With his popularity plummeting and amid growing fears about the consequences of a second Donald Trump presidency, the unexpected resignation of Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, calls Justin Trudeau’s political future into question.
In the political earthquake unleashed in Ottawa by the Freeland’s sudden departurewho held the Finance portfolio, politicians from other parties and even the prime minister’s party are calling for Trudeau’s resignation.
In her scathing resignation letter, Freeland on Monday appeared to question Trudeau’s ability to confront the aggressive economic nationalism of Trump’s “America First.” “Canadians are not sure we are understanding the gravity of the moment,” he added, referring to Trump’s threat to put 25% tariffs to all goods and services coming from Canada.
For political analysts, the resignation letter is the beginning of the end for Trudeau and a warning to other countries: Trump’s unpredictability and belligerence can open divisions even in the narrowest political alliances.
A former Financial Times journalist, Freeland had been with the prime minister for more than a decade and was considered a key piece and competent of his Government. Before taking charge of Finance and the deputy head of government, she was first Minister of International Trade, and then Minister of Foreign Affairs.
During Trump’s first presidency, his skillful management of what could have been a turbulent renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) earned him praise. For this reason, University of Ottawa academic specializing in Canadian politics Tyler Chamberlin believes that his departure can now only be interpreted as bad news for Trudeau.
“With what is happening with the tariffs, one of the things that comforted me was knowing that there was going to be someone like Freeland [en el equipo de Trudeau]Chamberlin said. “This just complicated everything.”
Although his popularity is at rock bottom, Trudeau insists on taking his party until the 2025 electoral process, sparking comparisons with Joe Biden and the little attention he paid to those who asked him to resign, until there were only a few months left. for the US presidential elections. In the next elections, a catastrophic defeat for Trudeau’s progressive Liberal Party.
“As soon as everything starts up again after the holidays, the show is over,” Chamberlin says. “Yeah [Trudeau] runs for election in the state he is in, it is going to be a defeat of epic proportions,” he adds.
Monday’s political chaos could be seen live on the news programs that had prepared to cover Freeland with the fall statement on the economy. The cameras remained fixed on the copies of the statement, stacked under a black cloth that was not revealed.
Clearly won by the conservative candidate, the local elections held this Monday in the electoral district of Cloverdale-Langley City (British Columbia) were the last dire message for Trudeau. But the prime minister seems determined to remain in office: this Monday he attended a party fundraising event. According to several sources, he seemed encouraged by the support he received.
But the decision to resign could also be made by other people in the year ahead, argues Jonathan Rose, when the New Democratic Party could withdraw its support for Trudeau’s minority government. “The prime minister can be the one who goes down with the ship or the one who resigns before that happens,” explains Rose, who heads the Political Science department at Queen’s University in Kingston (Ontario). If that were to happen, Freeland could be the natural successor: her resignation letter does not close any door to continuing in politics.
What is happening in Canada can be seen as a preview of what could await other nations during Trump’s second term, Rose says. “Trump is a troublemaker, driven less by ideology than by the idea of disrupting, dismantling and altering a stable political system,” he adds. “That’s what you’re doing here, the lesson for other countries is that you have to learn to manage negotiations with a bully.”
Following Trump’s tariff threats against Mexico, China and Canada, Trudeau quickly traveled to Florida to be photographed with Trump, both smiling. Canada would increase security and surveillance measures at the border to fight illegal immigration, the prime minister said. In the fall economic statement (which was finally released late Monday), $1.3 billion has already been allocated to these items.
But if Trudeau hoped that the trip to Florida would serve to appease Trump, it soon became clear that the US president-elect considered it another personal victory, repeatedly disparaging Trudeau by referring to him as “governor” of the State of Canada.
Trump also attacked Freeland after her departure from the government. “Totally toxic” during the NAFTA renegotiation, he said. “She will not be missed.”
“It’s difficult when you have someone so unstable when it comes to the rules of diplomacy,” Rose explains. “The lesson that other countries can take away is this: be careful.”
Translation of Francisco de Zárate
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