Canada's New Prime Minister

Some are saying that Justin Trudeau’s mandate for Chrystia Freeland as Deputy Prime Minister effectively makes her the real Prime Minister.

Smart move. Trudeau is in over his head—he needs someone else to make the decisions. He has been showing poor judgement for some time. And he is not popular any longer. It makes obvious sense to move to a “team” approach, and take that harsh spotlight off him.

Why doesn’t he just step down?

Understandably, he is not going to want to do that. This looks like a decent compromise. If the polls seem to warrant it, this puts Freeland in position to quickly and smoothly take over before an election.

But I think Freeland is a poor choice for this role. She keeps getting good media reviews, but she failed spectacularly in her previous posting as foreign minister. She managed, in just a couple of years, to alienate the Americans, the Chinese, the Saudis, and the Russians. She had an open row with her own ambassador to China. Canada is now isolated internationally to an extent that would have been unthinkable before her tenure.

Still, the Tories ought to keep in mind, in their upcoming leadership contest: who would run best against Freeland?