Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal caucus had a month-and-a-half to bask in the glory of their victory in the Oct. 19 federal election.
So, it was a special day on Dec. 4 when they walked into the House of Commons for the throne speech and sat on the seats on the government side of the House instead of the seats they were relegated to as the third party.
Now, the heat is on and Mr. Trudeau and all of his election promises will be under the microscope for a few more days before they go home for the Christmas Break.
When the House doors open again in the new year and the government has to get down to the work of plowing its way through treacherous political waters, the good ship Red Wave will be tested.
Even before the House was in session, Mr. Trudeau was having his feet put to the coals by the national media, as he had to defend why taxpayers were paying for two nannies to look after his children.
The Prime Minister’s communication director explained that the nannies were secondary caregivers who also perform “other duties around the house.”
So, that’s not so unusual for parents who are busy with the important business of running the country to have help with their children.
However, it’s a bit different when our new Prime Minister made a flippant remark during the federal election campaign regarding wealthy families such as not needing the help of the taxpayers to finance his child care.
While it likely isn’t a big deal to most Canadians, it is definitely foreshadowing of the kind of scrutiny Mr. Trudeau is going to come under during his mandate.
He made a lot of promises during the election campaign and they have been well documented, so the Opposition and the media will definitely be measuring his progress.
So, it wasn’t too surprising that Mr. Trudeau’s throne speech on Dec. 4 was short and contained few details of the road map of his first year as leader of the government.
In fact, there were five large platforms during the election campaign that weren’t mentioned or if they were it was without detail: doctor assisted dying; commitment to recalling fighter jets from the bombing campaign in Syria and Iraq; repealing or amending the anti-terrorism legislation; return of Canada Post home delivery; and reinstating the age of 65 for eligibility for old age security and guaranteed income supplement.
Furthermore, interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose turned up the heat in the Mr. Trudeau’s question period in the House about the cost of the Liberal’s election promises and backing out of the battle against ISIS, when other countries are increasing their efforts.
Mr. Trudeau is in for a tough fight and he better start moving forward on some of those promises early in the new year.
