Tipsheet

Voters Just Delivered Quite a Message to Trudeau and His Leftist Party in Canada

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  June 26, 2024 2:05 PM

We've been following the trajectory of Canada's conservative opposition leader for the better part of a year, duly impressed by Pierre Poilievre's communications skills and leadership.  Under the Canadian parliamentary system, a federal election must be called and held by October of next year, but it could come sooner.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau -- a preachy, authoritarian, hypocritical leftist -- has tanked in public polling.  One recent survey showed his personal favorability rating 26 points underwater, with only one-third of voters viewing him positively. A separate poll this spring notched his job approval at just 28 percent.  The Conservatives have held a sizable general election lead since last year, often pushing comfortably into double-digits, and sometimes touching 20 points.  For reference, back in 2021, the Conservatives actually won the "popular vote," but only by one percentage point, allowing Trudeau to hold on to power.  But the country appears to have grown tired of leftist rule, as the indicators mentioned above demonstrate.  The unpopular and embattled PM recently shrugged off all the ominous data for his political party:

When asked whether his own low approval rating could be hurting his party, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday Canadians aren't in "decision mode" yet. The governing Liberals have been trailing the opposition Conservatives in the polls for quite some time. A recent Abacus survey gave the Conservatives a 20-point lead over the Liberals...In an exclusive interview Monday evening, CBC News Network's Power & Politics asked Trudeau if he thinks he might be the reason his party is doing poorly in the polls. "Canadians are not in a decision mode right now," he told host David Cochrane. "What you tell a pollster, if they ever manage to reach you, is very different from the choice Canadians end up making in an election campaign."

He accused the opposition of doing nothing but 'stirring up anger,' and argued that his Liberals are offering solutions that "pragmatic" Canadians will embrace. That interview was about a week ago. Well, I'm hardly an expert on Canada's political landscape, so does this count as voters being in decision mode?

The heat just cranked up on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, following a surprise defeat to his party’s candidate in a special election for a seat long considered safe. The staggering loss that comes amid Canada’s affordability crisis and swelling desire for political change will only amp up the pressure on Trudeau to resign for the good of his party. The Liberals suffered a major blow to the Conservatives in the one-off race, losing the urban stronghold seat in Toronto — St. Paul’s that it had held since 1993...Trudeau still has the next year to attempt a Hail Mary pass — though nothing he has tried so far has worked. The Monday race, viewed widely as a test on Trudeau’s leadership, was a nail biter that stretched into Tuesday morning and determined by a narrow margin. Voters rejected Liberal candidate Leslie Church, a former chief of staff to Trudeau’s finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, and ushered Conservative candidate Don Stewart into Parliament...The wealthy district that the party clung to even during its lows under Conservative governments is part of what Canada’s political class commonly calls “Fortress Toronto” — safe urban seats for the Liberals where the Conservatives normally have trouble breaking through.

"Fortress Toronto" has been sacked, dealing the Liberals a stunning loss, and adding weight to the national polling. The Politico story notes that members of Trudeau's party may start bringing private, whispered conversations about him stepping aside out into the open.  But Trudeau allies are downplaying the earthquake, explaining it away as a relatively obscure, summertime election on the day of a major hockey game.  On that last point, the Edmonton Oilers, a franchise on the other side of the country, lost game seven of the Stanley Cup finals to Florida Monday night -- ensuring that Canada's NHL franchises will continue their championship drought dating back to the same year that this Toronto district flipped and stayed in the Liberal column.  The Conservatives broke that streak this week; the hockey streak continues.  Poilievre celebrated the electoral victory and called for a "Carbon Tax Election:"

"Justin Trudeau is raising the taxes of Canadians again, increasing his carbon tax by 23 percent. 70 percent of Canadians, and 70 percent of provincial premiers, including the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and Liberal parties in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, oppose Trudeau’s tax hikes. But Justin Trudeau and his NDP coalition partners won’t listen...They did this in spite of the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirming that Trudeau’s carbon tax will cost families $911 in Alberta, $525 in Saskatchewan, $502 in Manitoba, $627 in Ontario $627, $537 in Nova Scotia, $550 in Prince Edward Island and $377 in Newfoundland and Labrador. Trudeau’s inflationary spending and taxes have taken more and more money out of Canadians’ pockets, leaving a record number of people using food banks, while families must choose between heating their home or filling up their car. Justin Trudeau is not worth the cost, and Canadians have lost faith in the Trudeau Government. Only Common Sense Conservatives are listening. If Trudeau won’t spike the hike on April 1st then it’s time to put the question to Canadians in a Carbon Tax Election where Canadians can vote to axe the tax on everything, for everyone."

Over in the UK, the ostensibly "conservative" government is wheezing toward a general election demolition on July 4th, of all days.  The Tories have been in power for well over a decade.  Their population has grown weary of their bumbling incompetence and dysfunction, and they've vastly increased the likelihood of suffering an historic blowout by alienating their own voters, having shed any meaningful ties to anything resembling conservatism.  Click through and note the rise of the 'Reform' Party, which opposes the Tories from the right. The looming election is going to be ugly for the government.  A similar effect is taking place north of our border (minus the Liberals abandoning leftism). In Canada, a talented leader seems poised to depose Trudeau and set his country on a more confident and prosperous path.  I'll leave you with a few of his words, debating with the man he seeks to replace:


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