Monday January 6, 2025 | NATIONAL NEWS COVERAGE | VICTORIA, BC
Political news analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Parliament is now prorogued until March 24. This comes as Trudeau has announced he will step down as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada after a new leader is chosen.
Meanwhile the prime minister will likely need to focus some of his remaining time on Canada-US relations. This morning he held a regular cabinet meeting, getting on with the business of government.
Trudeau reminded media today that his Liberal government — most recently re-elected in September 2021 — is now the longest-serving minority government in Canadian history; he can thank the NDP for that (The Supply and Confidence Agreement between the Liberals and the NDP lasted from March 2022 to August 2024).
But now “it’s time for a reset”, said Trudeau today. “It’s time for the temperature to come down,” Trudeau said in his remarks to media today outside his Rideau Cottage residence — a backdrop reminiscent of his days leading Canada during the COVID pandemic.
He said that “other people” can “have a fresh start in Parliament to be able to navigate through these complex times domestically and internationally”.
“The reset is actually in two parts,” said Trudeau, itemizing the prorogation and also that removing him from the equation as the leader who will fight the next election for the Liberal party could reduce the level of polarization “that we see right now in the House and in Canadian politics”. He aid that will “allow people to actually focus on serving Canadians in this House and with their work, the way Canadians deserve.”
The House of Commons has been at a virtual standstill since MPs returned to Ottawa in the fall of 2024 with “obstruction, filibustering and a total lack of productivity”, said Trudeau today.
This day marks the beginning of a transition phase for Canada. There is now a seven-week period as the Liberals re-sort themselves.
By mid-year things will look a lot different: Canada will have a new interim prime minister or a new elected prime minister if an election is called in the spring.
The official scheduled date for the next election is currently set for October 20, 2025.
Trudeau’s impact:
Trudeau has led the country through hopeful times and difficult times. He began his time as prime minister with a direction that emphasized progressive directions for the middle class and youth. In the pandemic his approach to supporting Canadians might have looked much different under less compassionate government leadership.
Trudeau’s nine years at a Liberal government helm has seen low- and middle-income families benefit and has brought many children out of poverty. The Liberal social policy under Trudeau has included the Family Benefit (for families with children) and the quarterly climate action tax rebate, aka GST rebate (also delivered as the grocery rebate last year).
Trudeau’s government returned the official retirement age to 65 (former Prime Minister Stephen Harper had pushed it up to 67) and improved benefits for seniors through OAS and GIS.
Trudeau excelled at bringing fresh blood into politics, not relying on old-party connections as much as captivating the talents and skills of people who had not built their careers entirely in politics. That did create some bumpy moments when some of those new politicians (as cabinet ministers) lost the beat with how politics is done in Ottawa. But the idea of bringing in current expertise has set a good example for future governments.
Many women have had significant roles in the Trudeau cabinet and government, including some who are now ready to try their own hand at party leadership, including Chrystia Freeland, Mélanie Joly and Anita Anand.
High-profile cabinet ministers François-Philippe Champagne, Dominic LeBlanc and Jonathan Wilkinson are also possible options for Liberal leadership.
Trudeau today said he expects the Liberal leadership race to be a “robust, nationwide and competitive process”.
The names of people from outside the Liberal caucus that are being tossed about as being interested in being the next Liberal leader include former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney (an economist but not a natural political performer) and former BC Premier Christy Clark (complete immersed in being political but bearing a track record of dis-serving British Columbians).
Trudeau’s style and impact:
Trudeau has set a high standard for effective ‘retail politics’, bringing political issues into the homes and communities of Canadians. He has by example rejected divisive populism.
Trudeau has built processes in government and legislation that will ensure inequality, reconciliation, action on climate change, relying on evidence and expertise. In any foreseeable Canadian reality those areas of social the progress achieved by the Trudeau Liberals won’t be completely abandoned by future governments. In other words, progress has been made and will stick.
Even today Trudeau has displayed his political skill and commitment to the Liberals as a party… by stepping aside now he will diffuse the ‘anti-Trudeau’ approach of Poilievre’s Conservative campaign.
In future, Canadians may find themselves missing the elegance of Trudeau’s political presence. Note that over the past few months he has never returned the vitriol that has been hurled against him both from within his own party as well as from the Conservatives.
Opposition response today:
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre opened his remarks today with the missive that “Justin Trudeau is finally leaving”, indicative of the continual political personalization that he has directed at Trudeau. In that context it could be said that this is a win for Poilievre in the moment, but the anti-Trudeau toxicity will not quickly dissipate in the upcoming federal campaign momentum.
Poilievre highlighted how the Liberals nine years ago brought in “the job-killing inflationary carbon tax”, something he plans to drop if the Conservatives form government. People may not realize that means the quarterly GST rebate won’t land in the bank accounts of low-to-middle income Canadians if the carbon tax fiscal program is dropped. It’s less likely that the Family Benefit will be pulled back, but there is no way to know.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh today further severed any idea of ties with the Liberal Party while highlighting how the NDP used their agreement with the Liberals to achieve advancements for Canadians. He emphasized how the NDP has fought all the way for accomplishments that benefit all Canadians. He emphasized how the NDP (with just 24 or 25 MPs) has fought all the way for accomplishments that benefit all Canadians.
Over recent years the NDP pushed for improvements in delivering child care, a low-income dental plan, moving further to achieve pharmacare across the country and pushing for last year’s GST/grocery rebate. Prior to that it was the NDP who pushed for a liveable amount for the CERB support payments during the pandemic.
As Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet pointed out this morning, the Liberal Party has been “deeply transformed by Trudeau and there is no possible way for the party to become something else within a few weeks”. He says the Liberals will be the “same party” with the same mentality, regardless of who ends up as that party’s leader.
The Bloc stands to end up as the Official Opposition across the floor from a Conservative government, if polls about Pierre Poilievre’s popularity have been properly indicative.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May today said Trudeau’s decision to step down was an “inescapable conclusion” for Trudeau given that — among other reasons — he was never groomed to fill his father’s shoes. That somehow falls short of realizing that Trudeau and the Liberals had several options which their leader was obviously sorting out over the past few weeks, which Trudeau said today had the best outcomes for Canadians in mind.
BC Premier Eby’s comment:
BC Premier David Eby posted a statement in social media today: “While we didn’t always agree, I want to thank Justin Trudeau for his service. We worked on many important issues including partnering to lower the cost of childcare for families. Today, we must come together to protect Canadian workers and businesses against US tariff threats.”
At the recent memorial for former BC Premier John Horgan with Trudeau in the audience, Eby had quipped that Horgan had managed to leave political office more popular than when he arrived; perhaps that was intended with good humour but point made.
Eby will address media on Tuesday morning, January 7.
Alistair MacGregor’s comment:
Local MP Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford) today pointed out the lack of productivity in the House of Commons in the session that has jut now today been prorogued.
“The last three months have seen the Liberals and Conservatives trading insults in the House of Commons over who was worse while in government,” MacGregor posted in social media.
Though it should be noted that the NDP was also part of the non-forward movement of the House in the recent session, ending with the NDP party leader saying the NDP would support a non-confidence motion at the next possible opportunity. For the record, one NDP MP (Charlie Angus) said he would not support a non-confidence motion.
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