Trudeau learned to adopt manipulative electoral tactics he deplored

You may remember Justin Trudeau of 2014, the one who had long hair and the taste for electoral reform and who explained to the rooms filled with students that politicians were not in contact with the young people because they put short-term tactics ahead of long-term ideas.

The old school police, he said – alluding to Prime Minister Stephen Harper – are focusing on re-election instead of an overview. "Politics has been a source of frustration, cynicism, negativity, especially federal politics," he told students at the University of Western Ontario in September 2014.

The Justin Trudeau of 2018, however, understands better the short-term electoral tactics.

One of them urges NDP leader Jagmeet Singh to calm down in the election campaign for a by-election in the riding of Burnaby South, British Columbia.

On Sunday night, Mr. Trudeau called a by-election in the Ontario riding of Leeds-Grenville-Mille Îles and Rideau Lakes. But he did not call for by-elections in three other vacant constituencies, including South Burnaby.

It may seem like a small process business. The Liberals hope most people do not pay attention, click the repeat button and move on.

But it is a cynical political maneuver.

Mr. Singh announced in September that he was running in South Burnaby. The leader of the NDP must spend a lot of time in British Columbia. constituency until the vote is taken. It also means he will spend less time in Ottawa.

Mr. Trudeau is waiting for Mr. Singh. The Prime Minister has until March 18 to call the by-election. The vote could therefore be postponed to April. He could keep Mr. Singh out of the clashes in British Columbia. If Mr. Singh were to lose his seat in April, the NDP leader would not be embarrbaded just months before a general election, when it might be too late for the party to get a new leader. Trick!

Mr. Singh, of course, made a political mistake by not trying to find a seat sooner. The Liberals do not care a bit about the bidding war.

NDP MP Peter Julian called it "small and manipulative," and he stands out. The prime minister called a by-election. Why not all four?

Mr. Singh himself insisted on the fact that the real victims are the voters of three constituencies who do not choose their democratic representative for a certain time – probably because his collaborators convinced him not to complain. to be shit by the Prime Minister.

"It was certainly an example of Justin Trudeau playing little political games," Singh told reporters. "This is a serious problem because it shows a lack of respect for people who live in ridings that have no representation."

The prime minister brushed off journalists' questions about why he had not called all four by-elections at the same time, saying the law allowed him to call the other three by-elections later. Why does a prime minister do cynical and self-interested things? Because he can.

In the Commons, Mr. Trudeau suggested that the fault lay with the deputies who presented themselves, but did not complete their four-year term – presumably a complaint against Kennedy Stewart, who had left the seat of Burnaby South to run for mayor successfully from Vancouver. Yet Trudeau did not make the same criticisms of Liberal MPs Stéphane Dion and John McCallum, who resigned after barely a year in office, to accept his appointment as ambbadador.

It is not that Mr. Trudeau should make it easier for Mr. Singh to get a seat in Parliament, far from it. There was talk of the Liberals refusing to present a candidate against Singh, citing the so-called "courtesy of the leader" to allow him to run without opposition.

Courtesy, of course, never really got into the Liberal calculations. They can skip the Burnaby South race if they think they can not win, but not because they read an old copy of Miss Manners Guide on Election Tag.

They should not either. As Singh pointed out on Monday, some voters in Burnaby South are eager to express their views on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which would result in a terminus just outside the riding. They should – with an opponent like Mr. Singh on one side and a Liberal candidate defending the government 's record of the other. It's democracy. Manipulating the vote dates to spoil your opponent, by contrast, is old-fashioned cynicism.