How Trudeau went from Canada’s Scarlet to a Disgraced Prime Minister

As if right out of a Shakespearean tragedy, Trudeau’s fall from grace has been a somber watch for liberals and poetic justice for conservatives. The liberal party’s domination in Canadian politics seems all but over. But how did Canada’s progressive dreams end up in such a precarious situation?

The beginning of this tragedy doesn’t begin at Trudeau’s rise to power; it begins at his father’s. Justin Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, was a trailblazer, but for all the wrong reasons. Up until that point, the prime minister of Canada wielded little autonomy, often following the Royal Monarch’s command. However, Pierre Trudeau strayed from this principle. Amidst an economic crisis, Pierre attempted to socialize Canada’s economy, which ended up as a resounding failure and had the effect of aggravating the economic ruin. Pierre Trudeau resigned in light of this blunder. What followed was a sweeping dismantling of the liberal majority in parliament losing over 90 of their seats, a result that would have cataclysmic effects on the party for years to come. It took decades of meticulous planning throughout several administrations to undo Pierre Trudeau’s disastrous plan. But, as people often say: “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” 

Trudeau’s ascension to the Liberal Party corresponded with a rise in progressive sentiment in the Western world. Particular events of note include Obama’s rise to stardom, the budding Black Lives Matter movement, and the prevalence of online activism. To call Trudeau the face of progressivism wouldn’t be untoward. His charisma, rhetoric, and bold proclamations for Canada garnered admiration from liberal leaders across the globe. 

Trudeau was voted in as Prime Minister of Canada in 2015, winning a respectable 40% of the popular vote, an impressive feat considering Canada’s multi-party system. Trudeau and the Liberal Party would win the two more elections, each with a successively smaller margin. The party has now reached the point where, if they were to go into the election with Trudeau as their headliner, they would almost certainly lose. Why has this become the case? The rationale behind this slow and steady decline is simple: too much too soon. 

Trudeau promised to build Canada into a progressive juggernaut. However, he went about it in the wrong manner, and the result of his miscalculation is a bleak future for liberalism in Canada and a country that is in a state of disarray. For example, in 2018, the Trudeau administration legalized the sale of cannabis and lax enforcement of harder drugs. The effect: spikes in homelessness and drug-related deaths. The impact of this leniency has been felt most acutely by minorities, specifically the indigenous people. The irony of the situation is that, though Trudeau has allocated historic figures for Indigenous reparations, his administration has been responsible for the vast deterioration in health experienced by this demographic. 

Another instance where Trudeau’s policy objectives have clashed can be seen in his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to passing a robust relief program to aid those financially affected by the pandemic, Trudeau’s administration insisted on expanding government programs, which was against the common wisdom, claiming that rolling back programs would lead to economic inequality. The direct effect of this heavy spending was Canada’s deficit booming to a record 328 billion dollars in 2020. The long-term effects propagated the very thing Trudeau was planning on preventing: economic inequality. In response to the poor economic state Canada found itself in after the pandemic, Trudeau openly invited around 500,000 immigrants to stimulate the workforce. The impact was anything but. With the influx of new residents, the housing market became obscenely expensive, making most accommodations unaffordable and furthering economic disparities.

While Trudeau was embroiled in plenty of personal scandals, it was his policies that put the nail in the coffin. Like his father, he flew too close to the sun without checking his wings. His progressive dream backfired, leaving Canadian citizens in a state of disillusionment. And like his father, he resigned from his post before an impending electoral loss for the Liberal Party. Many renowned figures asserted that Justin Trudeau would leave his mark on Canadian politics. I can say confidently that he certainly has.