As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to leave office, the best way to assess his political legacy is to judge the expectations he set for himself when he won his first election in 2015.
By that standard, he has clearly failed to deliver what he promised.
Here’s what he told Canadians in a campaign video from that time about what his years in office would be like.
With Parliament Hill in the background he said:
“This place belongs to all Canadians. It belongs to you. But after a decade in power, Stephen Harper thinks it belongs to him. So now, this place is broken. Today, I’m presenting a real plan to fix it …
“I know Harper and his government are the problem and the way to fix this place is to change the government … Replace this government with a better one. That’s what real change starts with.
“Our plan creates a truly transparent and open government that will put an end to the secrecy and scandals of the Harper decade …
“Our plan will modernize government and bring it into the 21st century. We’ll open this place up so you can see what’s going on, hold us accountable, and contribute more directly to what happens here.
“We’ll shift power away from the back rooms, to make sure your MP will be your voice here in Ottawa instead of Harper’s voice in your community …
“But most of all, real change means we’ll give our Parliament, our government and our democracy back to you.”
A decade later, what Trudeau criticized Harper for is part of his own legacy – scandals, secrecy and excessive power centralized in the the Prime Minister’s Office.
An emotional Trudeau elaborated on what he hopes Canadians will think of him in the years ahead at an announcement last week that the government is working on an expansion of his $10-a-day child care program with the provinces, during which he appeared near tears.
“On a personal level, I’ve made sure that every single day in this office I put Canadians first, that I have people’s backs,” he said.
“And that’s why I’m here to tell you all that we got you. Even in the last days of this government, we will not let Canadians down, today and long into the future.”
But that’s not the assessment of ordinary Canadians, according to an Angus Reid survey released last week of 1,850 adults taken from March 4-6.
It found while 63% believe Trudeau tried to tackle the country’s biggest problems and 30% said he made progress on them, 70% said he either tried to solve these problems but failed (33%), didn’t address them at all (15%) or made them worse (22%).
“Trudeau’s legacy is … more negative than positive in most regions of the country – aside from Atlantic Canada,” the survey said, “though many in each region also feel he will be viewed as average.”
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Not all of the findings were negative.
Canadians generally viewed Trudeau’s legalization of marijuana as a success (52% compared to 24% who said it was a failure), along with his handling of the pandemic (47% approval albeit with a significant minority of 31% describing it as a failure).
The survey also found general approval for his handling of Canada’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his expansion of Canada’s social safety net through the Canada Child Benefit, dental care and other programs.
But most Canadians described as failures Trudeau’s rapid increase of immigration levels (64%), response to inflation (55%) and introduction of the carbon tax (53%).
“After nearly a decade of governance by the Trudeau Liberals … initial optimism has given way to more criticism than applause,” the survey concluded.
“Majorities of Canadians believe the Trudeau era has had a negative impact on Canadians’ trust in the federal government (63%) and housing affordability (61%).”
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The survey also found significant numbers of Canadians believe the Trudeau Liberals have harmed more than helped Canada’s energy sector (42% negative), infrastructure (32%), the economy (52%), relations with the U.S. (48%), the federal government relationship with the provinces (43%), health care (37%), the job market (37%) and national unity (43%).
“Asked to describe what they’ll remember most about the near-decade that Trudeau led the country, the most common responses mention either the pandemic response or scandals like the SNC-Lavalin and WE Charity affairs,” the survey said.
Ironically, Trudeau may be going out on a bit of a high note since U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war against Canada now has many polls showing the Liberals are competitive with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, whereas a few weeks ago they appeared to be headed for a resounding defeat in this year’s federal election.