From 'favorite child' to stranger

Once one of the most popular leaders in Canadian history, Justin Trudeau has lost the credibility to remain as Prime Minister .

Justin Trudeau announced that he will resign as President of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister. (Source: The Canadian Press)

On January 6, the 53-year-old politician announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party and, with it, as Prime Minister after nine consecutive years in power. However, Mr. Trudeau will continue to hold these positions until the party elects a new President, expected on March 24.

Explaining his decision, Mr. Trudeau mentioned pressure and disagreement within the ruling party, stating: “This country needs a real choice in the next election and I understand that if I get caught up in internal fighting, I cannot be the best choice in that election.”

However, for many Canadian voters, this is just the “tip of the iceberg”. What brought down his government was a series of problems and challenges facing Canada.

Once the only one

Trudeau was known to many people when he was born on Christmas Day 1971, as the son of current Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In the 2015 federal election, the Conservative Party argued that he was just a former lightweight boxer, a public figure with no experience in the government apparatus. But for voters who were familiar with his father and clearly felt the young man's daily maturity in the harsh political arena, this was still a choice worth considering.

The rest is history. In 2015, he became the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history. In his first term, he proved that voters had made the right choice. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accelerated the reduction of child poverty, taxed the wealthy and cut taxes on the middle class, which makes up more than a third of Canada’s population. He legalized marijuana, imposed a carbon tax to reduce emissions and worked to improve the lives of Canada’s indigenous people.

In particular, Time (USA) said that Prime Minister Trudeau skillfully handled the Canada-US relationship under former President Donald Trump, promoted the signing of trade agreements, steered the country during the Covid-19 pandemic and provided timely support to maintain normal life for people, reducing casualties caused by this disease.

But what has troubled him is what happened next. Like most incumbent leaders in the West, Trudeau’s approval ratings have plummeted as he has faced the post-pandemic inflation crisis and then the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The recovery has been slow compared to its neighbors, while the immigration policy, which was expected to be a necessary “medicine”, has backfired without proper control. This has led to a record number of immigrant workers and international students flooding into Canada, exacerbating the real estate crisis in the land of maple leaves.

Not to mention the series of scandals during Mr. Trudeau's tenure, from his ill-considered holiday at the private island of the Shi'ite Muslim leader Aga Khan IV, to the racist story when he dressed up as a black man. The defeat in the by-elections in Toronto in July and Montreal in September 2024, culminating in the resignation of his confidant, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on December 16, was the "last straw" that forced him to leave the hot seat, unable to continue his father's 15-year achievement as Prime Minister.

Change generals in midstream

However, the ruling Liberal Party does not have much time to regret. Slow growth, the real estate crisis, and mass immigration are more serious than ever, negatively affecting the party's chances of winning the election in October. The time left for Donald Trump, who plans to impose significant tariffs on Canadian goods, to officially enter the White House is only a matter of days. The US-China competition, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Israel-Hamas, the Korean Peninsula, the East Sea... contain many variables that require Canada to act soon to maintain its position and ensure its interests.

In that context, Mr. Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of Canada and the first foreigner to hold the position of Governor of the Bank of England, is considered to be able to fill the necessary void. An economist with many years of experience on Wall Street, he is credited with helping Canada avoid the global economic crisis of 2008.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is also a strong candidate. She played a key role in pushing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and was one of the most powerful ministers in 2019. Her resignation forced Trudeau to reshuffle his cabinet and prompted the opposition to call for a vote of no confidence in the Liberal government.

Whoever succeeds him, Canada’s remarkable era of ups and downs under Trudeau will soon come to an end. But as inventor Alexander Graham Bell once said, “When one door closes, another opens…”

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thu-tuong-justin-trudeau-tu-con-cung-hoa-nguoi-dung-300231.html