View From the Hill by Keith Beardsley – Trudeau WE Scandal. What Next?

AUGUST 1, 2020 – Well the halls of Parliament or at least the video airways reverberated with great sound bites as Trudeau testified on WE or shall we call it the WE scandal.

Now let us be clear, Trudeau did not save himself- he just managed to survive.

The real problem is who cares and who is listening?

This is a real inside the Queensway story that reporters feast on and the general public in the rest of Canada replies with when am I supposed to wear a mask?

Outside of the media and political partisans few people care.

That average voter that the political parties are playing to does not care about the intricacies of whether you recuse yourself or not on an issue.

What is clear is that Trudeau is either lying or incompetent. God help the staffer of Prime Minister Harper or I suspect Chretien or Mulroney who proceeded to bring forth a file the PM had said stop or put a hold on. That some staffer obviously kept the file moving forward shows their contempt for Trudeau’s opinion on files. The question is who was that staffer? It would have to be someone very senior.

This story will blow over because in the end the drop in the polls after Trudeau ended his daily COVID 19 briefings should not be unexpected for the Liberals.

In the end the Conservatives have to elect a new leader who can hire the necessary staff to milk this issue in an election when Canadians actually pay attention. The chances of that happening is anyone’s guess but still to be determined.

Judging by the sudden flood or articles that Trudeau feels Morneau was wrong to have accepted WE trips it looks like Morneau will pay the price. Yes, folks PMO does hint to reporters as to what might happen.

My advice for Trudeau goes back many, many years. Look at who your biggest challenger might be for your job and make that person your finance minister. I wonder who that new minister will be? Pretty obvious actually.

KEITH_BEARDSLEY

Keith is a former Conservative political staffer with over 50 years of active involvement in Canadian politics. During that time, he has held quite a few party positions as well as political staff positions. Most recently, Keith was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Issues Management with Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper (2003-2008). Prior to that he worked as an advisor in the Leader’s Office for Peter Mackay, Joe Clark and Jean Charest. Keith also served as the Chief of Staff to the minister in three Federal departments during Brian Mulroney’s government (1984-89). Additional political experience came as the staff person in charge of Question Period from 1997-2008 where he served in both the Opposition and Government roles. Keith is also known for having created one of the most effective political rapid response teams in Canadian politics. He also has municipal experience and he was a city councilor in a suburb of Montreal. Known for his bluntness and to the point comments, this blog is also known for its fairness and respectful treatment of politicians from all parties. A well-known political pundit, Keith has appeared many times on Canadian political panels and he has been interviewed by major Canadian networks including CTV, CBC, Global. He has also given presentations/speeches in various parts of Canada and the USA.

3 Comments

  1. Freeland has made clear she will not be a spokesmodel, which sets the record straight and should serve as a warning and good natured tap on the nose to an ever preening, posing and scripted, “Trudeau the Younger”.
    Thank goodness for Canadians that

  2. Anyone less than Peter MacKay and the Cons have no chance in the next election. The rest are just wannabes.

    As Beardsley said this story will blow over. It will blow over. It’s up to the Cons to keep it relevant until the next election. But that won’t be easy considering Canadian voters tend to vote on what is relevant during the campaign, not what happened a few years back.

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