Trudeau must free himself of undue influence

With Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set to have another four years to deliver some of his not-yet-realized promises, the young prime minister should be thankful that his personal charisma has been strong enough for him to survive some recent scandals and unmet expectations.

But his second term is likely to be even more difficult than his first, not only because his Liberal Party will need to rely on a coalition partner, but because he seems willing to continue being on call to do Washington's bidding.

It is partially due to his willingness to be at Washington's beck and call that Canada's interests, both economic and political, have become so closely entwined with, if not dictated by, those of its only land neighbor - as shown by Ottawa's brazen detaining of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, when Meng was in transit at Vancouver airport in December.