August 2, 2023

"Canadian voters don’t care about that. Once upon a time, they did. But the culture and times have changed."

Said University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman, quoted in "Justin Trudeau to Separate From Wife, Sophie Grégoire/The Canadian prime minister and his wife have been married for 18 years and share three children" (NYT).

Even though the role of family man was an integral part of Mr. Trudeau’s carefully crafted image, Mr. Wiseman said he foresaw no political fallout from the separation.... Mr. Wiseman pointed out that even Mr. Trudeau’s father, Pierre, did not suffer politically after he separated in 1977 from his wife, Margaret, the current prime minister’s mother.

27 comments:

Leland said...

I wonder if he will let her keep a bank account?

tim maguire said...

Unless something ugly comes out in the divorce, I don’t see it mattering. You also have to factor in that prime ministers are not popularly elected. Trudeau represents a district in Montreal, whose people probably like having the PM be a local boy, so they are unlikely to toss him. It could cost him his premiership if it threatens the party, but I can’t imagine people in the rest of Canada turning on their local member of parliament because Trudeau can’t keep his wife happy.

rehajm said...

...even Mr. Trudeau’s father, Pierre

I care about this, a bit...

Michael said...

How much more of a dweeb can he be? If they can swallow everything else, why should this matter?

YoungHegelian said...

I'm sure the fact that Margaret Trudeau was a flagrant & notorious serial adulterer helped Pierre quite a bit in the court of public opinion when they divorced.

Dude1394 said...

Tyrants and fascists do not care about family values.

Mr. T. said...

The only Trudea separation the people of Canada care about is the (based on the dramatic polling) separation they hope for of Trudea and Canada.

Michael K said...

Pierre did not suffer much when his wife's pu**y was on the front page either.

madAsHell said...

Pierre, did not suffer politically after he separated in 1977 from his wife, Margaret, the current prime minister’s mother.

Cuz she was fucking Mick Jagger, everyone applauded here. Pierre was a cuck

Temp Blog said...

Mr Trudeau's father didn't suffer politically because he was Fidel Castro, an absolute dictator of a banana republic.

RMc said...

Even if he divorces her, he's still one behind Trump.

RMc said...

If Trudeau were a conservative, I'm guessing Monsieur Political Science Professor would jumping on the PM with both feet.

Aggie said...

I suspect a lot of Canadian voters would prefer to do something similar.

Iman said...

Was his father Pierre or Fidel?

Either way, he’s proved to be a tinpot schweinehund…

Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...

Margaret Sinclair was patently and quite obviously a serious nut job. There's a reason the court awarded Pierre Trudeau 100% custody of all three boys, which was incredibly unusual back then. Most everyone I knew in Ontario was happy to see him rid of her, as she had embarrassed the whole nation several times, including important international visits.

Kevin said...

So the press tells everyone it helps him when he has it and doesn't hurt him when he doesn't.

In other news, Nina Burleigh, defender of Bill Clinton's womanizing, says we should all care deeply about RFK Jr.'s.

Woof, woof, sheeple! It's time to run off in the opposite direction!

Ice Nine said...

How in hell did she last so long?

Assistant Village Idiot said...

They might care more when they are getting to know someone than when they are already familiar.

Just like real life.

Butkus51 said...

Trudeaus father is Castro not Pierre.

Big Mike said...

Justin and Sophie — now they Tru-don’t

Josephbleau said...

The problem with Canada is that they never told big daddy to F off. Oh, make me a Sir and Ill be right under you M lord!

Stralia the same, but the volume of gold let the Ausies say F off without the Declaration of Indi, so the guys still have Rumpole Wigs.

walter said...

Soon to hit the clubs in blackface...

William said...

There's such a thing as jumbo shrimp. There's no reason why there can't be an amicable divorce. I think Justin will bend over backwards to make sure it's amicable. I bet there's an interesting story behind this, but we'll never hear it. I think infidelity is far more likely than spending too much time at the office worrying about the welfare of the people of Canada, but maybe he just bores her.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I think the Babylon Bee nailed it. “Public shocked to learn Trudeau was married to a woman.”

John henry said...

Who cares what people think? As someone else pointed out, he is not elected as prime minister.

The King of Canada's Prime Minister is appointed by the King of Canada's Governor General who is also appointed by king Chuck.

Trudeau will be PM until king chuck gets tired of him.

John Henry

RigelDog said...

Leland said: "I wonder if he will let her keep a bank account."

What a delightful comment! The freezing of trucker protesters' financial accounts--and freezing accounts even of those people adjacent to the protesters and to their cause--was the most shocking totalitarian act in the Western world in the twenty-first century. And it just sort of...passed on by.

SweatBee said...

My Canadian sources seem to be surprised only by the timing of the announcement.

If he doesn't suffer politically, it's because the sad state of his personal life was already baked in to people's measurement of him.