NEED TO KNOW
The Pointy Boots
CANADA
Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was stepping down after nine years in office. For many, it wasn’t much of a surprise.
Over the past year, Trudeau had faced no-confidence votes and sinking support, becoming a figure so divisive that many believed it was only a matter of time – measurable in weeks – before he would step down.
As the Hill wrote, he had the grace to listen.
“This country deserves a real choice in the next election,” said Trudeau. “It has become clear to me that if I am having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.”
“It’s time for a reset,” he added.
As a result, Canada will have to hold an election by October this year, one in which polls predict a landslide victory for populist Pierre Poilievre and his Conservative Party. In the meantime, Trudeau’s Liberal Party is fighting over who is taking over the party and the prime minister’s job: Candidates could include Chrystia Freeland, whose surprise resignation as finance minister in mid-December kicked off the firestorm that led to Trudeau losing support from his caucus. Other candidates are likely to be banker Mark Carney, foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly, and François-Philippe Champagne, the industry minister.
Still, whoever takes over may only have a few weeks to govern. Trudeau has suspended parliament’s return from the winter break until late March. Afterward, it’s likely the country will hold an election – or faces another no-confidence vote in parliament.
Regardless, the implosion of the government of Canada is coming at a tough time, say analysts.
The country faces a trade war with the United States amid a sluggish economy that could result in a recession, CBS News noted. And analysts attribute the sinking popularity of the prime minister to his failure to effectively deal with weak economic growth, high inflation, skyrocketing housing costs, and high levels of immigration which have driven the fastest population growth since 1957.
“I think the degree of uncertainty – domestic political uncertainty, along with the uncertainty in terms of what’s going to happen to the economy – this couldn’t be a worse period (to change leadership),” Fen Hampson, a professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, told NPR.
Trudeau, meanwhile, has fallen far from his meteoric rise a decade ago.
In 2015, he led his party from third place to an election victory by building a diverse, progressive coalition consisting of young voters, the working class, and members of minority groups, as well as the left and center voters.
Since then, his party has won three elections even as support declined particularly after the Covid pandemic. Today, polls show that the Liberal Party, which has been in power for 93 of the past 129 years, has seen its support fall to 16 percent, a record low. Polls have also found that almost half of those surveyed wanted Trudeau to resign.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives are polling at about 45 percent.
The next election will decide who tackles the country’s unsolved issues and it will mostly likely be a change of direction for Canada, say analysts.
It will also be a battle over Canada’s identity.
“What Canadians have come to hate about Mr. Trudeau they have come to hate in themselves, which explains, at least in part, the intensity of the hatred,” wrote Canadian author and commentator Stephen Marche in an opinion piece in the New York Times.
“Canadians have a tendency to turn on their prime ministers every 10 years or so,” he added. “Mr. Trudeau’s departure is traditional: The way Canadians thank their leaders for their service is by kicking them out the door with the pointiest boots they can find.”
To read the full edition and support independent journalism, join our community of informed readers and subscribe today!