Analysis: "You have to be loyal to Justin Trudeau... You have to be devoted to him. But he is not loyal and devoted to you” :::: “Whoever inherits will have just a shell to work with. It’s in tatters"

Canada in tatters as Justin Trudeau steps down !

Justin Trudeau's decision to step away from a job he has held for nearly a decade comes as the party’s political fortunes are in freefall, suffering the loss of key political strongholds in recent byelections and the abdication of prominent cabinet ministers.

All opposition parties have vowed to bring down Trudeau’s minority government given the chance, and recent polling has the Liberals at 16% support, the party’s worst pre-election standing in more than a century.  

All politicians seek out allies for advice and support, but Trudeau’s decision to surround himself with close friends within his inner circle was unusual and probably played a role in convincing him he could contest the next election effectively even when public opinion suggested otherwise, said Lori Turnbull, the director of Dalhousie University’s school of public administration. A number of ministers were at his wedding party and the current finance minister is his former babysitter.

“This is somebody who has packed the place with his friends, people he trusts on a personal level, who won’t be transactional with him. You have to be loyal to him. You have to be devoted to him. But he is not loyal and devoted to you,” she said.  

Turnbull pointed to his recent decision to force Chrystia Freeland, his closest political ally, out of her role as finance minister after failing to recruit the former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney to replace her.

Freeland stepped down in mid-December amid a row over the appropriate response to Donald Trump’s looming economic nationalism. Her scathing resignation letter accused Trudeau of “costly political gimmicks” and cast doubt on his understanding of the “gravity of the moment”.

“He will throw you away in a heartbeat because of what he wants to do … yet he expects this completely undying loyalty from people,” said Turnbull. 

“Whoever inherits this mess will have just a shell to work with. It’s in tatters.”  

In December 2024, Jagmeet Singh, a former ally, called on Justin Trudeau to resign after Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland stepped down following a dispute over US President-elect Donald Trump's proposed 25 per cent tariffs against Canada. 

In a statement shortly after Trudeau's announcement of resignation, Singh said, "Justin Trudeau’s Liberals let down Canadians. They let you down on home prices. They let you down on health care. 

They let you down by allowing corporate greed to run wild."

Jagmeet Singh said Liberal Party ministers and leaders were "still focused only on themselves and their political fate" despite the country facing "another serious blow to jobs and cost of living, this time from Donald Trump".

"The problem is not just Justin Trudeau. It’s every minister that’s been calling the shots. It’s every Liberal MP that looked down their nose at Canadians who are worried about high costs or crumbling health care. The Liberals do not deserve another chance, no matter who is the leader," he stressed.

In recent months, Jagmeet Singh's NDP expressed growing frustration with Trudeau, especially over the government's failure to deal with high prices at grocery stores.

In September 2024, Trudeau suffered a massive blow after the NDP, which helped the minority Liberal Party-led government to stay in power, withdrew support.

The move not only put the government at risk ahead of the 2025 general elections, but also forced the embattled leader to attempt new alliances to remain in power.

In his statement on Monday, Jagmeet Singh also took a dig at the opposition Conservative Party, which is eyeing a victory in the national polls scheduled to take place later this year.

"Canada’s middle-class families have the biggest fight just ahead. Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives will cut from people to give more to CEOs. They will cut health care, pensions, dental care," he said, adding that people must oppose the party from coming to power and "build Canada’s first government for working people".

"People who oppose callous Conservative cuts to health care, and everyone who opposes the rich getting richer while everyone else falls further behind". 

His reversal of fortunes has been in the works for years as the public slowly turned sour on a political figure whose historic surname – he is the son of the former prime minister Pierre Trudeau – good looks and charisma elevated him into a global celebrity, or, as a 2016 Vogue profile put it, the “new young face of Canadian politics”.

When he became Liberal leader in 2013, Trudeau inherited a party reeling from a string of defeats. He made swift changes – including changing how party membership was handled – that in effect severed ties to a previous generation of party brass. 

And he defied expectations, overturning a three-way race to secure a surprise majority government.

"But a leader seemingly attuned to the mood of the country found himself embroiled in series of personal scandals, including a family trip to the Aga Khan’s private island, and skipping the country’s first national day of truth and reconciliation for a surfing vacation," notes 'The Guardian'.