The Canadian government is in trouble.
The government currently in charge of the country — led by longtime Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — took its latest blow on Monday, when Trudeau’s right-hand man (and former staunch ally), Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, surprised Canadians by offering her resignation in spectacular fashion, a Issued letters that strongly criticized his old boss.
Freeland specifically cited his disagreement with Trudeau over how to manage the Canadian economy in the face of U.S. tariff hikes as a breaking point in his relationship. President-elect Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on Canada shortly after his election; These threats have put pressure on the Trudeau government, but they are only part of a larger problem. Trudeau and his party have been steadily losing public and parliamentary confidence for years. deal mean To keep Trudeau’s party in power This year is brokenAnd pressure is building on Trudeau to resign, especially as his party is expected to suffer in next year’s national election.
This meant that, even before Freeland resigned, the Trudeau administration was on the brink of collapse. And now, with Freeland’s resignation, Canada’s government is on even shakier ground as it prepares to face an incoming, adversarial, Trump administration.
Trudeau is unpopular in his party and in Canada
Before Freeland’s defeat, Trudeau had two problems: the public was unhappy with him and his party’s policies, and many in his party were unhappy with his management.
Trudeau has been Canada’s leader for nearly 10 years and the leader of his Liberal Party for nearly 12 years. That’s a long time to be in power in the Canadian context. At the time, Trudeau’s popularity suffered; Although he started with one 63 percent approval ratingThat has decreased 28 percent in recent polls.
“In some ways, it’s not surprising that Canadians are just fed up with government, because you get to a certain point in your tenure where you’ve been there for so long that it’s easy to look around and blame everything. Wrong on the guy who’s been in charge for 10 years,” the University of Toronto political science professor Elizabeth McCallion told Vox. “We’ve reached a point where a lot of Canadians don’t want Trudeau around anymore.”
Canada has some big problems right now. The country is struggling with a cost of living and housing crisis, and debate has grown over the wisdom of the Liberal Party’s immigration and environmental strategies ahead of the 2025 election. The main rival of the Liberal Party Conservative Partyhas been fast Make connections between Trudeau’s policy choices And this is the problem.
The Conservatives are expected to make big gains in next year’s election, and the rival parties’ political attacks on the Liberals and their record have already proven strong. Trudeau’s team is losing What should have been some safe seats in recent special elections. These losses helped create a crisis of confidence for Trudeau within his party.
“He’s been going through some kind of meltdown over the past few months, including some pretty significant by-election losses,” University of Toronto political science professor Andrew MacDougall told Vox. “He lost one [district] Called St. Paul’s in Toronto, which was indeed the core of Liberal support, and alone he started speculation that he might have to go. [Liberals lost] Even in Montreal, where the party has its strongest base – if you can’t win there, you can’t really win anywhere, was the suggestion.
Freeland’s resignation only prompted renewed and intensified calls for Trudeau to resign — and SSome of these calls came from members of his own team. If he does not resign, there is almost no way to oust him from the party leadership, and no one has emerged as a strong candidate for the job. However, the House of Commons could vote for an early election through a no-confidence vote in late January, when they reconvene after recess.
If that vote succeeds, an election will be called early, and it’s unclear if that will happen. Trudeau survived Prior mistrust Thanks to the support of former coalition partners, the left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) and the pro-Quebec party Bloc Québécois. But the NDP pulled out of its partnership deal with the Liberals earlier this year, and the leader of the Bloc Québécois said he Work to end Trudeau’s term After the Liberal Party failed to meet some of its demands. However, it may not be in the NDP’s interest to dissolve the government now, and if they choose to save Trudeau, the Liberals will retain power — for now.
“Both the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois want to start the election but the New Democratic Party is much less keen to do so because the election looks bad for them. They’ve helped the Liberals for years and they may continue to do so when there’s another confidence vote,” Daniel Beland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, told Vox.
The tariff factor brought everything to mind
Trump has thrown a new factor into all this internal turmoil.
Trump threatened in late November Imposing 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada Until drugs, especially fentanyl and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!
its reality Fentanyl trafficking And migrant flows are far more complex than Trump suggests, and few Canada or Mexico can change quickly. If he follows through on his threat, this tariff will be extremely harmful to both countries; As for Canada, the United States is far from that Largest and most important trading partner. Those tariffs would worsen the affordability crisis that has plagued Trudeau of late.
Freeland was expected to lead Canada’s response to those tariffs and his resignation letter suggested that he and Trudeau disagreed on how to approach the issue they had raised.
“The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including threats of 25 percent tariffs,” Freeland wrote. “We have to take that threat very seriously.”
In the letter, Freeland also accused Trudeau of using expensive economic “gimmicks” — including breaks on certain taxes and stimulus checks for households below a certain threshold — to retain support, leaving Canada in a precarious fiscal position as it “faces a serious challenge .” “
unusual for it Member of Parliament And government ministers to speak out against their party leadership, McCallion and McDougall explain, and Freeland’s departure showed just how unstable Trudeau’s party unity really is.
Trudeau has not made a public statement since Freeland’s resignation; It’s unclear what her next move is, or how she and her new finance minister, Dominic LeBlanc, plan to deal with potential tariffs or internal party disputes. Trudeau and Freeland negotiated a trade deal with the previous Trump administration, and that combined experience could have served Trudeau well.
Trudeau won’t get a chance to fully rehash those talks, though. Even if he survives a possible no-confidence vote early next year, the election is scheduled for October, and again, the Conservatives are expected to win.
