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December 18, 2024 - 10:00am
More than any policy achievement, Justin Trudeau will likely be remembered more for his remarkable feat of clinging to power so tenaciously and for so long with only the flimsiest threads of political support
This week, the last threads finally snapped when longstanding ally Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, announced that she was quitting the cabinet. Freeland used the occasion of the Fall Economic Statement to instead deliver a stinging rebuke of her boss in a resignation letter that accused him of “costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford”. This was in reference to Trudeau’s plan to cancel sales taxes and hand out $250 cheques for Christmas, widely criticised as a crass vote-buying scheme that would sink the country’s finances and leave it more vulnerable to the effects of a looming tariff war with the US.
In any event, Freeland’s salvo managed to unmask yet more discontent from the Liberal caucus, as dozens more government MPs signalled their anger at the leadership. Unlike his response to the last attempt at a revolt in October, Trudeau appears to recognise that the pressure to step down is more severe than ever before. As if to underscore his unpopularity, the Liberals also lost a by-election in British Columbia on Monday.
The Prime Minister seemed to survive the Margaret Thatcher-like sudden death scenario many observers were predicting — with Freeland, of course, playing the role of Geoffrey Howe. Instead of resigning, Trudeau merely indicated that he understood his MPs’ concerns and would contemplate his future over the holidays. Since no other party was able to bring forth a no-confidence vote in the last day before the Christmas recess, he gets to stay on until parliament resumes on 27 January, after which he is almost certain to face his downfall.
Commentators took to social media and the editorial pages to express their disapproval at the thought of a tired government with no credibility staying on long enough to confront the existential economic threat of a second Trump administration, whose 25% tariff threat against Canada remains on the table. This also poses the larger question of who will fill the power vacuum once Trudeau is gone. While Freeland resigned from cabinet, she made clear that she is staying on as a Liberal MP and intends to contest her seat at the next election. Inevitably, this led to speculation that she has ambitions of succeeding Trudeau as party leader and potentially as prime minister, pre-emptively edging out fellow contender Mark Carney.
A Freeland-led government would probably mean a more confrontational approach to Donald Trump. In her letter, she urged the government to push back against his “America First economic nationalism”, possibly hewing closer to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum who has been less conciliatory than her Canadian counterpart. For his part, Trump has started to troll both Trudeau and Freeland, referring to the former as “Governor” and calling out the latter for “totally toxic” behaviour. He added: “She will not be missed!!!”
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SubscribePoilievre is not a populist – not even close. He’s a traditional conservative, which is a big improvement on the PC Party leader he replaced, Trudeau or Freeland..
I was about to post the ‘Poilievre is a populist?’ No he isn’t.
Freeland’s resignation was more about political positioning for her own leadership ambitions. (Surprise, surprise, she has a biography coming out today.)
For nine years she has been Trudeau’s bobble-head-in-chief and supported all of his deficit busting policies.
On Friday, over a zoom call, he told her he was replacing her as finance minister. On Monday morning she resigned claiming she was now a defender of the public purse and fiscal responsibility. Really?
No this was power politics, pure and simple. In one stroke she managed to accelerate Trudeau’s removal and created a poison pill environment for Mark Carney coming into Trudeau’s government. Why would Carney run into the burning building that Trudeau’s government has become?
Just a political power play rather than any principled stand.
The more things change….well, you know the rest.
Poilievre and the Conservative Party of Canada are not “right wing.” Apart from the odd gesture (“Axe the [carbon] tax” and “Defund the CBC”) there is little to choose between any of the three major parties in Canada. Firing thousands of the newly hired federal bureaucrats, in addition to the CBC minions, would be a start to improving the quality of life of “ordinary Canadians.”
100% correct. The PPC could be the medicine Canada needs, but Bernier needs to find a bright young star that appeals to the shifting youth vote, a Jordan Bardella if you will, and then shut his mouth and get the hell out of the way.
No honourable mention for Jagmeet Singh, the NDP leader that has sold us all up the river by simultaneously propping the Trudeau government up – keeping them in power while saying that this government must fall, all in an effort to stay employed and cross the time-based threshold for a cushy government pension? The Maserati-socialist may set an even lower moral standard than Trudeau himself, and that’s saying something.
Also, Pollievre is Liberal-lite posing as a Milei/Wilders/LaPen/Trump-like saviour. He’ll be a big improvement over Trudeau however lacks the spine to implement the changes that are truly needed. All bark, no bite.