Trudeau Quits

The timing of Justin Trudeau’s announcement of resignation as the Prime Minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party is not surprising. Battered by poor economic performance and abandoned by allies like the New Democratic Party (NDP), Trudeau had hobbled for a while but the end was not far. On Sunday it was speculated that he could quit as early as this week. The end came on Monday.

Trudeau said that he would resign as soon as his party elected a new leadership.

What began as a dream run in late 2015 when he became Prime Minister had soured more than two years ago when a combination of economic mismanagement, especially the “cost crisis” hit Canada in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. That economic legacy hit him badly.

Instead of trying to fix inflation, unaffordable housing for most Canadians, Trudeau blithely continued to march on without care.

Canada’s relations with India—which became almost a personal issue for Trudeau—nosedived under his watch as he pandered the Khalistani elements on whom he was dependent for political support. It was a dangerous, Faustian, bargain that destroyed his country’s relations with India. Indian diplomats were subjected to physical threats until the point when the danger of physical violence forced India to withdraw its diplomats from Ottawa and elsewhere.

Trudeau also tried to spoil India’s relations with the Western world at large by accusing Indian diplomats of involvement in the killing of a Khalistani gangster, one Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023. Until now no evidence that links any Indian diplomat with that murder has been provided even after repeated Indian requests to share any information on the episode. Trudeau simply wanted a “confession” from the Indian side without providing any evidence whatsoever.

The reality was that after his disastrous visit to India in 2018, Trudeau nursed a bruised ego against an entire country and took down the relationship as if bilateral relations between countries are a personal matter. What made it shocking for Indians was the absence of any guardrails that could prevent the relationship from going down. It was a sordid saga of one-upmanship by a Prime Minister who took down an important bilateral relation.

This was designed to pander to radicalized and extremist Sikhs of Indian origin who form a substantial voting population in Canada. It was considered a winning strategy by Trudeau. What derailed it was the other part of governance: the utterly bad economic management under Trudeau. In September last year, the NDP leader Jagmeet Singh—well-known for his support to such Sikhs in Canada—withdrew support from the Trudeau government.

CanadaHardeep Singh NijjarJustin TrudeaupoliticsPrime MinisterresignationWeb Exclusive