When Justin Met Giorgia

It Was no Rom-Com

So this happened at the recent G7 summit in Hiroshima. Prime Minister Trudeau decided to pontificate to Italian Prime Minister Meloni about domestic Italian affairs. Her facial expression says it all. Sunny ways mixed with a dollop of insufferable moral superiority.

[From Corriere della Sera. We feel you, Giorgia.]

Here’s what happened: in front of live cameras, Trudeau announced to Meloni that “Canada is concerned about some of the positions Italy is taking on in terms of LGBT rights.” He was referring to the Meloni government’s telling municipalities in Italy to stop registering both members of same-sex couples as parents, limiting such recognition to biological parents (in Italy, adoption by gay couples is in a legally ambiguous state and surrogacy is not legal). I disagree with Meloni on this issue, but I believe Trudeau was wrong to broach it the way he did - full, theatrical mansplaining - or even at all.

He could have spoken to her privately rather than ambushing her, as he did. He did this to no other leader. It’s a domestic Italian policy and Italy is a robust democracy. They are more than capable of debating it themselves - as well they are (including protests and municipal politicians defying Meloni). But, as always, he wanted to posture. He wanted a sanctimonious show. He also knew that Canadian media would love it. All you need do is cast a cursory glance at some of the coverage from mainstream outlets to see that Meloni is consistently referred to as “far right.” It is almost as though that were her first name. “The far right Meloni.” Those same outlets would never refer to AOC, for example, as “far left.”

In reality, while the political party Meloni leads can fairly be called far right, that is not how she is governing. She is stronger in her support of Ukraine than many of her European counterparts - putting her at odds with some supporters. Italy also spends a greater percentage of GDP on NATO than Canada does (one wishes she had lectured Trudeau right back on that topic). On many other matters, she governs from the centre. As I suggested in this piece, she has moved closer to Italian President Mattarella and away from the Salvinis and Berlusconis of her coalition. Italy also has civil unions for gay couples, which is more than you can say for Japan. Did Trudeau put Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, the host of the summit, on the spot? Did he address any other G7 country’s internal issues in such a public way? And doesn’t it seem that, at a G7 summit, one should be discussing, say, the Russian brutality in Ukraine? Or nuclear non-proliferation or economic or food security or global health, rather than parsing what goes on in free countries (who are our allies)?

Further, I recall a time when Trudeau - in an attempt to secure Canada a seat on the UN Security Council - was happily ingratiating himself with leaders of countries with horrifying records on gay rights. In early 2020, he visited the leader of Senegal – where homosexuality is a crime -- trying to secure votes for his quest. He also posed for a smiling photo-op with Mohammad Javad Zarif, then the foreign minister of Iran, a country not known for gay - or straight - rights.

(Fun fact: Canada did not get a UN Security Council seat.)

Trudeau is a politician and saw what he thought was a chance to look impressive on the international stage, though to me he always comes across as utterly unimportant - or maybe self-important - like the child who belongs at the kids’ table, but his parents indulge him because he’s so cute. I don’t think his stunt had much effect, other than to make people enjoy La Meloni’s wonderfully transparent reaction (see photo above - she should not play poker). She went about her business, leaving the summit early to visit flood-ravaged areas in Italy.

[Giorgia Meloni in Emilia-Romagna. Credit: Euronews.]

I’m tempted to say that talking down to women is tolerated when it’s someone left-leaning condescending to a female who is not so. The contempt is palpable. Not unrelated: Politico’s smear job on Casey DeSantis. Read this and think about what the reaction would be if the spouse of a Democrat were written about in a similar fashion. Of course, Trudeau has been known to lecture to all kinds of people and politicians should be prepared for the battle. I do not think Meloni or any other women in public life need coddling. Just maybe not to have their time wasted with shallow showboating.