Justin Trudeau’s exit from power in Canada — and his simultaneous step-down from the leadership of his party – might have an element of surprise in them, but this was in the coming. The exit of his finance minister, preceded by the resignation of the housing minister in recent days were tell-tale signs of the gathering gloom there. The serious crises vis-à-vis rising cost of living and shortage of homes were an invitation to political instability. Both these were a result of Trudeau’s huge widening of the immigration numbers in recent years. His ambitious goal to welcome so many – and as high as five lakh permanent residents per year from 2025 — was not balanced with a matching infrastructural build-up. Price rice and shortage of housing turned the generally easy-going people, including immigrants, against Trudeau. All the good that he did in the past 10 years failed to keep his profile high now. Once a government fails to manage the economy well, its days could as well be numbered. Trudeau himself gauged the fall in his esteem when he admitted after the resignation that he would not be the right choice for his party in the next elections. His rival and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who is tipped to succeed Trudeau, is bound to tighten the immigration laws even as Canada is badly in need of people by way of immigration to power its economy.
Young and dapper, Justine Trudeau inspired his nation for the past several years with his attempts to empower Canada. However, his commitment to uphold global environmental goals reduced the tempo of his economic push. His humanitarian approach to global issues, including his intake of large numbers of refugees from Syria, Ukraine etc, ultimately hurt the national economy. Canadians were compelled to stretch their limits. Trudeau, who had close personal and political links with the Sikh community there, has also erred perhaps in blaming the Indian government for the shooting down of a Khalistani militant leader outside a Sikh shrine in 2023. His failure to provide evidence to back his claim led to a major diplomatic stand-off between the two nations. Expectations are that the post-Trudeau period would help Canada build new bridges with New Delhi. Curiously, the re-election of Donald Trump as the US president also spelled fresh trouble for Trudeau. Trump strongly denounced the immigration reforms that the latter has spearheaded in Canada, which had an adverse spillover effect on the US. His warning of punitive steps in the form of additional taxation on goods imported to the US from Canada obviously accentuated Trudeau’s exit. All said, Canadians cannot afford to ignore the good sides of Trudeau’s 10 years in power, carrying with him the legacy of his father, the former premier Pierre Trudeau.
