Canadians often hear that a politician should consider taking a “walk in the snow.” The most recent example is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after the stunning series of events that occurred on Monday.

The starting point was when Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned from cabinet. “On Friday, you told me you no longer want me to serve as your Finance Minister and offered me another position in the Cabinet,” Freeland wrote in her Dec.16 resignation letter. “Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet. To be effective, a Minister must speak on behalf of the Prime Minister and with his full confidence. In making your decision, you made clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it.”

Freeland was also fed up with Trudeau’s inability to work with our provinces and territories to deal with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s impending 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods.

“We need to take that threat extremely seriously,” she said. “That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”

It was certainly a sensible position for her to take. The PM clearly experienced things differently, as he often likes to say in a different context, and the relationship dissipated.

Ottawa became a comedy of errors for several hours. Trudeau hid under the radar and out of the public view. Freeland’s replacement wasn’t announced until the late afternoon in the form of Trudeau’s longtime friend and political ally, Public Safety Minister Dominc LeBlanc. (There’s now some suggestion that the PM was reportedly going to give it to former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.) Freeland was supposed to give the long-delayed Fall Economic Statement to Parliament on Monday in spite of being asked to step down. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said that Trudeau should resign, but wouldn’t commit to supporting a vote of non-confidence. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre gave powerful speeches and critiques, and made this amusing remark in the House of Commons, “I have a question for the Finance Minister. Who are you?”

Trudeau survived this onslaught by the skin of his teeth. That’s become part of a regular pattern in his never-ending series of political gaffes, mistakes and missteps. Similarly, a new call for a walk in the snow was heard from coast to coast.

I’ve often wondered if most average Canadians know what this reference means. They certainly did several decades ago. They probably did a decade ago. Today, it’s hard to say with absolute certainty.

Here’s a brief explanation.

When a politician takes a walk in the snow, it means that he or she is contemplating his or her future. It may lead to resignation, retirement – or a belief that it’s possible to carry on.

Pierre Elliot Trudeau, the father of our current Prime Minister, is the politician most associated with this phrase. He reportedly went on several walks in the snow, including in 1968 when he decided to run for the Liberal leadership and in 1979 after he lost the federal election to Joe Clark and the PCs. As Paul Tuns correctly pointed out in a Feb. 26, 2014 oped for the Ottawa Citizen, Trudeau also “went for a walk along the beach in Toronto in November when he decided to announce he would not stay on as leader before reversing himself the next month.”

Trudeau’s most memorable walk in the snow may have occurred on Feb. 29, 1984. As he went out in the cold weather and snowy streets, he decided that “I had done what I had come into politics to do.” He officially retired from politics and ended his long career of public service.

Did any of this actually happen? Some biographers, including the late historian and former Liberal MP John English, have suggested it did. Tuns wrote that Ottawa “had a blizzard that day but whether he actually went for a walk might be questioned. It seemed to be a rhetorical device he often employed.” Both explanations are plausible, and we’ll never know for sure.

Justin Trudeau, unlike his father, has avoided a similar walk in the snow. (Other than for pleasure, I’d imagine.) Trudging in the wintery weather to decide his political fate doesn’t seem to interest him. Based on the litany of mistakes and failures he’s made as Canada’s Prime Minister, it’s pretty obvious why.

This doesn’t mean Trudeau shouldn’t take this real or rhetorical walk. It would be best for his party and our country if he did it sooner rather than later. How about today?

Michael Taube, a long-time newspaper columnist and political commentator, was a speechwriter for former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.