Canadians seem to still be enamoured with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
His honeymoon with the electorate is still on, as evidenced by his high approval rating.
The Prime Minister has done some good, bringing a more upbeat mood and positive energy than his predecessor, the cold and calculating Stephen Harper, and he is undoing some of the unpopular measures introduced during the final years of the Harper administration.
Trudeau also deserves credit for standing up to the environmental movement, and approving a pair of much-needed pipeline projects.
But some of Trudeau鈥檚 recent actions seem to have justified the Conservative Party鈥檚 election campaign attack ad slogan about Trudeau, which simply stated 鈥淗e鈥檚 just not ready.鈥�
For example, there was Trudeau鈥檚 glowing tribute to Fidel Castro after the former Cuban dictator died last month. Trudeau offered his condolences to the people of Cuba on behalf of all Canadians, even though the majority of Canadians (and a significant portion of Cubans) didn鈥檛 mourn Castro鈥檚 death.
Granted, the Trudeaus have some form of a bond with the Castros. Castro was at the funderal for Trudeau鈥檚 father, Pierre. But Trudeau failed to acknowledge Castro for what he was: a dictator who oppressed his people.
Then there is Trudeau II鈥檚 love affair with the carbon tax. He seems intent on force-feeding this idea down our throats, even though he has yet to produce an impact assessment to show how much it will cost Canadians, or how much it will hinder our competitiveness with the U.S.
Saskatchewan鈥檚 Brad Wall seems to be the only premier with the guts to truly take on Trudeau on this front. And while we don鈥檛 yet know the repercussions for Saskatchewan stemming from Wall鈥檚 bluster, he deserves credit for standing up for the best interests of his province.
Finally, we have Trudeau鈥檚 vow that the 2016 election would be the last using the 鈥渇irst past the post鈥� electoral system. An electoral reform committee was struck, but when it didn鈥檛 produce the desired results, Canadians were treated to a kindergarten show from Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef.
Trudeau鈥檚 government made matters worse with an electoral reform website that has sparked even more ridicule.
Of all Trudeau鈥檚 promises, the electoral reform one might be the one to truly expose his lack of readiness for the big job. It鈥檚 an issue near the bottom of the priority list for Canadians, yet his government has invested considerable time and money into it.
And now they鈥檙e finding out just how tough it would be to alter a system that, while imperfect, is likely the best for a country such as Canada. At the same time, Trudeau knows he can鈥檛 admit his democratic reform stance was a blunder, or he鈥檒l only give more ammunition to those who knew from the outset that he wasn鈥檛 ready.
