By Plain Rhetoric

Mr. Dressup: a tradition you don’t want to mess with

Mar 27, 2018 | 5:00 AM

AS I WRITE THIS COLUMN, I realize it may cause some readers to wonder if I’ve gone to the dark side. They’ll point, while avoiding eye contact and suggest I’ve lost my left-leaning ways as a writer and should seriously consider hanging up the old keyboard. However, and despite my best efforts to justify or at least rationalize the thoughts I’m having, I still can’t help but wonder what the heck has happened to or with Justin Trudeau?

After the age of political darkness had passed, I was left with hope and optimism when even interim party leader, Rona Ambrose summed up the end of Stephen Harper’s time in Ottawa with the words, “The bad man is gone.” But two years later and Justin Trudeau seems either unable or unwilling to move beyond his sunshine and lollypop world and provide some serious leadership.

Last week’s on again, off again declaration that Service Canada employees will no longer use Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms. when talking with the gender confused Canadians we’ve all so obviously become, has come to symbolize the Liberal government’s ongoing case of PDS or Priority Deficiency Syndrome.

I think of all the grand promises made and problems that need our attention. Yet, despite the serious world we’ve entered into, the Liberal government decides it is more important to eliminate the word Mr. from my name than it is, for instance, to provide safe drinking water for everyone in Canada.

There are First Nations communities that have gone years without being able to drink water from their taps. However, this government is more concerned about having federal employees communicate without using a gender identifier. Somehow I think the right to clean water takes precedence over deciding if I should be called parent 1 or 2.

TWO & OUT

PETERS: U.S. Olympic men's hockey team celebration was extremely political - whether players recognize it or not

2h ago

Looped in

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: February 26, 2026

22h ago

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Saving people time at ICBC

Feb 25, 2026

In the meantime, our neighbour to the south is acting more like the schizophrenic we feared it would become. The threat of punishing steel and aluminium tariffs by May of this year is back on the table. Softwood lumber remains unresolved. NAFTA negotiations continue on like the soap opera they have become. Alberta backed by Saskatchewan and with the tacit approval of Ottawa, threatens BC over the Kinder Morgan pipeline. North Korea has nuclear weapons capable of reaching us. Putin defiantly poisons his enemies with nerve gas on the streets of London. Climate change is wreaking havoc on the east coast of North America and the list, unfortunately goes on.

I find it a bit disturbing when our national leader feels playing Mr. Dressup in India or having someone call me Parent/Spouse 1 is more important than acting like a prime minister. And by the way who decides who is spouse 1 and 2… and dropping the Mr. from Mr. Dressup just doesn’t work, does it?

Here, though, is where the problem gets complicated and it boils down to alternative leadership choices. We have Conservative leader Andrew Scheer with his a-la-Trump right wing ties to the likes of Rebel Media. Then there’s NDP leader Jagmeet Singh who seemed to have an inability to quickly and forthrightly disassociate and disavow Sikh terrorism and terrorists. And don’t get me started on his lack of desire to actually run for a seat in the House. Call me old fashioned, but I believe being an elected MP is an important part of leading a party in the House of Commons.

Personally, I think these two were chosen more as party caretakers than leaders. At the time, Trudeau looked invincible and no one seriously thought either of these gentlemen were real contenders for the top job. Let them work at rebuilding the party until such time those waiting in the wings feel it is time step forward and take over the reins in a leadership coup.

But that was months ago and suddenly and unexpectedly, the odds of one of them becoming prime minister has greatly improved. We can for the most part credit this change in fortunes to Justin Trudeau’s continuing inability to deal with the key issues. The kind of issues that will impact our nation, our economy, our climate and our safety for years to come.

There is a time (I guess) to dress up and play at being a Bollywood extra in the wedding scene. Right now though, there are internal and external forces that threaten the very core of nationhood and self-determination and we need a prime minister who can lead us through these troubling times.

But remember, while Trump, Kim Jong-un, Putin and others need our prime minister’s attention, Mr. Dressup as well as Mr. Rogers for that matter are traditions you really don’t want to mess with.