This week’s chaos in Ottawa was unprecedented. Pictured: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo Credit: Justin Trudeau/X.
It’s been quite the week in politics. For any Canadian concerned about things like the cost of living or the impending threat of U.S. tariffs on the economy, they will find no solace in the fact that the only events that went according to plan were the Liberal Christmas parties hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
What should have been a perfunctory final two days of parliament turned into a three-ring circus after former finance minister Chrystia Freeland resigned her post hours before she was set to lay out the government’s economic plan.
The chaos that followed next was nothing short of unprecedented. The fall economic update was tabled with no official reading into the record, a new finance minister was installed, and Trudeau was forced to defend his position to his caucus after there was a vocal outcry for him to step down. All within the confines of a 12-hour window.
There are currently numerous vacancies within Trudeau’s cabinet, not to mention dozens of gaps within the ranks of political staff. A shuffling of the deck chairs will presumably see the ship righted in terms of ministerial representation, but it is the political equivalent of putting a band-aid on a bullet hole.
It’s not a matter of if, but when, Trudeau will resign. The fact that he thinks the right thing to do over the holidays is to take time to think about this decision shows a level of delusion that can only be attributed to spending too long in the Ottawa bubble.
Ironically, time is the very thing that motivated the Liberal government to secure an agreement with the NDP back in 2022. In exchange for billions of dollars in new spending during an affordability crisis, the Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence agreement was borne, ensuring that Trudeau would avoid the threat of an election in the short-term.
The country finds itself in a moment of crisis. As premiers duke it out on the airwaves to fend off President-elect Donald Trump’s tariffs, Trudeau has had his legs cut out from under him by a caucus tired of being down and out in the polls. The government finds itself in no position to be the stalwart of national unity.
Worse still, Trudeau may call it quits early in the new year. This would leave the Liberal Party scrambling to set up the terms of reference for a leadership race against the backdrop of Trump’s inauguration. If that happens, government business will grind to a halt, and it is a safe assumption that the new administration in the U.S. will use this as a negotiating tactic.
While the Christmas holidays will provide some reprieve from the blood sport that is happening in Ottawa, Canadians should take no solace in this fact until Trudeau makes a clear decision about what his political future holds. Until then, and an election is called to return a government that has a clear mandate delivered by the people, Canadians must hope the damage done this week can be repaired.
Josie Sabatino is a Senior Consultant at Summa Strategies, focused on providing strategic insight and helping clients meet their objectives in an ever changing and complex political and regulatory environment. Prior to joining Summa, Josie spent nearly a decade in political communications and most recently served as the Director of Communications to the Hon. Erin O’Toole, former Leader of the Official Opposition.
