Time for a Change
By Ignacio Zamorano
Contributor
As Prime Minister Trudeau enters the ninth year of his Premiership, only 24% of Canadians think the country is headed in the right direction, according to this week’s Abacus Data poll. Trudeau’s Liberals have suffered in public opinion. Often seen as this country’s natural governing party, the Liberals now trail the Conservatives, who, led by Pierre Poilievre, have captured the collective support of Canadians in a unprecedented fashion.
If the projections become a reality next year, it would be the highest Conservative Party seat count in history. The NDP, led by Jagmeet Singh, probably won’t lead the country after the next election. The lack of common ground between them and the Liberals hampers the party’s ability to capitalize on the population’s desire for political change. They are constrained by the supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberal Party during this session of Parliament. They have recently abandoned it, but their alliance with the widely-disliked incumbents hinders them from positioning themselves as an alternative for change.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a backlash against the governments of countries around the world, with Canada being an exceptional case. Calling an election in the midst of the pandemic and facing the Tory leader, Erin O’Toole, who lost support from his party’s right flank, Trudeau extended his tenure in office with another minority government. The result signalled Trudeau’s status as a figure who’d reshaped the political arena, bouncing back from scandals such as the SNC-Lavalin affair, but his years in office since have eroded his image.
Amidst this political crisis, Singh’s NDP is showing no signs of becoming a progressive alternative to the Liberals. Poilievre’s Conservatives seems to be heading towards a majority larger than Trudeau’s in 2015, giving them a clear mandate to enact their political vision. Trudeau remains determined to lead the Liberals into the next election. Nonetheless, in dire circumstances, he should to follow in the footsteps of his father and take a walk in the snow, bringing forward a new era of Canadian politics.