Ottawa

Justin Trudeau’s no-good, very good week: Ottawa Power Rankings

Who’s up? An NDP leadership candidate. What’s down? The dignity of readers.

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The Prime Minister’s week was a real mixed bag. He welcomed the charming Malala Yousafzai to Ottawa, but also tabled an omnibus budget bill the likes of which Liberals used to rail against. See who’s up and who’s down in and around Parliament Hill’s corridors of power. And check out the rest of our weekly power rankings.

WHO’S UP:

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JUSTIN TRUDEAU

It’s difficult to imagine a message more perfectly tailored to the Prime Minister’s preferred brand—or a more charming and impressive messenger—than Malala Yousafzai’s visit to Parliament Hill. It was all feminism, globalism, Canada shining a friendly, progressive light on the world, and even a few sweetly teenage squeals about an aesthetically advantaged politician who could then laugh at the carpet and pretend to be mortified by it all. At a moment when Trudeau and his government are beset by pesky accusations of gamesmanship and hypocrisy, it must have been a nice reprieve.

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PETER JULIAN

The British Columbia MP—one of four candidates in the race to replace Thomas Mulcair as NDP leader—picked up a sixth endorsement from his caucus this week, with a nod from Montreal-area MP and finance critic Alexandre Boulerice. The Tory leadership vote continues to suck up a lot of the political oxygen given that it’s just six weeks away, but the fall NDP vote is fast approaching, and the party faces a similar existential opportunity to re-define itself. Boulerice praised the bilingual Julian’s bold, progressive vision for the party, understanding of Quebec and stance on free post-secondary education.

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CHRYSTIA FREELAND

In Italy for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers, Freeland flexed rhetorical muscle in calling out Russia’s support of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, following a deadly chemical gas attack against his own civilians. Freeland—who has been banned from the country for her sharp criticism of Vladimir Putin in her previous journalism career—said Russia needs to use its influence to push Assad to the negotiating table, because the recent U.S. missile strike makes this a fulcrum point in Syria. “I really do hope Russia will take this opportunity to be on the right side of history,” she said.

WHO’S DOWN:

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THE PREMIERS

The Liberal government finally introduced its long-awaited bill to legalize marijuana. But aside from federal rules governing issues like quantities for legal possession, age restrictions and impaired driving, much will be left for the provinces to sort out—and in a hurry, by Canada Day 2018. The provinces will have to grapple with issues like distribution, enforcement and who foots the bill for it all. “This is quite a large undertaking,” said Ontario’s attorney general, Yasir Naqvi. “I think last time we legalized a product that was not legal was the end of prohibition in the 1930s.”

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THE DIGNITY OF READERS

Get ready for a thick cloud of journalistic pot puns to settle over Canada (see what I did there? Are you in near-hysterical delirium at my comedic cleverness?). Yes, the word “high” can describe a likely chance of legislation passing, or a person with reddened eyes and a penchant for pizza and classic Simpsons episodes. No, you don’t need to write it that way. There is virtually no pot pun that doesn’t make you sound like either a high school vice-principal or a three-year-old lobbing a potty joke. If the country is going to legalize this drug, maybe we should all be normal grown-ups about it?

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JUSTIN TRUDEAU

The Liberals have had an unfortunate run of engaging in precisely the behaviours for which they once chastised Stephen Harper’s government and happily differentiated themselves. The latest examples are the introduction of a 300-page budget bill and—nestled within that omnibus beast—proposed changes that would require the Speakers of the House of Commons and Senate to approve the work plan of the Parliamentary Budget Officer and get an advance heads-up on reports. At least those two scenarios are not explicitly denounced in the Liberal platform. Oh, wait.

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