Vacuum

Canada's government is terribly weakened at a moment of crisis

Congratulations to the friends and family of Rachel Bendayan, one of eight MPs added to the federal cabinet on Friday. They should be just as proud of her as if she had been appointed by a prime minister who wasn’t currently hiding from public scrutiny, during a crisis of government legitimacy, in a moment of grave vulnerability for Canada as a sovereign state. Hope dinner was fun!

Even as his new and reassigned ministers were trundling into Rideau Hall, Justin Trudeau was said to be contemplating his future. I’ve been in Ottawa for 30 years and I’ve never seen a new ministry gathered around a man who didn’t know whether he wants to be prime minister next week.