The unwavering vacillations of Justin Trudeau on the Iraq war

“There's never been any debate within the Liberal Party about whether or not we should be part of this mission.” – Justin Trudeau, CTV Question Period, March 1, 2015

Wait, what? There was never a debate within the Liberal Party about whether to follow Stephen Harper into war in Iraq?

That must have come as news to Liberal operative Warren Kinsella, who regaled us last weekend with the tale of “one of Justin Trudeau’s most senior advisers” explaining why he wasn’t suitable to be a Liberal candidate:

“Chief among the reasons was my view on the international effort against ISIS…I pointed out that my view was in accord with former Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, former Liberal leader Bob Rae, and former General Romeo Dallaire. ‘They are all traitors to the Liberal party!’ thundered my breakfast partner. ‘They opposed a major foreign-policy decision of the leader of the Liberal party of Canada!’ Wow, thought I. I’m never going to fit in with this bunch.” – Who is a “traitor to the Liberal Party” now?, warrenkinsella.com, March 1, 2015

PRIMER: JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S IRAQ WAR FLIP-FLOPS

Let’s cast our minds back to when the Liberals’ vacillations began, with Trudeau declaring:

“The Liberal Party is not supportive of any extension into a combat role. We think Canada's role should be strictly non-combat." – Justin Trudeau, Scrums, September 25 2014

Long-time Liberals, like former Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, took issue with Trudeau’s decision:

“I was concerned, and I was surprised at the decision to be honest…” – Lloyd Axworthy quoted in the Globe and Mail, October 8, 2014

And so, another Liberal position emerged. Now, they would follow Prime Minister Harper into whatever mission the Conservatives rammed through parliament:

“We will of course support what is eventually decided by the government, because we know that we’re sending our men and women into combat.” – Marc Garneau, Globe and Mail, October 7, 2014

Well, at least Trudeau has been able to put his flip-flopping and poor judgment aside to ask the Conservatives tough questions about the war, right?

“I think Mr. Mulcair is, you know, from what I hear, has a lot more questions about Canada's involvement.” – Press scrum, September 17, 2014

Canadians can’t afford to wait for Justin Trudeau to get ready. Canadians deserve better.