Why Can't We Have A President Like Justin Trudeau Of Canada

The legislative session is over, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is about to give his wrap-up press conference. The reporters trudge into the gallery, grumbling, as reporters like to do, about traffic and editors. Someone gives the "10 seconds" signal, and Trudeau strides to the podium. He gives a nod and starts ticking off his accomplishments. The first is self-praise for cutting taxes on the middle class and raising them on the one percent. "We've given nine out of 10 families more money each month to help with the costs of raising their kids," Trudeau says.

When Trudeau moves on to his feminist bona fides (women and minorities make up more than half of his Cabinet), he pauses for a moment, but does not lose his train of thought. His words are coherent and will not need to be run through Google Translate when he is done (except if you want to translate his French into English).It's strange to witness: He speaks in a modulated, indoor voice. His dark hair is a color found in nature. At home, there is a glamorous wife and three photogenic children, still not old enough to warm his seat at next week's G-20 summit or be involved in an espionage scandal.

He talks about steps taken to deal with the opioid crisis and mentions the country's dropping unemployment rate. He uses the original Clintonian recipe on the crowd: "We're focused on getting people into good careers and helping families get ahead and stay ahead," he says. "But we know there's more hard work in front of us than there is behind us."

Then he gives the press corps a high-five.

"The back and forth between the press and government is essential to any good democracy," he says. "When you're at your best, it reminds us and challenges us to be at ours. So thank you all for your tireless work."

Where are we? Narnia? Coachella recovery tent? 2009? We are in Ottawa, Ontario, a mere 560 miles from Washington, D.C.

And yet, we are half a world away. Join me as we visit a nation led by a man who wore a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy T-shirt on national television, rides a unicycle and welcomed 40,000 Syrian refugees with open arms.

The contrasts between here and there are not just superficial. Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions is trying to roll back America's weed laws to Reefer Madness days. Over the border, Trudeau, who admits he smoked pot after being elected to Parliament, campaigned on legalizing it across Canada. Trump ditched the Paris environmental accord. Trudeau is urging American cities and states to work with their northern neighbors to cut emissions. The opioid crisis that Trudeau spoke of in his press conference? His government is fast-tracking safe-usage areas to cut down on overdoses, while America's opioid-related deaths have reached epidemic levels.

And then there's Russia. Trump's son met with Russian nationals who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton. Trudeau's foreign minister is Chrystia Freeland, a Canadian of Ukrainian descent who is banned in Putin's Russia.

"Our support for Ukraine, including militarily, is something that stands us very clearly on the 'Russia is an unhelpful actor in the world' side of the dynamic," Trudeau tells me.

Justin Trudeau is trying to Make Canada Great Again. He is using, let us say, different methods.

-  Stephen Rodrick

Knowing Trump's dumb brain you gotta know it bugs him that Trudeau is taller. Lol.

Concerning the G7 Summit...

"A White House official has told the Washington Post prior to the meeting that Trump was contemplating not signing the statement to show that the US is perfectly happy to go its own way if the other members give it too much trouble during talks over issues like Trump’s controversial steel and aluminum tariffs.

In the end what Trump did seemed significantly more petty. It appears that Trump was behind signing the statement as he left the summit, but then decided to take it back because Trudeau pledged to follow through on earlier promises to retaliate against US tariffs at a press conference after he left.
There was nothing particularly surprising about Trudeau’s move — Canada had already threatened to issue them, and retaliation over tariffs is common in the trade world — but it seemed to rub Trump the wrong way. Ultimately, Trump’s harshly worded tweets, personally insulting one of the US’s closest allies and overturning an apparent commitment that had been made just hours earlier, made his exit from the summit even more acrimonious than most analysts expected."
- Zeeshan Aleem

My take: Trudeau was just following up on the promises he made to play tough concerning U.S. tariffs and so Trump has an insulting hissy fit and takes back his statement. 

Why can't we have a president like Justin Trudeau?