However, even without la belle province, the national electoral map still favours the prospect of a Conservative victory. For now, the Liberals are left to make deals with the same Bloc Québécois — an entity that wishes to dismember Canada — in order to sustain their own grip on power, an entirely pragmatic arrangement that will nonetheless translate as poor political optics across the rest of the country.

Yet even as the Liberals stumble toward a predicted general election wipeout, Canada’s once-great “natural government party” saw fit to announce the appointment of former central banker Mark Carney to a senior advisory position at a caucus retreat last week, indicating perhaps that it is already looking forward to a post-Trudeau future. The timing and circumstances of Carney’s entry into partisan politics do not seem to be particularly wise, however, given the toxic nature of Trudeau’s brand, with which he is now formally associated. Why wouldn’t Carney, if he wanted to helm the Liberals, wait until after the Prime Minister’s expected thrashing to announce his political debut, from which point he can start with a clean slate, both for himself and his party?

In any event, the Liberal Party of Canada has a long history of brutal power struggles between two leader figures that play out and consume its energies just as its political fortunes wane. Even as he cosies up to Trudeau, Carney could actually be positioning himself for a swift palace coup and succession once the Liberal house of cards falls, in which case the operative principle in this apparent Trudeau-Carney alliance may be: “Keep your enemies close…”