With his announced and yet delayed resignation, Justin Trudeau has put Canada in a horrible position. After weeks of seemingly having no one in charge, we now have a lame-duck PM, at the very moment, we need a government with a strong mandate.
In two weeks, Donald Trump will be sworn in as president of the United States of America and he’s promised to impose 25% tariffs on all goods entering the U.S.A. from Canada unless he gets what he wants.
With Trudeau now effectively a caretaker PM, with his main cabinet ministers campaigning to become PM, who will negotiate with Trump? More importantly, who will Trump take seriously as speaking for Canada with any authority?
It won’t be Justin Trudeau who Trump was mocking again on social media after the resignation.
“Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State. The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned,” Trump posted.
Whatever you think of Trump, his tariff threats or his repeated calls for Canada to become the 51st state, he will be president again in two weeks and he will need to be dealt with.
“I can assure you that the tools and the need to stand up for Canadians, to protect Canadians in their interests and continue to fight for the economy is something that everyone in this government will be singularly focused on,” Trudeau said when asked about this very issue by a reporter on Monday.
Despite what he says, Trudeau is in no position to negotiate with Trump or anyone else. He may technically still be prime minister but by announcing his resignation as he did, he has lost all authority.
We needed a federal election; we got prorogation and a Liberal leadership race.
It’s not even clear when the Liberals will choose a new leader. The party rules seem to indicate a four-month campaign is required but there are indications that may change. Veteran Liberal campaigner Don Guy, in a note to clients, said he expects the leadership race to run roughly Jan. 15 to March 15 with the last day to purchase memberships being sometime in February.
While Guy undoubtedly has great Liberal connections, his scenario remains speculation. The Liberal Party will be having a meeting to set the rules later this week.
“It is one of the most irresponsible and selfish acts of a government in Canadian history,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in response to the Trudeau resignation announcement.
It is a selfish act.
Rather than put country first, Trudeau has put himself first, his Liberal Party second and his country last. We are stuck with a leaderless, rudderless government at a time of great political peril.
“I am a fighter, and I am not someone who backs away from a fight,” Trudeau said as he resigned.
I’ll grant that he has been a fighter in the past. He took on the Liberal leadership when many doubted him. He won three elections including two very hard-fought campaigns for re-election that a less skilled campaigner would have lost.
Yet he is running away from fighting Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives in an election he knows he would lose. He is running away from the fight inside his own caucus over his leadership for the same reason.
When Parliament returns the week of March 24, with or without a new Liberal Leader and PM, the government will immediately face multiple confidence votes. Without a deal with Jagmeet Singh and the NDP, or perhaps the Bloc Quebecois, they would likely fail and put the country into an election.
At that point, we wouldn’t have a functional government until sometime in May. This is the position Trudeau has selfishly put us in.
You can hear Trump laughing all the way from Mar-a-Lago.