Why Are Some Progressives Saying That Justin Trudeau Has Failed Already?

It's just been two months and five days since Justin Trudeau was sworn in as Prime Minister.

But already the Cons, the Con media, and even some some progressives are claiming that he is a total failure.

And while that is to be expected from the shellshocked Cons, and the equally desperate Con media.

I must admit it hurts me to see some progressives repeating the same nonsense.



Claiming for example that Canada isn't really back, that Trudeau is a fraud, because he he has broken all his promises, and hasn't done this yet or hasn't done that.

Or because he's refusing to break an arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

As the Disaffected Liberal does here. 

I have to admit that, like many Canadian progressives (real progressives, not the watered-down to meaninglessness type popular with so many Liberals) I thought I had misjudged Justin Trudeau during the heady first days of his administration. 

Sure it was obvious that he was picking at the low-hanging fruit, the really easy stuff that most of us, including a percentage of Tories, found repugnant. Yet that did create a mood of optimism and hope that it wasn't a mirage, that he would do Canada proud on the hard stuff just as he was on the initial housecleaning.

Barely a month in power and it's looking like it was all a mirage. This Saudi arms deal, 15-billion dollars worth of rolling death on wheels, shows that people like me might have been giving this Trudeau credit where it really wasn't deserved.

Which bothers me because although I have a lot of respect for the Mound of Sound, and I don't like the idea of selling weapons to anybody, let alone the Saudis.

I find it unfair to declare that Trudeau is a complete failure after such a short time in office 

On the basis of a single deal that he inherited from his mortal enemy Stephen Harper...



A deal that could be difficult and expensive to break at this stage, when many parts manufacturers are gearing up their operations. A deal that three thousand workers in one of the hardest hit manufacturing regions in the country are counting on to provide badly needed jobs for the next fourteen years.

A deal which if scrapped at time when Canada faces economic catastrophe, would hurt Canadians far more than it would the Saudis. But would help the Cons. 

And one where it's extremely hard to claim the high ground when we've been selling those types of armoured cars to the Saudis for almost thirty years.



The controversial $15-billion sale of hundreds of armoured personnel carriers to Saudi Arabia is not the first time the Canadian government has brokered such a lucrative and contentious sale to the kingdom. In 1986, during the Brian Mulroney government, Canadian foreign minister Joe Clark travelled to Riyadh to seal a very similar deal with King Fahd himself. 

The sale went through and today there are hundreds of Canadian-made LAVs running around Saudi Arabia. The vehicles now in production are merely to replace them.

And if it's all about those severed heads, the Saudis have been chopping off heads, and acting like barbarians, for twice as long as that.

So why the foaming moral panic NOW?

When Trudeau has performed so well under very difficult circumstances...



And why the mad rush to judgement?

When it only plays into the hands of Cons like John Ibbitson, the notorious Harper fluffer, who is also trying to take the wind out of Justin's sails, by claiming he's a failed conservative. 

If you closed your eyes, you could almost imagine Stephen Harper is still prime minister. Progressive voters who hoped Justin Trudeau would abruptly shift the federal government to the left once he became Prime Minister must be in despair as the new regime announces one conservative-friendly policy after another – further proof that when it comes to the really big decisions, the imperative of protecting jobs and the economy trumps human rights, the environment and other concerns in these difficult days.

So he can divide progressives, steal their hopes, and kill their dreams.

Because that's what I hold the most against those who are already writing off Justin Trudeau, even though he has only been in power for two months and five days.



They fail to understand that Justin has inspired a whole new generation of Canadians, like never before. Who see themselves in him, and who feel like millions of others, that if Canada isn't back yet, it is at least heading in the right direction.

Trudeau, who I remind you I didn't vote for, has earned the chance to show us what he can do.

And nobody has the right to kill the dreams of the young, and so many others, so quickly.

Or decide from some lofty throne who is a "real progressive" and who isn't.

You know for a while yesterday I was so discouraged by the sight of progressives fighting each other, I told a friend I was thinking of quitting blogging.

So a few hours later he cheekily e-mailed me a video of an old CBC sign off, so I could use it to sign off myself.

But after I watched it, I changed my mind...



Because it only reminded me of the country of my dreams, the one I have been fighting to reclaim for so long.

Let's join together rather than fight each other.

And let's see if we can make the New Canada.

As beautiful as that one...

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