Justin Trudeau’s Last Stand | The Walrus

I NSIDE THE Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hunkered down with his cabinet for three days of meetings. Built in the postwar boom by the Canadian National Railway as the capstone of the city’s rail station, the hotel hosted heads of state and world leaders as well as John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s famous bed-in for peace. It’s a grandiose and imposing symbol from a time when Canada did big things. On this cold day in January, Trudeau and his team are holed up behind the building’s walls to get big things done again. The mission, as projected onto screens inside the ballroom behind Trudeau as he addresses the assembled press on the last day of the retreat, is nothing less than STRENGTHENING THE MIDDLE CLASS AND BUILDING A STRONG FUTURE. “We know we’re in challenging times right now in the world,” Trudeau says. “And that’s why it’s so important that we have a government that continues to roll up its sleeves and take responsible, serious, steady decisions.”

saved by

• Alex Stratas