For Canadian pundits and Liberal leadership hopefuls, Monday’s presidential inauguration in the United States was a letdown. Not only did U.S. President Donald Trump not keep his promise to slap Canadian goods with a 25 per cent tariff on Day 1, he didn’t even mention us in his inaugural address.

Columnists were left scratching their heads over how they were going to criticize the new president, while Liberals faced the daunting prospect of having to campaign against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, rather than their preferred opponent: Donald Trump.