Roundup: Trudeau’s slow exit

Posted on by

And Monday morning, the inevitable happened. Prime minister Justin Trudeau summoned the media outside of Rideau Cottage, and first announced that he had been granted a prorogation until March 24th, and then stated that he had told his children and the president of the Liberal Party that he intends to resign as leader and prime minister once a successor has been chosen in a robust national competition. While he was tinged with sadness, there were still some elements that rankled—he blamed the decision on “internal divisions” in the party rather than a self-aware recognition that he was dragging them down, and that his time had come (or had come months ago and he refused to listen). When asked about Chrystia Freeland, he implied that her version of events was not what happened and that he offered her a chance to work on the most important file but she turned him down (and no, a portfolio with no department, staff, or levers of power, is not a promotion). When asked about his biggest regret, he said that it was that he couldn’t implement ranked ballots (which he never actually tried to do during the whole bloody Electoral Reform Committee process).

holy shit, did I do this??

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-01-06T17:19:31.856Z

All those Conservatives introducing Pierre Poilievre as "Canada's next Prime Minister" turned out to be wrong, if only on a technicality.

— Jason Markusoff (@markusoff.bsky.social) 2025-01-06T16:18:11.576Z

Response from other parties was quick. Jagmeet Singh was first out the door with a statement devoid of class or graciousness, and Pierre Poilievre soon followed on with the same. In a video message shortly thereafter, Singh said that he plans to vote non-confidence no matter who the leader is, but well, his mind changes with the cycles of the moon and the phases of the tide. Poilievre also delivered an absolutely psychotic video message about how the “dark days” are nearly over, and near sweet Rhea, mother of Zeus, that is absolutely divorced from reality.

Jagmeet Singh first out of the gate with a statement that lacks any semblance of class. #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-01-06T16:32:04.683Z

And next up is Poilievre to also offer a classless statement. #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-01-06T16:50:12.984Z

Like an absolute psychotic, Pierre Poilievre's opening remark is about the potential end of "a dark chapter in our history."

— Emmett Macfarlane (@emmettmacfarlane.com) 2025-01-06T16:59:17.610Z

And then it's a litany about how terrible crime is in Canada.FACT CHECK: Crime in Canada actually remains near historic lows.

— Emmett Macfarlane (@emmettmacfarlane.com) 2025-01-06T17:00:07.538Z

"Everything is out of control" Poilievre says.It's very depressing people fall for this fantasy shit. So many valid criticisms could be made about this listless government, and Poilievre is relying on 1980s-style Republican fear-mongering about crime and taxes.

— Emmett Macfarlane (@emmettmacfarlane.com) 2025-01-06T17:02:03.861Z

The party now has to come to decisions about the length of the contest, the rules, and how they plan to deal with the potential for any foreign interference that comes with such an open system that doesn’t even have paid memberships (which, I will reiterate, was always a stupid move, and the Alberta Liberal Party, which instigated this kind of scheme, is now pretty much extinct). Those rules will help determine the shape of the race, and who may throw their hat into the ring, to take what could very well be a poisoned chalice.

Here is a high-level look over Trudeau’s political career. The Star has assembled a list of possible candidates for the job, but that’s going to start changing rapidly. There are concerns about what this will do with the response to Trump tariffs.

In reaction, Emmett Macfarlane sees no issues with the prorogation call (which is not unexpected). Susan Delacourt looks back over Trudeau’s political career and the air of inscrutability he has cultivated around himself. Althia Raj wonders about where the party goes next after Trudeau, and if they have enough runway to make a difference. Paul Wells lays out the four main challenges that Trudeau’s announcement has unleashed.

In case you missed it:

My weekend column on Poilievre and the lessons he seems to be eager to take from the “tech broligarchy” that is flexing its muscles around Trump.

My column on how Poilievre’s plan for a “massive crackdown on crime” is predicated on repealing laws that don’t do what he claims.

My weekend column on why there’s no such thing as an “interim” prime minister, and how the Liberals need to consider their next steps in replacing Trudeau.

My Loonie Politics Quick Take points out that the Conservatives’ plan to use the Public Accounts committee to call for non-confidence is a non-starter.

My year-end column on the four main political lessons that we’ve learned (or in some cases, refused to learn) over 2024.

My weekend column on the considerations around prorogation, now vs 2008, and what’s changed and what hasn’t since them.

Happy to see two of my stories in the top ten!

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-12-31T20:05:37.785Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian forces claim to have taken the stronghold of Kurakhove, but Ukraine says they are still fighting. The fighting appears to have intensified in the Kursk region of Russia with a possible new Ukrainian offensive, and they are saying that Russia and North Korea has suffered 38,000 casualties, with nearly 15,000 of those dead.

Good reads:

  • The prorogation has essentially cancelled the capital gains changes given that they were never approved because of the filibuster, but CRA won’t say what to do yet.
  • Here is a brief look at what bills are likely to die thanks to prorogation.
  • Marc Miller says that parent and grandparent sponsorships are being paused for the time being, in order to clear the processing backlog.
  • The RCMP are calling for help in dealing with a sharp increase in youth being radicalised online to a variety of extreme ideologies.
  • Crown prosecutors worry about the volume of data that police-worn body cameras will add to their workloads as they become part of evidence.
  • The Liberal caucus will be meeting on Wednesday, apparently to discuss next steps should Trudeau not step down.
  • Chrystia Freeland has been reaching out to Liberal MPs in what could be the first move of a potential leadership bid. So has Mark Carney (who absolutely should not).
  • Former minister Marco Mendicino says he’s not running again.
  • Jennifer Robson suggests parts of the Fiscal Update that all parties should support before any potential collapse of the government.
  • From the archives in 2020, Anne Applebaum looks at the similarities between collaborators in East Germany and the first Trump administration.
  • Kevin Carmichael lays out the unintended consequences of trying to open up telecom competition, only for Telus to exploit rules meant to benefit new entrants.
  • Gerald Butts reflects on the Freeland-Trudeau breakup, and where he thinks the Liberal Party needs to go next to recapture their sense of purpose.
  • Althia Raj picks up on Butts’ argument and points wo ways in which the Liberals are starting to move around organising a leadership race.
  • Philippe Lagassé discusses the role of honour or “being a good chap” for how our constitutional rules work (and I would add, the rules for parliamentary debate).
  • Lagassé also looks ahead to the military and defence issues on the horizon in 2025.
  • Justin Ling hears from the outgoing leader of the Rhinoceros Party as he steps down.
  • Paul Wells watches that Poilievre interview with Peterson, and makes some observations about just what it is he says and the promise he makes.

Odds and ends:

Pretty much all of #cdnpoli.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-12-28T02:36:10.984Z

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.