Trudeau’s Horrible Year: Divorce, Economic Crisis, Chinese Influence Inquiry, Rift With India, NaziGate Scandal, Sinking in the Polls
2023 will not be missed by Justin Trudeau. The embattled Canadian Prime Minister has had a ‘annus horribilis‘ (horrible year), a year filled with strife and struggle, both personally and politically.
His divorce from his longtime wife was worsened with an internet rumor that was having a gay affair with Emanuel Macron.
Politically, a potentially damning ‘foreign influence inquest’ can unearth Chinese ties very damaging for Trudeau and his party.
And, of course, in just a week, the PM has gone from accusing India of political assassination, to happily applauding a 98-year-old Nazi fighter in Parliament in the ‘NaziGate’ scandal.
The polls show his support is as low as it has ever been, but he is still seen as the Liberal Party’s best chance to secure a historic fourth term in the next election in two years.
While Trudeau has defied low polling numbers before, to win three elections, most opinion polls show him losing badly to his newest rival, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
Reuters reported:
“Last month, the Conservatives led the Liberals 39% to 30%, an Ipsos poll showed. Some 60% of Canadians want Trudeau to step down to allow Liberal Party members to pick a new leader, up 6 points compared with December 2022, a separate Ipsos poll said.”
The potential alternatives are Finance Minister (and Nazi Ukrainian sympathizer granddaughter) Chrystia Freeland, and former central banker Mark Carney.
But none of them are a match to the Prime Minister.
“‘When he is on form, he can light up a room and the others just can’t’, said one Liberal who played a key role in the 2021 electoral campaign. The other potential Liberal leaders do not ‘have anywhere near Trudeau’s wattage’, the person added.”
No Canadian prime minister since 1908 has won four consecutive elections. Besides, the Canadian economy is stressed with interest rates at a 22-year high and people reeling under a high cost of living and a deepening housing crisis.
Angus Reid Institute polling company has the Conservatives at 39%, enough for a majority in the House of Commons, versus 27% for the Liberals.
“‘We’ve seen him down this far before and we’ve seen him climb back up’, [Poll analyst] Kurl said. ‘He has sort of been the Houdini of escaping terrible polling numbers before’.”
Trudeau’s accusation that Indian murdered a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia has put Canada in an awkward position with allies, who are mostly seeking closer ties with New Delhi to counter China’s rise.
WIONews reported:
“He sparked a meme fest on social media for bringing up strained ties between India and his country during his talks with United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and King of Jordan Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein over the ongoing situation in Israel.
Trudeau dialed the king of Jordan on Monday (Oct 9) and provided him with an ‘update on the situation between Canada and India, underscoring the importance of respecting the rule of law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations’, his office said in a statement.
His conversation came just hours after he spoke to the President of UAE along the same lines.
‘On the phone today, His Highness @MohamedBinZayed and I spoke about the current situation in Israel. We expressed our deep concern and discussed the need to protect civilian life. We also spoke about India and the importance of upholding – and respecting – the rule of law’, he wrote on his official X account.”
Social media users are trolling the Canadian Prime Minister for ‘complaining’ about India to other world leaders in the middle of the Israeli conflict with Hamas.
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