Trudobama … and After

In a nutshell, you could say that it was a good day at the office for Justin Trudeau, especially since the office, in this case, was — no big deal — the international scene.

The benefit with Washington is that it’s the center of the world. So if you make a noteworthy visit there, there is a good chance you will be seen by everyone in the world. In this sense, Justin Trudeau can say “mission accomplished.”

You think I’m exaggerating? I have followed three Canadian prime ministers on their official visits to Washington (Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper), and their names were barely mentioned on CNN or in the big American newspapers. I didn’t see anyone during these visits waiting in close rows in front of the White House in the hopes of getting a glimpse of the Canadian prime minister, as was the case this Thursday for Justin Trudeau.

The media impact of Justin Trudeau’s first visit to Washington surpasses many Canadian boundaries, and it is in and of itself a success. He was a hit in the United States, however unimpressed the country is by the usual comings and goings of foreign leaders at the White House, and the “Trudeau effect” has spread to other countries thanks to this stay in Washington.

L’Obs, the French magazine formerly known under the name Nouvel Observateur, which is not exactly a by-product of People or GQ, wrote Thursday that “Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, is becoming the new Obama in terms of popularity. He has charmed [people] thanks to political communications that are (almost) always successful.” L’Obs picked up several photos of Justin and his family in Washington.

The big American media outlets also prominently noted the visit of the Canadian prime minister, an event that often finds itself in brief at the bottom of the page. Such visibility can’t do harm to Canada, which is suddenly becoming a “cool” destination.

So, the first objective is achieved for Justin Trudeau, who is officially playing with the big boys.

Even those voters who don’t particularly like Justin Trudeau will have to search deeply in their memory to find a similar triumph for a Canadian prime minister abroad: from memory, maybe Brian Mulroney with Ronald Reagan, or the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement with the elder Bush. And still, we were far from the level of glamor seen Thursday.

The welcoming of the Trudeau family at the White House was spectacular — almost too much sometimes — family reunion in the Oval Office, high five with little Hadrien, a shared activity for Ms. Obama and Ms. Grégoire, an appearance on the balcony of the White house, an exchange of witticisms, a grand dinner … A little more, and they would have finished the evening in a spa drinking a Napa Valley Mumm!

The excitement was also at its height in the Trudeau entourage, which arrived in Washington with no less than nine ministers. Nine! Too many is like not enough.

Beyond the ministers’ selfies, including Catherine McKenna’s, whom we saw dancing with a host of the show “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” at a party after a speech by her boss,* and many photos of society events; beyond the flattery between Mr. Obama and Mr. Trudeau, what will remain, concretely, of this visit, especially when it comes to the environment? Did it produce real consequences? That remains to be seen — first, because President Obama will soon leave power and, second, because the targets as far as the fight against climate change is concerned seem most often to be established solely to be missed.

The Trudeau-Obama meeting on Thursday was indisputably a great success, but Canada and the United States of Barack Obama have missed their dates these last few years in the realm of the fight against climate change.

When Barack Obama came to Ottawa in 2009, Stephen Harper admitted that climate change is “one of the most important challenges of the next decade.” That was already progress for someone who said climate change was a “socialist scheme.”

Mr. Obama and Mr. Harper agreed on “a new initiative that will further cross-border cooperation on environmental protection and energy security.” In fact, very little was done afterwards.

Now, the commitments between Ottawa and Washington on the reduction of methane are more concrete, calculated and with more time targets. But Barack Obama is leaving, and nothing guarantees that this agreement will survive his departure from the White House.

Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau played the optimism card on Thursday, with the former saying that the agreement serves the interests of both countries and the latter affirming that “the American government, whatever it is, must always concern itself with the credibility of the United States, especially to a partner as important as Canada.”**

Too optimistic? Seeing, as a backdrop to this Trudobama, Hillary Clinton struggling more and more in her campaign for the Democratic nomination, and hearing the Republican favorite, Donald Trump, make more and more incendiary declarations, we’re allowed to have a few doubts about the future of Canadian-American relations.

Justin Trudeau, surrounded at the White House Thursday evening by an audience closer to that of an Oscars party than a political meeting, no doubt didn’t want to think about that for the moment …

*Translator’s note: This appears to be a reference to to a viral video of someone pretending to be Catherine McKenna.

**Editor’s note: Accurately translated, this quote could not be verified.