The prime minister provided an index of that anxiety. His performance, either in the House or outside, was far more sad than effective. Stonewall mode is not his best look, and blatantly ignoring reporters’ questions, as he did in a scrum on Wednesday, comes off — as it is — as rude and condescending.
The extremely annoying habit he has of rattling off whatever string of words he has stored up for when he’s questioned — regardless of the actual question asked — was on full and embarrassing display. This habit is even more annoying when he indulges in multiple repeats of the same string of words. As he did so often this week, when Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre — as trenchant a presence in question period as we have seen in a while — put him under the laser beam.
