Justin Trudeau Must Go Now!

The water has drained out of the Right Honorable Justin Trudeau’s political bathtub, and for the sake of his legacy and the good of the country he should leave without further delay.

Perhaps surprising to some, this truth is clear with the events this week in the most westerly province of the country, British Columbia. Kevin Falcon, head of the BC United Party announced that his neo-liberal party is merging with the far-right Conservative Party of BC, led by John Rustad.

This means that in BC, the move to “Unite the Right” will soon be complete. There are still a lot of complications, such as the two BC parties on the conservative side of the political spectrum now have nominated candidates in the same ridings. That problem will quickly disappear.

The conservative political wave continues to rise in the country, and if Justin Trudeau does not heed the signs, the wave is going to smash his political boat (please excuse the confusion of metaphors between the bathtub and high seas…)

Other recent events are also in this mix. For instance, the Trudeau Liberals resorting to compulsory arbitration in the national railway Labour dispute has inflamed tensions in the alliance between the federal NDP under leader Jagmeet Singh and the Trudeau Liberals.

Trust the Oh-so-transparent Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to jump into the fray by calling on Singh to break the alliance with the Liberals and precipitate what Poilievre calls “The Carbon Tax Election.”

Never one to avoid reducing our country’s politics to the most basic and cynical level, Poilievre argues that the only thing holding Singh back from breaking the alliance is the prospect of him receiving his large Parliamentary pension in February. Never mind that Poilievre has already served sufficient time in the House and government to quality for his own generous pension.
And, Poilievre forges ahead with his position never to announce a Conservative policy to stave off climate change.
 
Although Trudeau has failed miserably to explain to Canadians the need for a Carbon Tax, if he bows out of politics now, his recognition of the imminent dangers of climate change will still stand as one of the great legacies of his time in office. He did something to fight the fires, floods, and drastic reduction in biodiversity.

His other great achievement in his nine years as Prime Minister has been the respect and recognition, he has shown for the country’s First Nations peoples and the direction of federal support or partnership to their communities.

The support Trudeau garnered at the recent Cabinet retreat in Halifax is one thing, but Trudeau still has not faced the anger and worry of his Liberal caucus members since the Liberals defeat in June in their Toronto-St. Paul’s stronghold riding. Backbenchers do not owe as much as cabinet ministers to the Prime Minister for their future electoral success. Trudeau has often failed to face the music in tough pollical situations; now he must.

He has relied on what some have termed his “marshmallow” (vague and shallow) language and has failed to articulate a plain and understandable agenda for this government. At the same time, he is a cunning political animal who obviously believes he is still the best person to lead the Liberals back out of the political wilderness.

No family across the country can avoid having some family problems or disputes. Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau have handled their separation with dignity and with full support for their three children.

When Trudeau makes his departure, he can learn from U.S. President Joe Biden’s experience. Biden was no doubt shattered after his terrible performance in the debate with former President Donald Trump. Then, after he withdrew his candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination, the love began to flow. Vice-President, Kamala Harris, and VP nominee Tim Waltz are already mounting a highly effective candidacy for the party’s nomination.

Trudeau could expect similar glowing tributes if he leaves the top job very soon. At the relatively young age of 52, he would likely find challenging work on the international stage where he is well respected.
 
If candidates to replace Trudeau from the current Liberal cabinet, such as strong, bilingual ministers like Marc Miller or Dominic Leblanc, were to take over Trudeau’s top job, they might not win the next election, but they could hold a respectable number of seats on which to mount a future campaign.
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One does not need to quote the polling numbers to show that with Trudeau heading the Liberals into the next election, even a year from now, they would face devasting losses. In the words of the great Bob Dylan song, Subterranean Homesick Blues: “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”