Wednesday night’s debacle had nothing to do with SNC-Lavalin. Trudeau was in a safe Liberal space. And he screwed it up

The prime minister who we saw Wednesday night is about as far from the Justin Trudeau who campaigned for the top job in 2015 as can be imagined. It doesn’t matter if you’re a true believer or one who thinks the prime minister’s entire public persona is a carefully created political act. In either case, you’d be baffled after the performance.

Trudeau was in Toronto, at the gorgeous downtown Omni King Edward Hotel, for a meeting with top Liberal donors. The event was for members of the so-called Laurier Club — those Liberal supporters who donate the maximum to the party each year. If you’re under 35, $750 a year gets you into the club. Older than that, and it’ll cost you $1,500. As the prime minister was speaking, a woman stepped forward, unfurled a banner and began to shout about Grassy Narrows and mercury poisoning. She was quickly hustled away by security, while the prime minister, his voice amplified by the public address system, drowned her out.

“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for being here.” A pause, and then in a clearly mocking tone, he added, “Thank you very much for your donation tonight. I really appreciate your donation to the Liberal Party of Canada.” The crowd laughed, applauded and cheered. When another protester took up the now-evicted woman’s refrain, the prime minister essentially repeated himself: thanks for coming out! Security removed the man. The crowd clapped again. The entire incident, of course, was recorded and soon hit social media. It was an instant disaster for the Liberals.

No wonder. It was a smarmy performance by any standard, but it’s especially bad for this prime minister. Grassy Narrows is a First Nations in Ontario. Its water supply was contaminated by industrial waste, specifically mercury, decades ago. To this day, the people of Grassy Narrows suffer measurably poorer health outcomes than other Ontarians; the fish that form a key component of their diet have as much as 15 times the recommended levels of mercury. The federal and Ontario governments promised aid (the jurisdiction of the issue is split between the federal and provincial governments). The water’s still polluted.

Protesters hold a banner about mercury poisoning on the Grassy Narrows First Nation in Northen Ontario, as they gather outside a Toronto hotel where Prime Minster Justin Trudeau was speaking to Liberal donors on March 27, 2019. Tijana Martin/CP

This is, one would think, not an issue that the prime minister would want to be glib about. It’s one he’d be keen to run with, actually. And yet.

It’s amazing, in fact, how perfectly targeted this was. It’s a direct hit on the core of Brand Trudeau. Let’s pretend that Conservative dirty tricksters were trying to dream up something that would be opposite the prime minister’s brand. They’d think back to 2015, and recall the issues he made central to his (successful) pitch to Canadians. He wanted to prioritize reconciliation. He wanted to elevate women and be seen as Canada’s best feminist. He wanted to speak to the middle class, those working hard to join it. He wanted to connect with young voters.

Could you design a more perfect screwup for Justin Trudeau circa 2015 than the one he somehow flawlessly executed in 2019?

The prime minister has had trouble enough of late, of course, with the ongoing SNC-Lavalin affair. He’s already been criticized for somehow finding himself in a prolonged fight with two powerful women, one of them Indigenous, while still insisting he’s a feminist and committed to reconciliation. Whatever your thoughts on the matter, it’s obviously an awkward place for him. He must be keen to escape that particular bind.

And on Wednesday, the prime minister openly mocked a woman who was demanding help for Indigenous Canadians.

Was he tired? Cranky? In the grips of some Conservative mind-control beam? Or is this maybe how he really feels about young female Indigenous protesters who dare interrupt a stump speech to Toronto’s big-L Liberal elites?

The prime minister apologized to the evicted protesters on Thursday, and said their donations would be refunded. But the damage is done. Mr. Jobs For The Middle Class made an ass of himself at a glitzy event at a posh downtown venue where only those with considerable cash to burn can get on the invite list. Prime Minister Reconciliation cracked jokes as two people were bodily removed from the venue for daring raise concerns over Indigenous Canadians being poisoned by their water and food. And the crowd, made up of the Liberal party’s self-selected elite, clapped and cheered.

If you voted for Trudeau in 2015 because you believe in reconciliation, Wednesday was a rude awakening. If you voted for him because of his feminism, it was not on display that night. If you were someone who believed he felt the middle-class’s pain, that wasn’t apparent at the King Edward. Anyone who wants to get young voters engaged probably didn’t feel that the well-heeled audience applauding Trudeau’s mockery was particularly woke.

I’m amazed he didn’t casually remark, as the protesters were being ejected, that he’d decided to make cannabis illegal again. Or that electoral reform was for losers, and that he was cutting taxes on the rich.

But the most remarkable thing of all? Wednesday night’s screwup had nothing to do with SNC-Lavalin, or Jane Philpott or Jody Wilson-Raybould. Trudeau was in a safe Liberal space. It was a moment to bask in the glow of a friendly crowd after a grinding few weeks.

And he screwed it up.