Life is coming at Canadian PM Justin Trudeau fast. In the space of just a couple of months, first his marriage and now his grip on power are going down the gurgler.
To be fair, 18 years is a good run at marriage in this day and age. The split appears to be amicable, so good luck to them, I suppose.
Politically, Mr Trudeau’s Little Boy has proved more tenacious than many initially gave him credit for, no doubt helped, as many leaders were, by the ‘Covid boost’ that saved a great many political skins. But the looming political split with Canadian voters – not to mention his own colleagues – is anything but amicable.
Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has resigned in a surprise move after disagreeing with Justin Trudeau over US President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
Ms Freeland also stepped down as finance minister, with her resignation marking the first open dissent against Prime Minister Trudeau from within his cabinet, threatening his hold on power.
This is just the latest in a succession of scandals that Trudeau has miraculously survived. Whether his is the final tipping point remains to be seen. But, with the fall economic statement expected to show even bigger budget deficits than previously promised, it’s not looking good.
Liberal Party leader Trudeau lags 20 points in polls behind his main rival, Conservative Pierre Poilievre, who has tried three times since September to topple the government and force a snap election.
As reported recently by The Good Oil, one of Donald Trump’s singular achievements has been toppling a succession of US political dynasties. The Trudeau dynasty in Canada may be next.
“Our country today faces a grave challenge,” Ms Freeland said in her resignation letter, pointing to Trump’s planned 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports.
“For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada.”
First elected to parliament in 2013, the former journalist joined Mr Trudeau’s cabinet two years later when the Liberals swept to power, holding key posts including trade and foreign minister, and leading free trade negotiations with the EU and the United States.
Most recently, she had been tasked with helping lead Canada’s response to moves by the incoming Trump administration.
Trump in power has a keen understanding of what Jordan Peterson means when he says that you must be dangerous to be good. This is not saying that you have to be violent or aggressive, but you should make it clear that you can be, if threatened. “A harmless man is not a good man,” Peterson says.
The Biden and Obama administrations were harmless. As a consequence, they were rightly seen as weak by America’s enemies. Few more shrewdly than Vladimir Putin, who notably only invaded neighbouring countries when the latter administrations held the Oval Office. For all the media left’s shrieking and pearl clutching, when Trump threatened ‘fire and fury’ against North Korea, he was not just speaking the language that dictators like Kim understand: he was making it clear that America is dangerous to its enemies again.
The tariff threats are in a similar vein. Economic threats are a language the technocrats understand. Whether Trump is forced to make good on his threats or not, the very fact of the threat may well be enough. Clearly, they’re already rattling the Canadian government.
As finance minister, she explained the need to take Trump’s tariffs threats “extremely seriously.” Warning that it could lead to a “tariff war” with the United States, she said Ottawa must keep its “fiscal powder dry.” “That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford,” she said in an apparent rebuke of a recent sales tax holiday that critics said was costly and aimed at bolstering the ruling Liberals’ sagging political fortunes.
Dalhousie University professor Lori Turnbull called Ms Freeland’s exit “a total disaster.” “It really shows that there is a crisis of confidence in Trudeau,” she said. “And makes it much harder for Trudeau to continue as prime minister.”
Tellingly, this is the first open cabinet revolt against Trudeau’s rule. Previous dissenters were most often backbenchers or minor frontbenchers. As well as Freeland stepping down, last week Housing Minister Sean Fraser announced he was quitting politics.
Analogies of rat and sinking ships come to mind.
