Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has resigned as leader of the Liberal Party but decided to suspend Parliament and continue governing until a replacement is elected, which could take months. That means he will face the next US president as a “lame duck” and at a disadvantage, says the New York Times.
The severity of Canada’s institutional crcanisis, the newspaper notes, is particularly pressing since not only has President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian imports until Ottawa stops the arrival of illegal migrants and drugs from the northern border but also because the Republican in an increasingly serious tone has promised that he will seek to annex the country as “the 51st state” of the United States.
“The political levers he has pulled will give Mr Trudeau’s Liberal Party a chance to reinvent itself without him. But they will also leave Canada weakened as it braces for President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has threatened the country with tariffs that could cripple its economy,” the article added.
According to all analysts, Trudeau’s departure will improve the Liberal Party’s electoral chances in the next elections.
“The prime minister stepping down means it will be hard for him to carry any meaningful mandate in negotiating with the U.S., and it doesn’t signal any unity within Canada. It’s not a great time for Canada to be in this situation,” said Xavier Delgado, a fellow at the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank.
“Canada would be strongest in dealing with the United States if it could unify around the message for its leader — and that would apply to any country,” Delgado added.
In this sense, the article suggests that Trudeau’s desire to cling to power while the country is experiencing dramatic circumstances is a selfish act. After more than nine years as Prime Minister, he is only viewed favourably by less than 20% of Canadian citizens, and even his own party no longer wants him as its leader and candidate for the elections that must be held by October.
The New York Times said that while Trudeau has managed to delay his exit from the political scene so as not to be ejected immediately (something the prime minister perceived as an unacceptable humiliation of his legacy, according to press reports), these months in which a political corpse will govern Canada will only make the country weaker, at a time when it must be strong to confront Trump.
“It appears to be a gamble that Mr. Trudeau is willing to take,” the newspaper said.
President-elect Trump has, in recent weeks, repeatedly proposed the idea of Canada becoming the 51st US state.
“You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said at a press conference at his Florida Mar-a Lago home in December. “Canada and the United States, that would really be something.”
Trump reiterated his threat to impose a “substantial” tariff on Canadian goods unless the country takes steps to increase security on the shared US border.
On January 7, Trudeau hit back at the US president-elect, saying there isn’t “a snowball’s chance in hell” to join the two. The prime minister also said on X, “Workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other’s biggest trading and security partner.”
Responding to Trump’s threat, Canada has promised to implement new security measures along the border, including strengthened surveillance and adding a joint “strike force” to target transnational organised crime. Trump reacted to this development on January 7, saying that he was not considering using military force to make Canada part of the US but raised concerns about its neighbour’s military spending.
“They have a very small military. They rely on our military. It’s all fine, but, you know, they got to pay for that. It’s very unfair,” he said.
Canada has been pressured to increase its military spending as it continues to fall short of the target for NATO members. The country’s defence budget currently stands at C$27bn ($19.8bn), though the Trudeau government has promised to boost spending to almost C$50bn by 2030.
In effect, Trump has played his part in Trudeau’s downfall and bullied Canada into upping its defence spending, which will undoubtedly benefit the American military industry. Trudeau was Trump’s great ideological rival and often criticised the billionaire, but it appears that the incoming US president has achieved his revenge.
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