Justin Trudeau’s tenure as prime minister of Canada winds down this weekend, as his Liberal Party chooses a new leader and gets set for a transition of power. Trudeau’s near-decade as PM began in the fall of 2015 when he embodied youthful optimism and a progressive agenda, focused on legalizing cannabis, advancing rights for women and LGBTQ individuals, and improving life for the Canadian middle class. His biggest achievements include renegotiating NAFTA during the first Donald Trump administration and steering Canada through the COVID-19 pandemic with significant financial aid programs.
But Trudeau’s tenure was also marked by multiple controversies, including the SNC-Lavalin scandal, the WE Charity affair, and accusations of foreign interference. He failed to make major progress on Indigenous issues and his signature environmental policy, the national carbon tax, became a lightning rod for Conservatives. His generous pandemic aid programs doubled the national debt, and his invocation of the Emergency Act to remove the so-called “Freedom Convoy” from Ottawa in 2022 was found to be overreach by the courts.
By late last year, Trudeau’s Liberals had sunk so low in the polls that most assumed a Conservative government was inevitable. Since Trudeau announced his resignation in early January, however, his party’s numbers have soared, due both to the prospect of a new leader and antipathy towards Trump’s comments about making Canada the “51st state.” Ironically, Trump gave the unpopular Trudeau a last-minute shot at redemption, rebranding himself as the champion of Canadian values and defending democracy at home and abroad. A high note to leave on after a tumultuous term.
