Toronto Star
Tonda MacCharlesOttawa Bureau Chief -3 Feb 24
A former Canadian ambassador to Washington says Justin Trudeau should ditch the anti-Trump “MAGA Conservative” rhetoric directed at the Liberals’ Canadian political rivals.David MacNaughton, who cochaired the Ontario campaign for Trudeau’s 2015 election victory, says it’s neither a wise domestic political strategy nor is it smart for Canada-U.S. relations.
In an interview Friday, MacNaughton said the prime minister is taking a risk by being seen to take swipes at Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, in a U.S. presidential election year.MacNaughton — who Trudeau hailed as key to Canada’s successful renegotiation of NAFTA with the Trump administration — worries there could be “blowback” if Trump wins and decides to set his sights on Canada.
Taking indirect shots at Trump would make it a lot harder to fight against Trump’s promised 10 per cent tariffs on U.S. imports, or to persuade a new Trump administration that the Trudeau government is a trusted partner on defence and security, he suggested.“I would be trying to make sure that there weren’t any huge blowups in our relationship with the Americans between now and our (Canadian) election,” he added...Moreover, MacNaughton said there’s no indication that drawing such a contrast would be a winning electoral strategy for the Liberals here at home.
Public opinion research suggests a large percentage of Canadians feel the country is taking the wrong direction or that it’s time for a change in government, MacNaughton said. He drew a comparison to the electorate’s mood in 2015 when people “were tired of (Conservative prime minister) Stephen Harper. They wanted a change.”At that time, MacNaughton said, Trudeau was offered all kinds of advice on what kind of campaign to run.
The reality, however, was that the public mood was such that Trudeau “didn’t have to be spectacular, he just had to be a change from what Stephen Harper was,” he said.“Well, you know what? We’re almost in exactly the same situation.”Attacking Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre “by itself isn’t going to work anyway,” he said. “And secondly, trying to draw a comparison with Donald Trump … why would you run the risk?”
In MacNaughton's opinion, the bigger challenge for the Trudeau Liberals is to persuade Canadians that they understand the world has changed dramatically since their 2015 election, and even since the most recent election in 2021.
He said they need to demonstrate they understand the economic pain and anxieties that stem from a changed global order, and are prepared to make changes to how they govern — not that they will continue to do more of the same. He suggested if Harper had admitted to mistakes and promised to govern differently in 2015, it may have posed a "dilemma" for the Trudeau campaign back then.
The Liberals have announced a
revival of what they call a “Team Canada” approach to
getting ready for whoever wins the next U.S. election, but MacNaughton’s view, first reported by Politico, is that the Trudeau government should “do the strategy. You don’t talk strategy.”
When MacNaughton departed the ambassador post in 2019, Trudeau praised him as a “trusted adviser, friend, and counsellor … whose honesty, moderation, and wisdom were pivotal to Team Canada in our successful renegotiation of NAFTA.”
He said the reality now, even with a Democrat currently in the White House, is that it is a time of "increased isolationism and protectionism" and Canada is "vulnerable.”
“We need to be seen by the Americans as a trusted friend, ally, partner and, you know, right now, I don't think that feeling is as strong as it has been," he said. "And that's not just this government’s fault. That’s been going on for some time.”
MacNaughton has shared his view with senior Liberals, but is at a loss to explain why Trudeau — who has criticized Poilievre’s “ideologically driven MAGA Conservatives” in Parliament — thinks the attacks will work.
“I don’t understand it,” he said.
The Star has
reported on polling data that also suggests Canadians are not persuaded by the Liberals' Trump-Poilievre comparisons.
The Conservatives did not respond Friday to a request for comment.
Conservative MP Randy Hoback, who has long worked on Canada-U.S. issues, recently said the Canada-U.S. relationship is too critical to be jeopardized in order to score “domestic political points.”
“Trudeau and his caucus must end their repeated jabs south of the border … His actions are hazardous to our economy and to our national security,” Hoback wrote in an online post.
Trudeau is not the only Canadian political leader to take shots at Trump.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, the Liberals’ governing ally in Parliament, last month warned that a Trump election victory would be bad for Canada. Trump is “openly running on an egomaniac, vengeance-filled motive to become the president, and it is incredibly disturbing to watch this," Singh said.
"Donald Trump frankly, is in a … world of his own. The things that he has done, the things that he says, the type of person he is, there is no other comparison to someone who is as bad for democracy, as bad for people, as bad for the planet as Donald Trump.
