The last couple of months have seen a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of Canada's Liberal Party. For months, the Conservatives and their wildly unappealing national leader, Pierre Poilievre, were leading in the polls by double digits over the long-serving Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Alarming — since Poilievre was a vocal supporter of the Trumpy trucker convoy that paralyzed Ottawa for weeks back in 2022, and is an ardent admirer of Benedict Donald. In fact, he's a mini-Trump, style-wise. Or at least, that was the plan, until Trump returned to office in January.
Once Donald started yammering about "the 51st state" and calling Justin "Governor Trudeau," Canadians blew a gasket. They started boycotting American goods and canceled trips to Florida and Arizona. Most significantly, Liberals rebounded in the polls. Trudeau, unleashed by his resignation as party leader, could say what he thought about "Donald" and his tariffs — and the Trumpsters were not pleased.
And then last weekend's Liberal Party convention chose Mark Carney by a landslide that even bested Justin Trudeau's victory margin back in 2013. Today, Carney was sworn in as PM.
We're cautiously optimistic about the Liberals' chances in whatever snap election Carney calls (late April? early May?). Meanwhile, Poilievre and the Tories have been caught off-guard by our Trumpy times, and their messaging so far has been tone-deaf, to say the least. But even while we look hopefully toward the future, we should tip our hats to the recent past. Canada has prospered and progressed under both Trudeaus. Their enemies, of which there are many, will not define them — their visionary leadership will. À bientôt et merci, Justin. We cats PURR.
(IMAGES: Rod MacIvor and Adam Scotti)
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