Rex Murphy: Well, now we know. Freeland has spoken, at a press briefing on Friday. The prime minister has her full confidence. So he’s good for now.
Still, is it not just a little bit strange? In most parliamentary democracies (and before COVID-19, Canada was one), it is not the rule that subsidiary or secondary ministers get either called up, or volunteer, to express confidence in the first minister. To deploy a homely analogy, the deputy rarely gets to rate the sheriff.
However, we’re in a strange new world, and when there’s a crisis or a potential scandal in government, second-shelf ministers get to pass judgment on the guy who occupies the first shelf.
There was another strange moment in Freeland’s briefing. The deputy prime minister was asked about how the cabinet came to give its approval to the noted real-estate and humanitarian WE organization. She came back with the following: “In terms of how the situation was discussed, I think all Canadians knew the prime minister and his family had been involved with WE. There are many Canadians across the country who have had connections with WE.”
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