33
“We know reduction of methane emis-
sions is going to be extremely important
in the future that our kids and grand-
kids are going to have,” Trudeau told me.
“That becomes a value that, when the U.S.
finally does wake up and realize, ‘Oh, we
need to do those sorts of things.’ Well, we
will have solutions to share with them.”
A cynic would point out that Canada
will benefit in many ways from the warm-
ing of temperatures in the country’s far
north. It will gain access to new resources
now buried beneath ice. New shipping
lanes will become available. More of Cana-
da’s land will be available for farming. But
Trudeau insists on a different kind of fore-
cast, and he describes it in terms only an
unreconstructed globalist will appreciate.
“If Canada can use the benefits we have
from having energy and natural resources
now, maximize our return on those while
the world needs them, and prepare for
the next solutions, and use our brilliant
energy thinkers, scientists, researchers
and workers to build that future, then
we will not just be benefiting Canada,
but... the world with those solutions.”
But it’s on human rights that his pro-
gressive voice becomes most obvious.
“We had folks on the right end of the
spectrum in Canada saying, ‘What are
you doing putting in women’s rights and
environmental rights into [the updated
NAFTA] trade deal? It’s about business,
it’s about the economy.’ And now, those
are the very elements that are increasing
the likelihood that the deal gets passed by
[U.S.] Democrats who are worried about
labor standards and environmental issues.
Of course, Democrats have not yet ratified
that deal. They may not even put it to a
vote until after next year’s U.S. election.”as Trudeau’s criTics fairly point out,
while insistence on labor, environmen-
tal and gender-fairness standards may
not kill a deal made with Europe or the
U.S., it’s put Canada on the back foot
with China, a commercial partner that
Trudeau acknowledges is crucial for Can-
ada’s future. Canada risked the wrath of
China by detaining, at the request of U.S.
officials, Meng Wanzhou, a senior exec-
utive at Chinese tech giant Huawei who
lives much of the year in Canada, on fraud
charges. China then arrested two Canadi-
ans, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,
on charges of espionage.
Trudeau says he doesn’t want to esca-
late this fight—China is Canada’s second
largest trade partner—but his opinion of
China’s behavior is clear: “We need to fig-
ure out ways to benefit Canadian busi-
nesses, Canadian workers, Canadian sup-
pliers, all those sorts of things. But we’ve
also always known that China has a very
different political system, value set, ap-
proach to the world and to trade than we do.
Right now the arbitrary detention of two
Canadians for political reasons by the Chi-
nese is something that is the biggest thing
that we are focused on in our relationship,
and it’s put a hold on a lot of other things.”
Trudeau has faced a similar trade-off
with Saudi Arabia. In August 2018, For-
eign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland
tweeted her grave concern over Saudi
arrests of several social- and women’s-
rights activists; one of those arrested was
the sister of a Saudi dissident married to
a Canadian citizen. The Saudi responsewas swift: Canada needs to fix its big mis-
take. The Saudis then expelled Canada’s
ambassador from the kingdom and sus-
pended all new trade with Canada.
Following the murder of journalist
Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi con-
sulate in Istanbul, Trudeau again went on
the offensive in calling Saudi authorities
to account. Trudeau and Canada have lit-
tle to show for these confrontations, and
he has also frustrated supporters of his
approach by having not yet ended a con-
troversial $11.3 billion Saudi arms deal.
In the end, the election may swing
on how a self- proclaimed idealist navi-
gates the exigencies of political office. As
Trudeau said, “Actions speak louder than
words.” And the scandal that redefined
Trudeau unfolded months ago.
SNC-Lavalin is a world-class engineer-
ing firm based in the politically crucial
province of Quebec. In 2015, Canadian
authorities charged the company with at-
tempts to bribe officials in Libya, includ-
ing member’s of Muammar Gaddafi’s fam-
ily, and to defraud Libyan companies of
more than $100 million. The Globe and
Mail newspaper then published a report
that Trudeau had made a “consistent and
sustained” effort to convince his former
Justice Minister that taking the company
to trial would cost Canadians jobs, and
their party votes.
The first scandal led to the resigna-
tion of two Ministers and Trudeau’s most
trusted aide. In August, Canada’s ethics
commissioner said Trudeau had used his
office “to circumvent, undermine and ul-
timately attempt to discredit” his Justice
Minister. The Royal Canadian Mounted Po-
lice says it’s examining the case “carefully.”
As are voters. Challenger Scheer “has
been underestimated at every point in his
career,” says John Baird, Canada’s Foreign
Minister under the Conservative gov-
ernment that preceded Trudeau’s. “But
Trudeau was running in third place be-
fore coming back to win four years ago.”
The question is whether Canadians are
seeing the candidate they saw then.
If he does eke out a victory next
month, he’ll cut a lonely figure on the in-
ternational stage for some time to come.Bremmer, a TIME contributing edi-
tor, is the president of Eurasia Group
and GZERO Media, and host of GZERO
WORLD on U.S. public televisionTrudeau holds his second press conference
in two days, on Sept. 19 in Winnipeg, to
apologize for racist costumes