Trudeau

The Education of a Prime Minister

By: John Ivison

Narrated by: Harry Judge

National Bestseller

From one of Canada's most popular and connected political journalists, an unblinkered warts-and-all look at Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government's record in power. A must-read as we head into the 2019 federal election.

Canadians are becoming increasingly skeptical about their chameleon prime minister. When he entered politics, Justin Trudeau came across as a person with no fixed principles. Now, he presents himself as a conviction politician. What motivated his metamorphosis—belief or opportunism?

Either way, in 2019’s election he will be judged on results—results that have so far been disappointing for many, even those in his own party. From the ballooning deficit to the Trans Mountain purchase to the fallout of his disastrous trip to India to the unpopular implementation of a carbon tax, Justin Trudeau has presided over his share of controversy. Most damaging, his egregious missteps during the SNC-Lavalin scandal and the subsequent resignation of two top ministers, his principal secretary, and the clerk of the Privy Council have raised serious questions about Trudeau’s integrity.

As a political columnist for the National Post since 2003and Ottawa bureau chief for Postmedia for the past three years, John Ivison has watched Trudeau evolve as a politician and leader, a fascinating transition that has not been fully captured by any writer. Trudeau traces the complexities of the man himself, now barely visible beneath the talking points, virtue signalling, and polished trappings of office. Ivison concludes that while Trudeau led a moribund Liberal Party to victory in the 2015 election, the shine of his leadership has been worn off by a series of self-inflicted wounds, broken promises, and rookie mistakes.

One of the central contentions of Trudeau is already apparent: the prime minister’s greatest strengths are also his greatest weaknesses; the famous name, high-handedness, and impulsiveness are as liable to hurl him from office as they were to get him there in the first place.

With unprecedented access and insight, John Ivison takes us inside one of the most contentious first terms of any prime minister in our history.

Critic reviews

“Trudeau: The Education of a Prime Minister, adeptly analyzes a public figure viewed as a ‘political lightweight’ who . . . ‘entered politics as a man of promise but has emerged as a man of promises that have failed to materialize.’” —Michael Taube, Washington Times

A Must-Read Before the 2019 Federal Election

If you are a conscientious voter and you're trying to make sense of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals time in office since 2015 to 2019 this is definitely a helpful resource. Highly recommend that everyone who cares about what's going on in Canada add this to books that they will read. Hopefully you will read it before the 2019 election.

An Interesting Review of Canadian Politics

John Ivison is a Canadian political journalist. To me his overview of Justine Trudeau is biased. Ivison points out some positive accomplishments, but primarily examines from a negative viewpoint. Canada faces an election in 2019.

The book is well written and researched. Ivison reviews the ballooning deficit, the India Trip fallout, the SNC-Lavalin scandal and the Trans Mountain pipeline purchase. Harper primarily dismantled the Foreign Ministry. Ivison complains that Trudeau did not completely rebuilt it. Ivison claims Trudeau made numerous rookie mistakes. Two big questions are should Canada be regarded as a moral superpower? Canada has a large population of Sikhs, Tamils, Chinese and Ukrainians. How far should politicians go to please these voting blocs? Canada never before has had strained relations with the three world’s strongest powers as they do today. He discusses Trudeau’s relationship with the Foreign Ministry. The author says Trudeau’s government has not met the high expectations the people had when he was elected. Canada attempts to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2020 against strong opposition from Ireland and Norway. Ivison questions Trudeau’s approach to this problem. Ivison does provide the reader a good overview of Canadian politics and problems facing the country today.

The book is twelve hours and thirty minutes. Harry Judge does a good job narrating the book. Judge is an actor and audiobook narrator.

disappointing

Not sure what exactly I was expecting but certainly something less dry. A good listen to put you to sleep though.

Anti-Trudeau hatchet job

The author obviously can't stand Justin Trudeau. As an American not very familiar with Canadian politics, I was hoping for a balanced look at the guy. But the whole book is a hatchet job. I thought was a supposed journalist, the author would take a more dispassionate look at his subject, but this isn't what happened. His sarcastic comments show his bias.