- A hyperactive Justin Trudeau called for hasty elections on September 20, two years before the regular general elections in October 2023.
- With Canada’s two main adversaries’ viewpoints becoming practically identical, at least verbally, Trudeau must have realised that time would only benefit the Conservatives’ goals.
- The snap results have made one thing clear- Justin Trudeau will never be able to become a full-majority Prime Minister.
A hyperactive Justin Trudeau, enamoured with himself and his handling of the Covid-19 outbreak in Canada, called for hasty elections on September 20, two years before the regular general elections in October 2023. The Canadian Prime Minister believed he would be able to grow his presence across the country, but he has only succeeded in reducing it. Now if we look at the election results a certain way, we can understand how these results will make the prospects of Justin Trudeau non-existent for eternity.
With Canada’s two main adversaries’ viewpoints becoming practically identical, at least verbally, Trudeau must have realised that time would only benefit the Conservatives’ goals, whose aim was to gradually erode the Liberals’ parliamentary lead. Trudeau sought to destabilise the Conservatives’ new political agenda and profit from the public’s praise for his government’s response to the pandemic. In the end, his accomplishments amounted to nothing or, to be more accurate, merely one new seat in Parliament, putting him well short of a parliamentary majority.
Sixty-nine percent of Canadians do not believe an election should be held during the fourth wave of the Covid epidemic. At the time, officials and media experts did not place a high value on public opinion polls. Instead, they concentrated on two important issues: the first was whether Trudeau’s Liberal Party could capitalise on the popularity of his epidemic measures to win a commanding legislative majority of 170 in Ottawa’s House of Commons.
The other question is whether Erin O’Toole, the new Conservative Party leader, will be able to rally the protest votes, which are primarily made up of Liberals and New Democrats. Canada’s unpopular general election of 20 September is increasingly recognised as a mistake by the country’s leading political analysts. However, this mistake could potentially prove to be the very undoing of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party in future elections.
The snap results have made one thing clear- Justin Trudeau will never be able to become a full-majority Prime Minister. And this is essentially related to Canada’s changing demographics and electoral dynamics. Initially, the Liberal Party was winning the immigrant and pro-immigrant vote, which had given a clear edge to the Liberals over Conservatives a decade ago.
This time, the NDP won 25 seats with a vote share of 17.7 per cent. Ultimately, it is expected to win more than 40 seats with a vote share of over 20 per cent. At the end of the day, whatever NDP wins will come at the expense of the Liberal Party because of the common immigrant vote bank.
Read more: Trudeau wanted to expand his foothold in Canada, ended up shrinking it
In recent years, Trudeau’s Liberals have faced a number of national crises, including sexual harassment claims against a Liberal MP and allegations of corruption and wrongdoing. These controversies would have been enough to flip the tables again, even by Canada’s relatively moderate political standards. The outbreak of the Covid pandemic, on the other hand, has given Trudeau and his party a new lease on life, allowing the prime minister to portray himself as Canada’s saviour once more. The pandemic-induced state of emergency has drowned out all other concerns, with Canadians – like the rest of the world – focusing primarily on minimising casualties while keeping the economy going.
Trudeau is still putting on a brave face, telling Canadians that they “elected a government that would fight for you and deliver for you.” His modest triumph, on the other hand, will be a liability for the Liberal Party’s and Trudeau’s personal futures. And going ahead, with such actions bringing bad name to the liberals, Trudeau will find this as his last electoral victory.