Six days after The election issue that wasn't; the two Michaels, a deal was finally hatched whereby the pair of Michaels will land on Canadian soil at nearly the same time as Meng Wanzhou will do similar in China. Coincidence or proof of tit-for-tat? For anyone still pretending there was not a link, or worse, knew there was but ignored it, shame on you.
It bothers this conservative to no end that on the figurative Tarmac, Justin Trudeau will stand for the photo-op just as last night he did his best impression of Peter Mansbridge to report the news. I use the word “report” lightly. It read more like a self-congratulatory pat-on-the-back for doing what should have been done 1,000+ days ago; you know, undo the link our Prime Minister refused to acknowledge but now won't miss an opportunity to bask in the glory and make sure his name rolls with the movie credits.
This observer of the human condition is no longer as interested in discussing the electoral opportunity lost. We already covered that last week. Today, I find myself asking an entirely different question. Upon arrival will the two Michaels who are likely scarcely aware of how this all came about or why, and having spent a long indoctrinating flight home on what to say, will they show gratitude or ask the more pertinent question, “what took you so long?”
Dollars-to-donuts, the euphoria of the moment, will involve pomp, ceremony, and gratitude and guaranteed a worthy word of thanks to all those, including you know who, that helped in their claim to make it all happen. But deep down, or at least in the coming weeks, will they not be justified in asking the question, what took so long? Oh, to be a fly on the Kovrig-Spavor wall.
It is abundantly clear – and let's call it what it was – the kidnapping of the two Michaels was in retaliation for Canada’s role in the Meng Wanzhou detention because Donald Trump had another temper tantrum. Granted, President Biden surely had a role in undoing the damage, but the Canadian government should not have let the detention happen in the first place, or at a minimum, should have taken much swifter and more effective action long before now.
I find it telling that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will think nothing of trying to influence peddle on the matter of SNC Lavalin, and when that took a wrong turn hang Jody Wilson-Raybould out to dry. But two Canadian citizens with no skin in JT’s political game? Well, they could rot in a Chinese prison until it became a political liability that could longer afford to be chained to one’s legacy.
