Brownstein: All Trudeau needed was love. And he got it on Colbert

Article content

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must have been taken aback Monday night. He was greeted with an unfamiliar sound while taking to the stage on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The audience went wild with cheers and applause as he took to his seat. Trudeau probably hasn’t heard this sort of adulation in months at home. He had the crowd and Colbert in his hip pocket from then on in over the course of his nearly 20-minute schmooze.

Article content

All our PM needed was love. And he got it.

But will it help him on the home front? Highly doubtful.

He probably won’t win any votes as a result. Nor will it bring back the ridings his Liberals lost in Montreal and Toronto.

So best that he look at the Late Show experience more as a kind of therapy day. And in the back of his mind, Trudeau may have even taken some kind of guilty pleasure that somewhere in Ottawa, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was possibly going postal, ready to implode, watching his arch-political enemy getting the star treatment on American TV.

Although Colbert never called out Poilievre by name, he did refer to him as “Canada’s Trump” in a conversation relating to the rise of right-wing leaders around the world. Then again, Poilievre may have enjoyed the recognition.

Regardless, many are mystified as to why Trudeau, in spite of the adulation he received, would ever want to take to American TV at this juncture in his career. His numbers have been taking a tumble in polls at home. Calls for his resignation abound.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

Article content

So what gives? Say what you will about the man, but he is a deceptively shrewd political thinker. Could it be that he has an endgame in sight here?

Trudeau is in New York for the 78th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. On Monday, he spoke with world leaders about the crisis in Haiti, affirming his support for the country. He talked with Nobel Prize-winning activist Malala Yousafza at the UN.

Perhaps Trudeau sees something on the world diplomacy front at the UN down the road. Because the odds of him winning a fourth election as Canadian prime minister are overwhelmingly dim.

In fairness, Trudeau did a stellar job selling Canada to Colbert: “It’s the best country in the world,” trumpeted Trudeau to more applause from the crowd.

Colbert had previously pointed out that among Canada’s best national resources were “the Ryans, both Gosling and Reynolds.”

“Everybody focuses on the land, but really Canada is about the people,” Trudeau said before elaborating. “It’s a range of people from every possible background, who come together. … We try to celebrate differences and people keep their cultures and their languages. … It’s a tapestry. … Every day you meet a Canadian, you get to hear a different approach to life, a different take on values we have. It’s an amazing country. And I really encourage you to come up and see more than just for the maple syrup and mountains.”

Article content

At this point, the more cynical might have expected our PM to belt out, “The hills are alive with the sound of music.”

When Colbert told him that some Americans only visit Canada to buy cheaper meds, Trudeau shot back that it would be easier “if you had universal health care.” The crowd went wild once again.

About Colbert’s only complaint was Canadian bacon differing from American bacon.  But Trudeau set him straight that he was talking about “back bacon,” and that Americans could be rest assured that if they came here, they could have their favourite bacon for breakfast. Talk about diplomacy.

Trudeau didn’t take the bait on “eating cats and dogs” — as claimed by former U.S. president Trump — and instead focused on his desire to implement dental and pharma care. He did, however, acknowledge, that Canada was not entirely “a magical place of unicorns and rainbows.”

When Colbert finally pressed Trudeau on his dwindling poll numbers, the loss of his party’s seats in byelections and calls by the Conservatives for non-confidence votes, he did allow these were tough times in Canada and that citizens were frustrated by food costs and housing issues.

“But I will continue to fight,” Trudeau pledged.

No denying that Trudeau was convincing. A command performance. The crowd lapped it all up. Hans Christian Andersen might have also approved.

No doubt Trudeau may lament that Americans can’t vote in Canadian elections. And there’s the rub.

bbrownstein@postmedia.com

Article content

Article content