— Feature, Musings —01.06.2025 01:37 PM
My latest: Trudeau quit a long time ago
Justin Trudeau didn’t decide to resign this week, sources say. The decision was made weeks ago, in plain view.
And few noticed.
It happened on December 18. On that date, Trudeau’s PMO abruptly cancelled interviews with multiple media outlets: Global News, CBC, CTV, Radio-Canada, TVA Nouvelles, along with what was to be a joint interview with CityNews and OMNI Television. The move was unprecedented.
Few Canadians understood the significance of that decision. But senior Liberals knew it almost certainly meant the government end of Trudeau’s reign had arrived.
One very senior Liberal, who has years of experience with different Prime Ministers and their offices, said that is the moment when Trudeau had truly decided to go. “No leader has cancelled year-end interviews, ever,” said the Liberal. “They’re a tradition. They’re important, because lots of Canadians watch them. And Justin cancelled.”
Trudeau’s behavior in the days that followed did nothing to alter that decision, sources said. Trudeau made a some canned remarks at the Liberal Christmas party on the Hill, and then just a few words to the media after he shuffled his cabinet for the last time. He then got on a Challenger jet and flew to British Columbia to ski.
Few, if any, heard from Trudeau during the crucial days when he needed to be working the phones to save his leadership. Trudeau mainly communicated only with the small circle who remain loyal to him, and with family members. Some urged him to stay and fight.
But Trudeau had no fight left in him. Everywhere he looked, sources said, his prospects were bad and getting worse. President-elect Donald Trump was mocking him on the world stage, calling him the governor of the 51st state. Caucus members – including the crucial Atlantic, Quebec and Ontario caucuses – started to publicly demand that he step aside. And an Angus Reid Institute poll was issued, suggesting that the Liberals had fallen to only 16 per cent support nationally.
That’s not all: Liberal leadership campaigns started organizing, more or less openly, and talking to the media – anonymously, of course – about their prospects in the post-Trudeau era. Among them was Dominic LeBlanc, who Trudeau considers one of his closest friends – and Chrystia Freeland, the former Deputy Prime Minister who had dramatically quit Trudeau’s cabinet two days before he canceled his year-end interviews.
“He’s human, you know,” said another Liberal insider. “He was down. He asked his circle [of advisors] if there was any way to hold on and avoid a full caucus revolt. They came up with nothing.”
“It had nothing to do with Poilievre,” said one Liberal. “He still thinks that Poilievre is a pipsqueak.”
But the Parliamentary holiday recess was like bankruptcy, another Liberal said. The process of unraveling is very slow, and then it suddenly reaches its grim conclusion very, very fast.
“He knew it was all over,” said the senior Liberal. “His kids were saying to him, ‘Dad, it’s time to go home’.”
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Domonic Leblanc, Freeland – who else is running?
They are both very responsible for this disaster. During Lavscam, Blackface x 3 (that we know about), Khanscam, Wescam, McKinseygate, Tofino, foreign interference, repeated disastrous deficits, inflation and all the rest of it…. Leblanc and Freeland folded their arms, stared at their shoes and whispered “this is all normal” over… and over… and over again. Liberals coast to coast should never forget the damage these two in particular have done to our party.
You did a great job Justin!!!! Keep your head up, and lets get ready to beat Pierre poison in the next election.
You did a great job!! Huge deficits, inflation, a housing crisis, a healthcare crisis, more crime, very high immigration levels, high taxes, a weak dollar, a record number of Canadians leaving, foreign interference in elections and massive corruption. You did a terrible job! I fixed it.
Hopefully “home” will be outside of Canada. I imagine most senior Liberals privately hope so. He is so thoroughly despised that his prospects for ever doing anything meaningful within Canada are slim. Who’d want to associate with him?
—“It had nothing to do with Poilievre,” said one Liberal. “He still thinks that Poilievre is a pipsqueak.”—
Of course he does. Poilievre came from a very modest upbringing to (very soon) reach the highest elected political office in Canada on merit and hard work. Working class people succeeding on merit goes against the natural order of things in Trudeau’s worldview. Only those born to massive inherited wealth should be allowed to run for office, you see.
Oh please. PP has only ever been a politician or a political aide.
How does that contradict what I stated? Poilievre comes from a modest, working class background. Liberals find the working class distasteful. The fact that his talent was recognized early on and he became an MP at 25 does not negate that.
EM?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6f1MKpLGM
LOL name one meritorious or bit of Hard”work . One thing for Canadians all and not just for polieve. Worst record as housing minister and 165? motions of non-confidence . Inherited wealth bad …zero to over 20
million c/w 230,000 year pension by grifting good?
Working class not pp ..grifting class yes.
20 million? I doubt he’s worth anywhere near that much. Where did you pluck that number from?
When Poilievre was housing minister the average home was half the current cost and average rent a third the cost.
Your complaint seems to be that Poilievre earned the same salary as every other MP. Was he supposed to reject his salary? I don’t understand your complaint. Did trust-fund Trudeau reject his MP salary? Unlike Poilievre, he didn’t actually need it.
I find it funny that you speculate about Poilievre’s net worth. If his net worth has ballooned it’s for the same reason as many others in Canada : Trudeau deliberately instigated a massive housing crisis to buy votes among Boomers and stick it to young working class renters that he believes are beneath him. Poilievre, having purchased property before the Trudeau housing disaster, is one of the few non-Boomers to have personally benefited. It’s not his fault that Trudeau prioritized the equity of wealthy real estate speculators over the shelter security of renters and the young.
The dirty little secret about the last 10 years is the massive wealth shift to the rich(who will be able to keep some of their OAS as a couple despite making 360k in some cases but I digress). I have the receipts. It is what I do for a living. I am about to start my 50th tax season and I have NEVER seen such a wealth shift in my lifetime as I have seen in the last 10 years. It is actually shocking. Anyone with a little bit of net worth if they had a functioning brain was able to take advantage of it. Perhaps lungta missed out. The hilarious thing now is that the “annoying neo-liberal corporatist rump representing the luxury beliefs of old-money non-meritocratic inherited wealth in the most exclusive neighbourhoods of the 3 biggest cities”(gold) are now telling each other at that cloistered cocktail parties that the unwashed are now going to vote against their best interests when they vote for Pierre but the funny thing is is that most of the wealthy that benefited from that wealth shift are conservative and it will be THEM that will vote against their best interests. Thank for attending my TED talk part 2.
Their argument seems to be that although this Liberal government has been horrific for wealth inequality, the Conservatives would be WORSE. Their entire rebuttal seems to consist of claiming to see the future. It won’t surprise me if Poilievre disappoints on some issues, but it is inconceivable that he could possibly do worse than the current lot on wealth inequality.
The Liberal Party’s focus these past years has been the top and bottom 15% (or so) of the population. Now is the time for the middle 70% to have their needs and wants put front and centre and prioritized by their government. At the least that means steep cuts to middle range income tax rates (NOT simply raising the tax-exempt portion at the bottom) and much higher TFSA limits, to be paid for by a combination of civil service cuts and efficiencies (including the ending of consultant class grifting of tasks that should be managed in-house), cuts to immigrant settlement services, CBC defunding, capital gains tax increases, and hopefully OAS reform that means-tests based on net worth rather than simply income.
Funny on the wealth thing because that hit me last night that that seems to be their argument. They think Pierre will be worse but there aren’t many Tru-anons that are self-aware or smart enough to understand the issue(a few do but not many). Likely because they are the beneficiaries of the wealth inequity. As far as OAS(and GIS for god sake) goes, it shouldn’t just be means tested, it should also include look throughs for indirect income earned through Trusts, estates and corporations. Every time I point out to a Tru-anon the 360k threshold where couples can keep some of their OAS, they go dark or block me. Although one of the smarter ones asked me for details how he could do it too and started to follow me! Whenever clients ask me what Pierre will do about the capital gains legislation, I tell them not to count on him reversing all of it. There should be reforms to the TOSI rules and the 250k exemption should either be eliminated or provided to corporations(with look throughs so it is not multiplied). That was an own goal mistake. I have already said to my local MP that I will happily consult with Finance for 1.00 a year if that is an option. Clearly, there have been so many missteps there that could have been identified by someone out in the real world, there can’t be anyone doing that now.
Compared to JT, PP has middle-class credibility. Plus he is smarter. JT is dumber than 9 chickens. I don’t see how anybody could be worse than JT, unless it is Jagmeet. Sadly, one of the most competent leaders on the Hill is the leader of the Bloc.
Who is polieve “lungta”? I assume you are talking about future PM Pierre Poilievre. Fixed it for you! And, here I’ll help. I shake my head at the snobs that will belittle him because he was “only” a paperboy. It is actually a very good test but they are drawing the wrong conclusion. I can’t imagine Justin was a paperboy(unless of course his mom drove him around-that would be on brand) but(former paperboy here) it is actually too bad he wasn’t because you learn a lot of lessons from that job including but not limited to discipline, a strong work ethic, money management, showing up every day, etc. And it is all those characteristics that allowed him to take down a cabinet minister at age 25. Are you one of those snobs lungta? What is your cv? And who did he inherit his wealth from? His parents are still alive. Thank you for attending my TED talk!
Interpreting the script
He doesn’t speak about conversations held in private but had no trouble quipping about Trump to his G7 colleagues.
Fight for values is so important no one understands it better but he’s checking out.
Pierre Polievre is divisive and has Canadians pitte against one another but cannot connect the dots that parliament is dysfunctional and yet he believes a new liberal leader can fix all that.
I’ve been seeking out anything I can about the legislative failures of the Polievre government but can’t seem to figure when he reigned only that he ruined everything.
I’m disheartened that Castro’s spawn is letting someone else loose his battle.
And just like that, Canada’s Prince Charming bites the dust. You know, this could have taken place 6 months ago. Now Canada faces an existential threat from President Trump, and we just hung the “Out To Lunch” sign on Parliament Hill. I guess Liberal politics and gamesmanship are more important than looking out for Canadians. I hope the electorate remembers this disgusting behaviour come election day (which may not be as soon as we suppose). Methinks something may be rotten in Denmark. I would not be surprised to find out that after a new Liberal leader is chosen, they will then make an offer to the Bloc and NDP they can’t refuse, in order to stall an election until the last possible moment. Unless, of course, the country disintegrates before then.
Quit a long time ago? Didn’t even get started. 12 years as leader and I still can’t articulate a single thing he stands for.