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[Editor’s note: Steve Burgess is an accredited spin doctor with a PhD in Centrifugal Rhetoric from the University of SASE, situated on the lovely campus of PO Box 7650, Cayman Islands. In this space he dispenses PR advice to politicians, the rich and famous, the troubled and well-heeled, the wealthy and gullible.]
Dear Dr. Steve,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau recently announced their separation. I think it would be disgraceful if people tried to play politics with this personal issue. What is your position on this, Dr. Steve?
Signed,
Church & State Lady
Dear CSL,
Dr. Steve will just say this: Canadian Tinder is about to get really awkward.
Speaking of squirm, you are putting Dr. Steve in an awkward position here. By asking him to discuss the political optics of the Trudeaus’ marriage, aren’t you asking him to violate those sacrosanct personal boundaries you speak of? Dr. Steve smells a trap.
Yet he plunges in regardless. We don’t know what led to this decision by the Trudeaus. It could be yet another marriage torn apart by a disagreement over whether housing is a federal responsibility. Perhaps a dispute over who takes the dog for walkies was regrettably brought before the UN Security Council.
Or it could be that the recent cabinet shuffle got out of hand. The prime minister starts moving portfolios around and who knows where that leads? You know how it is when you get a project — you decide to reorganize the sock drawer, one thing leads to another, and pretty soon you are living in Pincher Creek under an assumed identity.
Is any of this legitimate fodder for politicians and pundits? The immediate response is: certainly not. But it is not an entirely straightforward question. Some observers have pointed to a double standard.
It is undeniable that politicians love to showcase their families in happy times, selling themselves as good family people. But any good lawyer knows that bringing up a subject leaves you open to cross-examination. As National Post columnist Chris Selley tweeted: “If political marriages are no one’s business and irrelevant when they end, presumably they are also no one’s business and irrelevant when one half is running for office…. So, for example, enormous, gushing profiles would be offside.”
U.S. politics has seen a great deal of focus on political spouses. That could be evidence of a more ruthless political climate there, but circumstances also differ.
Hillary Clinton was clearly part of former president Bill Clinton’s team, handling his administration’s health-care initiative, and therefore fair game for comment and criticism (which the Republicans naturally considered license to portray her as Satan’s yoga teacher).
On the other hand, the considerable attention garnered by Michelle Obama and Melania Trump was arguably unfair spillover from the torrents of enmity aimed at their husbands. Obama was undeniably the target of racism, while Ms. Trump has suffered from morbid fascination directed at the spouse of the predatory Pussy-Grabber in Chief. Just contemplating the reality of life with the Mar-a-Lago Hypno-Toad was enough to inspire reams of shuddery conjecture.
In Canada we are supposed to be kinder and gentler. Are we? Perhaps. But you just know Ottawa pundits are like muzzled dogs in a chicken coop right now. They would love nothing more than to bark and chase. Another Post columnist, Jamie Sarkonak, put it as discreetly as he could: “Canadian political culture shies away from prying into personal lives of politicians. Rumours of infidelity… might circulate around Ottawa but almost never make it into the news.”
No! Rumours of infidelity would certainly never make it into the news, or by extension into a Canadian newspaper. Any specifics about exactly who is not making the news? Can you give us some names to ignore? How does Taylor Swift’s decision to play Canada factor into this? Not that we are prying. We wouldn’t!
Canadian media coverage also trafficked in a more familiar variety of awkwardness: a display of our national neediness. Newscasts and newspapers alike made a point of mentioning the international coverage of the split. Hey look everybody, Justin and Sophie are on CNN! Ryan Gosling and Barbie are on Entertainment Tonight! Canada’s hot right now!
Domestic situations are always difficult, and even more so in this case. There is the question of friends. Who gets custody of the Obamas? Sophie definitely gets dibs on Meghan Markle. That leaves Justin with King Charles — Sophie is probably OK with that. But what if the German ambassador lands on Team Sophie? Things could get weird. This is not quite as simple as who gets custody of the good towels.
Still, these issues are mostly personal. It’s not really politics. At least, not until somebody crosses the floor to the Opposition benches. Now that would be make the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard split look amicable. ![[Tyee]](https://thetyee.ca/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
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