Of all the things we upset politicians about, spending personal holidays with their families has to be the least. No politician is truly immune: George W. Bush was often criticized for his frequent trips away from the White House when he was US president, including a five-week getaway to his Texas ranch in 2005. Ontario Premier Doug Ford was chastised for trip to his cottage in Muskoka in February, just as protesters had descended on Ottawa. And now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under attack for flying to Costa Rica for two weeks, which some see as particularly out of character at a time when Canadians are being squeezed by inflation and health care problems at home. There certainly are worse time for political leaders to take vacations: when Ontario advised against travel due to COVID-19 and the finance minister still decided to fly to St. Barts, for example, or when Texas was in the middle of a devastating winter storm and Sen. Ted Cruz chose to hop on a plane to Cancun or when Mr. Trudeau chose to mark Canada’s first Truth and Reconciliation Day with a personal vacation on a beach in Tofino, B.C. Good time for a politician (especially the top politician) to take some time off. there is always conflict happening abroad or at home, and unless we take the absurd position that politicians should never take time off while in office, it is inevitable that the prime minister’s vacations overlap with any number of crises – economic, social or political. Still, it’s a cheap and easy way to throw a political punch, and partisans usually do it when given the chance (only to forget their outrage when their guy drinks mai tais on a beach or flies to New York for a long weekend to catch a Yankees game). But it’s a silly habit we should all try to break: politicians are human and we can’t expect people to function at optimal levels if they’re deprived of opportunities to spend free time with their families. Furthermore, if we want decent, intelligent, and thoughtful people to consider running for public office, the job can’t be too thankless (insofar as it isn’t already). After all, why would someone who seemingly could earn so much more in the private sector choose to run for public office with all its anxieties, knowing also that his every move will be scrutinized, every expenditure scrutinized, every detail of their private lives often exposed – and above all, criticized for the occasional holiday? Perhaps some would argue that two weeks is too long for the Prime Minister to be away from his office. Still, Mr. Trudeau has been active across Canada in the past two weeks: meeting the Pope, smiling with fishermen in PEI, playing with children at a summer camp in B.C. So a few weeks at the beach isn’t exactly a big deal. departure from some of Mr. Trudeau’s other summer activities in 2022. Others may insist on it, while there is never a good time for personal Travel for a politician, this particular time – in these economic conditions – is especially tone deaf for a Prime Minister who claims to be all about middle class prosperity. While now is the wrong time for Mr. Trudeau to travel, it is hard to imagine when the time might be right. Last month when the prime ministers were meeting in Victoria and people were camping outside passport offices? In June, when inflation was at 8.1% and airports were in crisis? Maybe February or March, when the fighting in Ukraine had just started? Or at some point in the future when inflation starts to ease, which may not be before Parliament resumes in September? There are many serious issues for which this prime minister deserves criticism: the government’s apparent abandonment of Ukrainian embassy officials in the run-up to Russia’s invasion in February; the continued desertion of Afghans working for the Canadian government; his ongoing and costly commitment to the COVID-19 theater; the lack of clarity surrounding allegations of political interference in the RCMP’s investigation into the 2020 Nova Scotia massacre; the federal government’s failure, months later, to publicly provide compelling evidence justifying its invocation of the Emergency Act during duration of the truck convoy crisis. and Mr. Trudeau’s capitulation to returning gas turbines to Germany despite Russian sanctions. (This is a non-exhaustive list, drawn only from the last few months.) Disappoint Mr. Trudeau and his government all this, and more. But let the Prime Minister have some time. If anything, maybe he’ll experience an ArriveCan problem first hand on the way back. Keep your views clear and informed. Get the opinion newsletter. Sign up today.
