbeault plays to the farthest-out climate zealots while the PM gets to look like the moderate.
Guilbeault “has since explained his comments as speaking about specifically a Quebec City project that we all disagreed with,” Trudeau told Jespersen.
That point is so narrow it’s close to a lie. Guilbeault said the national road system is adequate as it is, the government has decided not to build more, other governments should agree not to build and the goal is fewer vehicles on Canadian roads, including e-vehicles.
Having airily brushed all that off, Trudeau proceeded to sound like a master builder.
“We have as a government invested massively in road infrastructure across this country,” he said.
“We widened the Yellowhead Highway (in Edmonton).
“We’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Calgary ring road and we’re going to continue to invest in infrastructure.
“We need to make sure we’re building the right infrastructure for the future. That means investing a lot more in public transit (and) building more roads where they’re necessary.
“We have ice roads that are no longer holding across the northern prairies because of climate change. We’re going to have to build new roads . . . to get to resource projects.
“These are things the federal government will continue to be a part of.”
That’s one powerful slapdown of a senior minister who handles some of the government’s highest-profile files.
Trudeau also expressed delight about TMX going into service soon.
“Buying the Trans Mountain pipeline wasn’t about hoping to turn a profit for the government,” he said.
“It was about making sure that Alberta crude was not landlocked and was not prisoner to one single customer in the United States.
“I took a lot of grief across the country for buying a pipeline. But I knew that if we want to be able to pay for the innovation, the transformation of our economy to be greener, to be cleaner, we need to get the best possible price for our oil products now, and that means getting out across the Pacific. That meant twinning the Trans Mountain pipeline.
“That’s why we bought the pipeline, because it was good for Alberta and it’s good for the country.”
We’ve seldom heard that line from Trudeau since the days when Ottawa bought the pipeline, for a price now approaching $30 billion.
Trudeau also says Alberta doesn’t have to put up with the carbon tax. The UCP government only has to submit a carbon regime that meets national standards.
“If a new government in Alberta wants to change the way they put a price on pollution, knock themselves out.”
The Smith government won’t do that because the tax is a handy club to swing at Ottawa. The average Alberta family of four would also lose $1,800 in annual rebates if the federal tax were abolished (as Trudeau gleefully noted).
Trudeau was fierce about “far-right” politicians, meaning Smith and Poilievre, who come down on gay and transgender kids.
He claims Smith has stranded hundreds of millions in federal money for daycare. He says Poilievre only rants about housing and other problems, while the Liberals act.
Trudeau might yet decide to leave. He could be forced out by his party.
But on Wednesday in Alberta, he looked ready for any fight.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
X: @DonBraid
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