Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau steps down as Liberal Party Leader and Prime Minister

[ever_reaching]

UPDATE: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he plans to step down once the Liberal Party has chosen a successor, bringing his time leading the country to a tumultuous end. https://t.co/jq72kmG48Z
- CBC News (@CBCNews) January 6, 2025
Follow up to this post: The Liberal Party of Canada is imploding in real time.After a weekend(/holiday season) full of

Comments

[littlebones]

we are so fucked.

i'm about to become a separatist for real. i'm going to leave all my comments in french going forward.

[pseudonygma]

I really don't mind speaking French but I loathe the Quebecois' entitlement and attitude. Quebec's only the land of French because they were all colonialists who slaughtered all the Indigenous people who are the true people of this land; if there's any language we should be learning, it's theirs and not French!

[braindiva]

I've taken some classes about indigenous history in Canada, and frankly, Québecois/the French really don't have the monopoly on being colonialists. If anything, colonialism wasn't as bad until the English showed up, but that is a very, very low bar. Treating our Native population better is something that should happen regardless, and has nothing to do with French-Canadian culture.

I'm a native French speaker, and Québecois' attitude, as you call it, is the only reason we have held on to our culture. I'm not saying Quebec is exempt of criticism, but man, Anglos often don't get how difficult it is to try to survive in an ocean of English speakers who think life would be much easier if you just were like them.

[pseudonygma]

"Colonialism was as bad until the English showed up" isn't exactly a compliment. This oppression Olympics does nothing but create hostility and amplifies racism. The Francophones are not oppressed no matter how desperately want it to be true to justify their attitude. Canada is a bi-lingual country; this is a strength that the Québecois refuses to accept. No one is persecuting them for speaking French but the opposite cannot be said for their attitude towards any other languages. I have been cursed at in French at the bus stop to speaking on the phone to my mother in Chinese, and told to go back to my country--I was born in Montreal; why is anyone's business what language I speak on the phone or who I'm speaking to? Are they angry because they can't eavesdrop on my conversation? It's completely ridiculous

[braindiva]

I think it is good that he stepped down, and I wish he had done it sooner. Even the most popular Prime Ministers never last more than 10 years. Had he not, it was assuredly going to be a huge Conservative majority. As it is, we might still be stuck with Poilievre (ugh), but there is more of a chance it won't be as big of a sweep. I really have no idea who will replace Trudeau. Chrystia Freeland? Mark Carney?

In case people don't know Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservatives in Canada, recently he did an interview with Jordan Peterson (!); he totally fits in that far-right grift.

[ever_reaching]

People discovering Jordan Peterson's old tweets because of that interview has been a wild ride. Lots of fodder for r/leopardsatemyface come ~October.

[vaels]

I don't really pay close attention to the federal Liberal bench so there might be other names out there but Freeland and Carney are the first two that come to mind for me. and are two who I would feel comfortable voting for in a federal election. the problem with Carney is he's been away from the political scene for too long for the general public to know who he is or his history. maybe if he were to take the leadership and then after a few years of PP (really doubt he'd make it a full 5 years but who knows in this weird reality), he could have a viable chance at being PM.

Freeland is likely the best choice but I wonder if a) the party would agree) and b) she could pull a large enough vote share federally to become opposition.

[braindiva]

The problem for Freeland is that she is too closely associated with Trudeau, I think. She will be made to answer for his decisions. Also, women always have more of an uphill battle to get elected at the national level.

[vanilla_09]

I personally think we are fucked. As much as people don't like Trudeau, I really don't think any other politician is primed to deal with Trump. Also, it's way too late to introduce Canadians to a new Liberal leader so...

[xellabelle]

Sorry this probably shows how much I don’t know about Canadian politics but why is he resigning / is he hated by Canadians now? I know he was not as popular as before but did he do something? I didn’t realise it was this bad. Is this resignation a good or bad thing?

[bingobronson]

his resignation is a good thing because his approval ratings are in the toilet and he doesn't deserve to stay, but his timing is horrible because we're having an election this year and there's not enough time to get a new leader in who can prevent our right wing party from coasting to a huge win

as for the reasons he's hated...how long do you have, lol? the cost of living is wild here, we have a housing crisis, his entire tenure has been plagued with scandals, and then there's all of the gripes that weirdo conservatives have about his handling of covid and the economy

editing to add that we also have a broken immigration system on top of everything else. we've brought in a lot of international students because they get charged tuition costs much higher than what canadian citizens pay. these students get totally taken advantage of and when they arrive here they have awful job prospects, lack of access to decent housing, a low chance of staying here permanently, and they face sooooo much racist vitriol

[howthedaysounds]

He hasn't done anything (which is kind of the problem lol). There is growing disapproval within the Liberal party that got worse and fell apart when his finance minister/deputy prime minister resigned last month.

[braindiva]

Even popular Prime Ministers rarely last more than 10 years in Canada. That's just how it goes. If you look since WWII, Mackenzie King lasted 13 years because of WWII. Trudeau's dad served 11 years before he got kicked out, the Conservatives took over for 9 months and failed over their budget, then Trudeau won again another 4 years. Otherwise, Harper stayed in power 9 years, Chrétien stayed in power 10 years, Mulroney was in power 9 years,... That's how long the Canadian public will like someone until it wants change.

[therearewords]

Eh, I'm tired.