Like any self-respecting, bleeding-heart, millennial liberal, I make time in my week for Pod Save America, the podcast run by former communications staffers from the Obama White House.  The show is a must-listen for those seeking comfort and community in response to the horrors of the Trump administration.

I mention the show because I've been thinking about something Jon Favreau, Obama's former chief speechwriter, has noted a few times.  It's a line of Obama's that I think I only now have begun to understand: "I'm asking you not to believe in my power to create change — but in yours."

The progressive euphoria that catapulted Obama to the White House nine years ago largely withered in his first term, as the daily grind of governing led to unmet expectations.  This is all a lot of preamble to get me to Canada, where many progressives, it seems, are complacently content with our boy Trudeau.

I've written elsewhere I've always liked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but with a certain wariness, as if I always want to first kick the tires.  But I volunteered on his leadership race and went all in during the summer and autumn of 2015 on Team Trudeau; I helped run four winning campaigns for his candidates and helped plan out the youth campaign that won 88% of constituencies with university campuses nationwide.  Like many, I knew we needed to oust former prime minister Stephen Harper.

Since then, in broad strokes, the Trudeau government has done a lot of what progressives like, particularly on tax policy and a focus on economic equality — clearly the animating issue of the Trudeau braintrust.

But the government has also clearly disappointed liberals, notably on pipelines, democratic reform and now in the largely symbolic differences only approach to the Trump administration.  For me, the inadequate federal funding for healthcare and the accompanying cynical game-theory approach to federal-provincial negotiations is also a major irritant.

In response to when I feel disappointed by the Trudeau government, I can't help but think of the Mary Louise Parker character in The West Wing.  An activist working for a women's organisation, her character says she loves the Democratic president, but "will keep poking him with a stick" to ensure he stays as progressive as possible.

That's how I feel about Justin Trudeau.  He needs to do more and do better.  Healthcare funding clearly seems an afterthought to the government, which is maddening given the exemplary work physician Health Minister Jane Philpott seems eager to do, if only the treasury would give her the funding.  The "nice tweets, though" response to Trump is equally annoying, though I suppose there is a realpolitik allowance we ought to concede.  Other issues grate, too: electoral reform, the Saudi arms deal, and the refusal to fully follow a court order to fund Indigenous education comparably to non-Indigenous students.

I spoke with a few friends who are staffers on the Hill.  All admit the government has true progressive instincts, but MPs — particularly those from the more rural seats that won Trudeau such a strong majority — hear from their small-C conservative constituents, and worry about moving too far too fast.

Progressive Canadians need to do something about this.  We need to speak up — I loved seeing friends posting on Facebook they'd called their MP or protested at the US consulate in response to Trump's Muslim ban.

But we also need the NDP to get out of its bizarre zombie-state with Thomas Mulcair as the half-defenestrated leader.  The inefficacy of the NDP as a force in progressive politics over the past few years is something I look back on with a great deal of regret.  The NDP's attempt to compete for power helped give Harper his tenure as prime minister; worse still, it neutered the "conscience of Parliament".  They need to get back to being a principled, progressive voice.  I'm glad their leadership race is finally starting.

Worse still, we've lived in a world lately of a rather strong Conservative Opposition whose leadership race — with its nonsensical views on climate change and economics and its shameful embrace of Islamophobia — dominated headlines.  It's no wonder the Trudeau government feels its main threat is from a rejuvenated right.

David Moscrop is a PhD candidate in political theory at the University of British Columbia.  We've tweeted back and forth about the need for Canadians to stand up and insist this government ups its game.  I've written about hoping Trudeau steps up to own his reputation as the global poster child for liberalism, and we've seen some signs of this in particular on his recent trip to Europe and in meetings with the elder statesperson of the West, Angela Merkel.  But he has to do more, he has to aim higher, and, as Moscrop suggested to me recently — we have the responsibility to push him there.

A frustration with the "Team Trudeau" election campaign was the disconnect between the rhetoric of "building a movement" and the reality that what the Trudeau braintrust really wanted was to create and sustain an electoral machine, not a movement to push for progressive policy.

My point is this: winning elections matters.  Activists need to be prepared to be, as Teddy Roosevelt said, "in the arena".  But we didn't elect Trudeau in the hopes we can leave him be and he'll just do everything we want.  We need to recognise the wisdom in Obama's line.  We need to believe in our ability to create meaningful change, and we need to insist our government's ambitions match ours.

It isn't enough to win votes.  We have to see true results, meaningful progressive policy enacted, even if it requires passionately speaking up and demanding more from the government.  Election Day is merely the start of the work we have to do as citizens.  Democracy happens daily.

Since Trump became president, I can't get Leonard Cohen's "Anthem" out of my head: "they've summoned up a thunderclap, and they're gonna hear from me, they're gonna hear from me".

Trudeau needs to hear from us, not just from the loudest voices on the radical right.  He needs to hear there is a passionate, progressive population out there demanding he do his best, wants him to aim higher, wants Canada to truly be the progressive beacon the world hopes we can be.  In today's fraught global environment, we have the responsibility, perhaps now more than ever, to be worthy of that global reputation.

And, for progressives, we all share an added burden: we have to learn how to push our government to be worthy of our ambitions, whilst still doing what we can to ensure they win reelection, or it will all be for naught.

Democracy is messy.  But let's make it work.