Liberal Interpretations

The political problem of mankind is to combine three things: Economic Efficiency, Social Justice, and Individual Liberty.— John Maynard Keynes

The conundrum itself does not need decoding. We already know that Justin Trudeau has long been mired in an authenticity crisis — a crisis that boils down to a gap between image and reality. He became prime minister more than seven years ago, and the numbers tell us that, except for a brief spell around the 2015 election, a majority of voters believe he’s never been up to the job and think he’s still in it only because of weak opposition and a flawed first-past-the-post electoral system.

The more pressing issue is what the past and present might tell us about where Trudeau and his party plan to go from here, and what that might mean for Canada. But first it’s necessary to understand the philosophical ecosystem in which the prime minister was raised and...