OTTAWA -- Justin Trudeau deserves better.
Specifically, the prime minister deserves a much better Official Opposition.
With so much going so wrong for this prime minister, the Conservatives should be hauling in a bounty of first-place ribbons from a parliamentary field day on this, the first anniversary of a planetary pandemic.
But you鈥檇 never know it reading the gloomy state of the party already being billed as leader Erin O鈥橳oole鈥檚 first and perhaps last gathering of the faithful should he, as the polls suggest now, face a leadership mutiny after losing the next election.
The Conservative coalition Stephen Harper built is in a shaky state under a leader most voters would only correctly pick out of a two-person lineup 50 per cent of the time.
Now it braces for the convention that will kickstart readiness for a campaign they should win, but won鈥檛 under the current polling drift.
O鈥橳oole is facing a nasty outbreak of the twin challenges which confront all Official Opposition leaders, which is officially the worst job in politics.
To succeed, leaders need the MPs at their back or a solid shot at forming the government out in front. So far, Erin O鈥橳oole has neither.
O鈥橳oole鈥檚 disconnect with his own MPs and key insiders has released a gusher of internal grumbling into the headlines.
鈥淚f I was O鈥橳oole, I'd be firing up my CPC Tinder profile and be asking caucus whether they like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain,鈥� advised one witty wag.
But O鈥橳oole鈥檚 best shot at redemption comes next week when he keynotes the virtual convention, a speech which could give his 200-day-old leadership a booster shot to immunity from internal strife.
With a lame list of policies up for discussion 鈥� there鈥檚 no hint of any abortion talk or a social conservative hijacking of the party鈥檚 direction 鈥� O鈥橳oole has the opportunity to handcraft a better platform for the looming election being so transparently telegraphed by Trudeau.
While the floor might be primed to debate a national standard for training PTSD guide dogs and other policy oddities, defining issues remain undefined.
With Trudeau seemingly willing to fight the next election on a prohibitively expensive $100-billion post-pandemic vision, O鈥橳oole needs to outline a think-big, clear, contrary, conservative agenda.
A national redesign of the health care system to better withstand the worst of any future pandemics is an obvious platform start.
A signature plan to bring down deficit spending without shredding the safety net for COVID-19 casualties is essential.
And he must clarify how a Conservative government would achieve major emission reductions without carbon taxes.
If the Conservative coalition so carefully crafted during the Harper years continues in this fragmented direction, it could split anew into a resurrected Progressive Conservative party and something resembling a Christian Reform Party.
That would again set up the Liberals as a long-term natural governing party over splintered opposition forces.
And this prime minister who would be spared what he deserves the most 鈥� an official opposition worthy of his conduct.
That鈥檚 the bottom line.
