POLITICAL LOWLIGHTS OF 2014 – #8: Trudeau’s Adventures in Flip-Flop Land

In 2014, we saw a Conservative government plagued by scandals, out of touch with challenges facing Canadians and preoccupied with photo-ops and their own partisan interests. Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals fail to hold Conservatives to account and, after two years, we still have no idea where they stand on key issues.

A year’s worth of scandals and ineptitude condensed into our annual list of the top political lowlights of the year... POLITICAL LOWLIGHT #8: Trudeau****’s Adventures in Flip-Flop Land

2014 was not an easy year for Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. Despite having ample opportunities to establish clear positions on a long list of issues, he instead spent time looking notably aimless.

On September 11, Trudeau said that it would be a mistake to for Canada to further its involvement in Iraq. Several hours later, he changed course and told the Globe and Mail that sending combat aircraft was still a possibility (throwing in a tasteless phallic joke for good measure).

Of course, some have taken notice of his wavering:

“Trudeau himself seemed determined to play second string, first by delegating the lead Liberal role in the House of Commons debate to foreign affairs critic Marc Garneau and then by dispensing with the presentation of an alternative of his own to the government’s plan.” Chantal Hébert, Toronto Star, 2014/10/08

Trudeau also seems reluctant to take action in the interest of Canadians. He voted against the NDP’s proposal to adopt proportional representation and a fairer elections process. However, 16 Liberal MPs decided to ignore their leader and vote in favour of the motion.

Maybe next year he’ll know where he stands.

Canadians deserve better. And after nine years of Stephen Harper, Canadians just can’t afford to wait for Justin Trudeau to get ready.

Tom Mulcair’s New Democrats can be trusted to hold the Conservatives to account and to fight for families and propose common sense solutions to the issues they face every day.