The West’s rolling crisis of governance claimed another victim early this week, when Justin Trudeau resigned as Canadian prime minister in a kind of self-inflicted coup de grâce.
Following an abrupt falling out with Chrystia Freeland, who tendered her own resignation last month, Trudeau’s near decade-long reign became entirely untenable, a state of affairs he readily acknowledged Monday.
By the time he bowed to the pressure, more than four in 10 self-identified Liberals (and three quarters of Canadian voters more generally) said Trudeau should voluntarily step down as leader of the party he once resurrected. He’ll stay on as premier in a de facto caretaker capacity until Liberals choose a new chieftain. Parliament’s frozen in the meantime.
Although the abdication probably seems unceremonious to outside observers, it’s important to note that Trudeau’s political lambency didn’t actually last very long. He grappled early and (fairly) often with scandals of various sorts and presided over a minority government during the latter years of his tenure. Like any “good” liberal, he was derided for spending too much on social measures during the pandemic and for encroaching unduly on individual liberties in the name of public health. He took the blame for high inflation and, relatedly, for Canada’s housing affordability crisis.
There are shades of Joe Biden here. Liberals’ zeal to quickly find another standard-bearer feels quite a bit like Democrats’ rush to crown Kamala late last summer. The concern’s the same: Liberals worry their current leader’s now so unpopular they’ll lose (more) ground to Conservatives, which in Canada means further bolstering Pierre Poilievre, whose political style and policy promises conjure unavoidable parallels with Donald Trump.
Speak of the devil, Trump on Monday had a subtle suggestion: Canada should merge with the US. “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 mused. “If Canada merged with the US, there would be no tariffs, taxes would go way down and they would be totally secure from the threat of the Russian and Chinese ships that are constantly surrounding them.”
That’s obviously ridiculous (it could be the plot for a Hollywood comedy) but consider the source. Also consider that Trump seems quite serious this time around about acquiring Greenland, despite the fact that Greenland isn’t “for sale.” In fairness to Trump, none of that’s (quite) as crazy as it sounds. America is an acquisitive nation, all prior presidential protestations to the contrary aside. If you haven’t read How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, it’s well worth your time.
In the wake of Trudeau’s announcement, Poilievre accused Liberals of perpetrating a Weekend at Bernie’s act with Trudeau, just not quite as literal as the charade Republicans charged Democrats with vis-à-vis Biden last year. “Every Liberal MP and Leadership contender supported everything Trudeau did for nine years, and now they want to trick voters by swapping in another Liberal face to keep ripping off Canadians for another four years, just like Justin,” he sneered.
Fortunately, Poilievre knows just how “fix” things: Put him in charge. He’ll build homes, repair the budget and “stop the crime.” (Sound familiar?)
Candidates to replace Trudeau include Freeland and Mark Carney. Trudeau’s fall puts Canada in the same boat as France, Germany and, of course, the US: Grappling with the demise of neoliberalism and the rise of the (far-)right.
Because Trudeau’s sticking around both as party leader and prime minister until Liberals choose a replacement, he’ll presumably be in charge of Canada’s trade talks with Trump from Inauguration Day through late-March. Trudeau’s already been to Mar-A-Lago once since November, and I suppose he’ll be in D.C. at some point soon enough.
Maybe, when they meet for what could be the final time, Trump will float the idea of a merger or, failing that, a hostile takeover. “Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State,” Trump lied on Monday. “Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!”
Assuming we Canadians would get to vote after such a merger, in the short term we would elect 2 more Democratic senators, and probably 60% of representatives would be Democrats. So not going to happen with the current makeup of your government.
Now, if you conquer us and we become a northern Puerto Rico, who knows.
All the provinces west of Ontario and Quebec would be a welcome addition to Alaska, Idaho, Montana and North Dakota. All the Eastern provinces should remain as Nouveau Canada. While we’re at it, it’s past time for Cuba to be annexed by Florida. They literally dying to come here anyway. It’s fun to contemplate these additions.
Now all we need is a motive to invade. Unsubstantiated rumors of WMDs (the nukes, not the Heisenberg Report commenter) should suffice.
This has me laughing out loud.
Unsubstantiated rumors of me have often served as a causus beli. Comes with the territory I’m afraid.
(Fun fact for the few regulars who make it this deep into the comments: my screen name is not initials–it does stand for something–but not weapons nor mass nor destruction).
World’s Most Dangerous? 🙂
Dude. You know, that or, His Dudeness, or Duder, or El Duderino if you’re not into the whole brevity thing. (There’s a Dad joke in there somewhere.)
I suspect there’s a beverage involved here.
Nothing wrong with white male dudes. I kinda like them. 🙂
Good riddance.
“Look, a squirrel!” Pumpkinführer wins with every inane call to buy Greenland (or Canada, or wherever) or to tariff everything, because like puppies we chase every squirrel pointed our way and fail to call out the real stories, the fascism growing in front of us. Russ Vought will implement Project 2025 under our noses while we compete for peanuts with the squirrels. Schedule F will be brought back into force, thousands of non-loyalist federal employees will be canned and replaced only where useful, and only with lackeys. And that’s only one of the many despicable fronts about to be attacked, including preemptive, illegal moves that can only be fought with the slow-moving court system. Greenland and Canada are cover for the real work being done, and it’s so much more fun to publish about.
I agree, the Canada, Greenland, Panama blather is just distraction and cover.
It’s like the Chapelle Show “Black Bush” sketch. “Mars bitches!”