Dear Editor,
I was surprised recently when Justin Trudeau showed up on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Like many others, I thought at first that he was trying to recapture some of the media buzz he enjoyed internationally when he first took office. But the more he spoke, I realized he ventured south of the border to tie his political fortunes to the shifting political landscape in the U.S. Trudeau is hoping voters will link his message to the message being spread by Kamala Harris and the Democratic party.
We can all see that the political scene in America is shifting. With the sudden resignation of candidate Joe Biden and the emergence of Harris-Walz, American politics has energy and, dare I say it, positivity. Kamala Harris’ approach seems to be turning the tide on the era of U.S. politics that seemed to feature the grumpy, old man. Instead of shouting “stay off of my lawn” to immigrants and blaming them for all the troubles in the world, Harris acknowledges that the U.S. has it pretty good. Why else would so many people be clambering to cross the border at any cost? Yes, things aren’t perfect, but the problems we have are rich country problems. I have lived overseas for the last 20 years and it has been hard to listen to all the moaning and complaining coming from North America when citizens of other countries are still trying to get by on about $100 U.S. a month.
Time will tell if Harris-Walz win this fall. However, in many ways it is irrelevant. They have already managed to change the tone of the messages being sent. It seems that Americans are listening and starting to swing their support Harris’ way (maybe I am not the only one who is tired of all the “glass half empty” rhetoric). Either way, Trudeau seems to see a path to redemption as Canada’s Prime Minister by riding the coattails of the message being sent, and seemingly embraced, south of the border.
Richard Haigh
Listowel
