I waited a couple of days. I’ve heard all the metaphors. I promise not to use them.

The Prime Minister has shuffled his cabinet. Probably for the last time before the election expected in 2025. Given his track record, this group is likely to underperform.

I will admit I was surprised. Usually a cabinet shuffle involves just a few ministers. This time, out of 38-member group, seven are gone, seven are new and only seven retain the same portfolios they had last week. Even the competent ones, and there are a few, now have to learn a new job.

Until now under this Prime Minister, ministerial incompetence or rule breaking has never been a problem. Not that it didn’t happen. A lot. But he appeared unable or unwilling to grasp that actions should have consequences. Now at least some of the most egregious offenders are gone. Maybe the stench was getting too noticeable give the Liberals poor polling numbers.

Perhaps that is because the tone of any organization is set at the top, and this Prime Minister sets the wrong one. His words and his actions don’t match. His ministers are understandably confused at this “do as I say, not as I do” approach to governance. He has been found to violate the Ethics rules on more than one occasion and shrugs off the findings. No wonder his cabinet can seem a little confused at times as to what is acceptable behaviour.

I don’t believe  JustinTrudeau intends to do wrong. Most politicians have a desire to serve for the greater good. I’m sure he does too, though I doubt he understands what the greater good requires.

Where he also has a blind spot is understanding the rules. He was born to a life of privilege. He’s never had to work a day in his life. Things have come easy to him.

Along with this has been an apparent conviction of the rightness of his beliefs and the policies that have sprung from that. That conviction is what has frequently gotten him into trouble.

Because his motives are pure, he doesn’t been to understand the impropriety of accepting a family vacation from someone lobbying the government for favors. Since he knows he can’t be influenced, what does it matter how it looks?

Because preserving  jobs is important to the economy, it isn’t wrong for the Prime Minister to try to influence the outcome of a criminal investigation into a major employer. He doesn’t understand why a cabinet minister would resign over Prime Ministerial interference.

Because his policies are righteous, anyone who opposes them, for any reason, isn’t just misguided but evil. Therefore they must be demonized. Public dissent is dangerous, therefore steps must be taken to control the media and regulate the internet. Free speech is a cornerstone of society, but it must be the right type of free speech. Anything else must be suppressed 

As I type those words I’m feeling mostly sadness. Canada needs better leadership. Can Justin Trudeau provide that? Or is he stuck in the patterns he has shown for almost eight years?

If he is, it probably doesn’t matter all that much who is in his cabinet.