When it comes to making predictions about Canada's next federal election, there's one thing I can guarantee without the slightest bit of hesitation.

At some point during his campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will utter words along these lines: "My fellow Canadians, this is the most important election in our nation's history; when you go to the polls you won't just be electing a government, you'll be deciding if we remain a civilized, tolerant Canada, or if will we descend into redneck, savage, barbarism?"

The reason I know this will happen is because it happens in every Canadian election.

The Liberals always paint themselves as Canada's only party with the proper moral and cultural mindset to govern; hence electoral failure for the Liberals automatically means chaos for the country, which is why, according to the Liberals and to their media allies, every federal election is the "most important election in our nation's history".

In a sense, the Liberals are using the same sort of "Too Big to Fail" argument corporations like to use whenever they're demanding taxpayer bailouts or sweetheart legal deals.

You know what I'm talking about, right?

Any time a big corporation is in deep financial or legal trouble due to its own corruption or inefficiency or incompetence, its executives will insist that if government doesn't come to their rescue it'll cause an economic Armageddon.

Likewise, come the next federal election, Trudeau will argue that no matter how corrupt or incompetent or inefficient his government might be, voters should still come to his rescue because if the Liberal party goes down in flames, it'll cause a political Armageddon.

Mind you, this sort of electoral appeal usually doesn't cut much ice with regular voters, but it will certainly resonate with the country's ruling classes, which views the Liberal Party as a bulwark protecting the Establishment's interests from the unwashed, vulgar masses inhabiting the hinterlands beyond the borders of Canada's major Eastern urban centres.

For this reason, the ruling classes corporate CEOs, cultural elites, academics would likely come to the Liberal Party's defence; for them the Liberals are simply "Too Establishment to Fail."

And make no mistake, for the Liberals to have the Establishment on their side is a pretty big advantage, since elites have lots of ways to influence and sway public opinion.

Yet, having elites as allies, also comes with a big political risk, i.e. it leaves the Liberals vulnerable to charges that they are out of touch with ordinary Canadians.

The Opposition parties, for example, can use the Establishment's support for the Liberals as a political weapon to bash the Prime Minister, saying something like, "Unlike the Liberals who only care about their rich and powerful friends, our party wants to put the interests of regular people first!"

It's an argument that can work.

This is how Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2016, this is how the forces promoting Brexit won in the United Kingdom, this is how populist parties in Europe are gaining support.

Yet, at least at the federal level, this doesn't seem to be a popular tactic here in Canada.

Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer, for instance, seems reluctant to suggest he will do anything to upend the status quo; instead he's basically making the case that he can be counted on to manage the existing system more efficiently than Trudeau.

In a way, he's pandering to the Establishment.

Meanwhile, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh seems focussed on winning the support of public sector union bosses, who are basically part of the Establishment.

Even Green Party leader Elizabeth May, who by all rights should be anti-establishment, seems unwilling to openly challenge the status quo.

As a matter of fact, she recently hinted that, if it meant she could keep the Conservatives out of power, she'd be willing to prop up the pro-Establishment Liberal party in a minority government.

Perhaps the Conservatives, NDP and Greens are simply too afraid to risk the wrath of the Establishment, or maybe they think Canada has a pro-Establishment culture.

Indeed, the only federal party that is openly taking on the Establishment in this country is the fledgling People's Party, led by Maxime Bernier.  But this party's lack of a base, its lack of resources and its overall low-profile, means it doesn't have much of a voice.

So what does this all mean?

Well, it means that no matter which federal party ends up coming out on top in the next election, the real winner will likely be the Establishment.