the "rule of law" is a term intended to apply to governments, specifically those that wish to discard the rules for personal gain. it refers to the fact that the government must also follow the law - that they are not above it.

one example of the rule of law would be the requirement of a colonial government to respect the rights of indigenous people on unceded lands, rather than take matters into their own hands. an example of a breach in the rule of law would occur when a colonial court attempts to enforce an injunction in a territory that it has no jurisdiction over, perhaps due to financial kickbacks from an oil and/or gas company.

the "rule of law" does not refer to any kind of authoritarian supremacy of government over the people, but rather the opposite concept: that the government is to be impeded by constitutional principles (written and unwritten) in it's use of force against civilians.

so, when justin trudeau speaks of the "rule of law", is this some kind of orwellian newspeak, some kind of deep irony? i think that this is to give the man far too much credit: it is a misapplied colloquialism rooted in absolute ignorance of the legal system in the country he's in charge of.