Tasha Kheiriddin: Justin Trudeau goes out blaming and betraying Canadians one more time

In classic narcissistic fashion, Trudeau on Monday blamed his party — and everyone else — for his problems

Published Jan 06, 2025  •  4 minute read

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes an announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. Photo by Adrian Wyld /The Canadian Press

At 11 a.m. ET on January 6, 2025, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally put the country out of its misery and resigned.

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Sort of.

“I intend to resign as party leader and prime minister after the party selects its next leader in a robust, competitive nationwide process,” he announced. And how long will that take? Over two months, by the sound of it. Because prior to announcing his resignation, the prime minister also asked the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until March 24.

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Why? “Parliament has been paralyzed for months,” Trudeau said. “This morning, I advised the Governor General that we need a new session of Parliament.”

With those words, Trudeau effectively stuck it to the opposition — and to voters — by buying his party time to regroup. For two-and-a-half months there will be no chance for a non-confidence vote and no chance for an election.

But Trudeau also bought time for something else — perhaps the unthinkable: that he might just maybe still stick around.

Yes, you read that right. Because at one point in response to a reporter’s question, Trudeau even said this in French: “If I’m not the one to lead the party into the next election, the polarization in Parliament that we currently see should die down a bit.” And that “if” is theoretically possible. If the House votes down critical budget measures when it reconvenes in late March and Trudeau hasn’t yet been replaced or has not formally stepped aside, the parliamentary vote could trigger an election. And he would still be leader.

So the clock is ticking, because that means that starting now the Liberal party has a scant 11 weeks to hold a leadership contest and install someone else. So, Trudeau has stuck it to his political family too.

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But why would Trudeau do that, when a shortened contest compromises the Liberals’ electoral chances by making it that much harder for any outsider to contest the leadership and bring in fresh, blood untainted by the Trudeau government’s unpopular legacy? Why would he hurt his own party?

That’s easy: Because it’s not Trudeau’s fault that he’s quitting — it’s theirs.

In classic narcissistic fashion, Trudeau on Monday blamed his party — and everyone else — for his problems.

He blamed his caucus: “My friends, as you all know, I’m a fighter,” he said. But “it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” he sighed. Never mind that his party, under his leadership, had fallen to life-threatening 16 per cent support in  a recent Angus Reid Institute poll, that also showed 59 per cent of Liberal party supporters saying he should resign. Or that three of his four national caucuses have been calling for him to quit.

Then he blamed former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, saying that he hoped she would take on one of “the most important files in my government” — presumably referring to the offer he made her to become a minister without portfolio to handle Canada-U.S. relations, so he could replace her with Mark Carney. But, Trudeau said, “she chose otherwise.” Gee, who wouldn’t want to be demoted from a top cabinet position to go deal with a U.S. president who hates you?

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And he blamed the other parties. He claimed that stepping down as leader would decrease polarization in the House of Commons, framing the political climate as a referendum on his presence, and positioning himself as the sacrificial lamb for Canada’s political dysfunction. In the interests of democracy, he would withdraw himself so that parliamentarians can “serve Canadians.”

The prime minister even passed the blame when asked by a reporter Monday about his self-professed greatest political regret, failing to enact electoral reform. He said he would have liked a change to allow people “to make second and third choices,” as opposed to a system that continues to “polarize and divide Canadians.” But abandoning any effort at reform wasn’t his fault, of course: he said he could not change the system unilaterally without the support of the other parties — conveniently omitting his own disgraceful and deceitful role in shelving one of his signature 2015 campaign promises.

As he leaves — or perhaps stays — Trudeau’s legacy will be defined not just by what he accomplished but by the way he exited. For a leader once hailed as a unifying figure, his departure was a pathetic exercise in self-pity that will do nothing to heal the divisions he created. He is right about one thing, though: he is a fighter. And he just punched his party, his colleagues and the entire country in the nose.

National Post

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