Canada's embattled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hasn't been kicked out quite yet, but he's been handed his hat and shown the door. All that remains is for one of his coalition partners to swing the ax to end the political career of one of the strangest leaders in Canada's history.
Trudeau's mother Margaret was a flower child of the 1960s and a radical activist. She had a brief fling with Mike Jagger of the Rolling Stones, who said of her, "Margaret was a 'very sick girl in search of something. She found it – but not with me.'" Pierre Trudeau, Justin's father, served as prime minister from 1968-79 and from 1980-84.
Justin inherited his mother's love of causes and his father's limitless ambition. The result has been a scandal-plagued three terms as prime minister.
Trudeau came to power in 2015, during the age of Obama. And like the Americans, he tried to bring "hope and change" to Canada. He claimed to be a feminist, an environmentalist, a refugee and an Indigenous rights advocate. The reality was, that he was just a pretty face that the world media fawned over from day one.
Now, after nine years, it appears that his luck has run its course, and many MPs in his own party are now urging his exit. His coalition government is teetering and is set to fall when the House of Commons returns from its winter break on Jan. 27. At that time, a key member of Trudeau's governing coalition, the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh, promised to introduce a "no confidence" motion that political observers say is certain to pass.
"The Liberals don't deserve another chance. That's why the NDP will vote to bring this government down," Singh said.
"We will put forward a clear motion of non-confidence in the next sitting of the House of Commons," Singh added.
A string of polls over the last 18 months show the Liberals, suffering from voter fatigue, would be badly defeated at the next election. The vote must be held by late October but Singh's comments indicate the date could be months earlier.
Trudeau's office was not immediately available for comment.
Before Singh made his announcement, a source close to Trudeau said the prime minister would take the Christmas break to ponder his future and was unlikely to make any announcement before January.
Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister and finance minister, resigned this week with several well-chosen, finely aimed shots at her former boss, accusing Trudeau of engaging in “costly political gimmicks” while Donald Trump threatens ruinous tariffs.
Indeed, Trudeau has become a worldwide laughing stock as Trump continues to refer to Canada as the "51st state." Trudeau has no intelligent reply.
Opponents have likened the current crisis to a “gong show at the bottom of a dumpster fire, wrapped up in a cluster.”
“What we are seeing is the government of Canada itself is spiraling out of control right before our eyes, and at the very worst time,” said Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party. The conservatives are 20 points ahead in the polls, and Poilievre is demanding Trudeau schedule immediate elections.
That wouldn't be his first choice. But Canada will likely have a new prime minister before spring has sprung.
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