Tired of Trudeau: Why Canadians are not willing to trust their PM

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is finding it hard to convince Canadians about India’s alleged link to the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, in Canada last year. His latest move to brand Indian High Commissioner to Canada as a “person of interest” in the Nijjar probe comes with the same vague allegations he made against India last year. “…we started to understand through intelligence agencies that India was possibly if not probably, behind Nijjar’s killing…,” Trudeau said on Monday, while accusing the Indian government of supporting criminal activities in Canada. “Possibly if not probably” is same as the claim of “credible allegations” Trudeau made last year.

Besides his vague allegations against India as he tries to pander to his Khalistani Sikh votes before an impending election, Trudeau has another problem: in the nine years as the Canadian PM, he has lost credibility and is widely expected to lose the next election. His desperation to throw India-Canada ties under the bus to retain support of his Khalistani vote bank seems all the more clumsy when he has landed in a political quicksand and thinks he can distract Canadians’ attention from his own multi-crisis which include a coup brewing in his own caucus and corruption allegations.

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Trudeau in a political quicksand

A large number of Canadians believe Trudeau is accusing India of sponsoring criminal activities in India not just to pander to Khalistani Sikh votes but to distract from challenges he himself faces. The biggest at present is a coup in his loyal group of Liberal Party MPs.

Liberal MP Sean Casey has called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign, citing growing dissatisfaction within the party. In an exclusive interview with CBC News Network on Tuesday, Casey said that voters in his Charlottetown riding have lost faith in Trudeau’s leadership. “The message that I’ve been getting loud and clear — and more and more strongly as time goes by — is that it is time for [Trudeau] to go. And I agree,” he said. “”People have had enough. They’ve tuned him out and they want him to go.”

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CBC reported that some MPs are being asked to sign their names to what amounts to a pledge to stand together in calling for Trudeau to resign. All the sources spoke to CBC News on the condition they not be named due to the sensitivity of the internal discussions. These sources said at least 20 MPs have signed the pledge so far, with others voicing their support for the cause. Casey isn’t the first Liberal MP to call for Trudeau to resign in recent months. New Brunswick MP Wayne Long sent an email to the Liberal caucus in June calling on the prime minister to step aside. Newfoundland and Labrador MP Ken McDonald also has called for Trudeau to face a leadership review.

Dissatisfaction with Trudeau’s leadership has intensified after significant electoral losses in two key by-elections recently.

Also Read: Trudeau’s Nijjar murder accusation against India may be a smokescreen for China’s influence

Trudeau is also in the corner due to a scandal pertaining to now-defunct Sustainable Development Technology Canada’s billion-dollar “green slush fund”. The programme was abolished earlier this year after the Auditor General found conflict of interest and awarding of millions of dollars in contracts to those ineligible for funding and for projects not related to green technology. Trudeau’s India allegations can take the spotlight off the scandal.

There could be yet another reason behind Trudeau raking up the Nijjar issue against India. TOI has reported that the Indian government believes Trudeau’s move was triggered by his deposition scheduled for Wednesday before an influential commission to explain the charge that his government has been derelict in preventing China’s interference in domestic politics. Top sources in New Delhi have told TOI that Trudeau fired his fresh volley of charges, essentially a reiteration of his earlier accusations, on the eve of the appearance of functionaries of his office before the Foreign Interference Commission, which is holding a hearing into the charge of the liberal regime having failed to stop China from having a free run in Ottawa.

Trudeau’s ratings plummet

Recent polling data shows that Trudeau’s popularity is at an all-time low. An Ipsos poll revealed only 28% of Canadians believe he deserves re-election, with just 26% prepared to vote for the Liberals, leaving the party in a difficult position as the next federal election looms.

As per Angus Reid Institute, Trudeau’s approval ratings have nosedived. Last September, 39% people disapproved of him. The number has grown in a year to 65%. The approval has sunk from 51% to 30%. Trudeau aims to pander to the Khalistani voters before elections that can happen any time.

Canadians blame Trudeau for economic mess

Under Trudeau Canada’s economy has gone down. Popular sentiment blames Trudeau’s misgovernance for rising prices, unaffordable housing, expensive healthcare, unchecked immigration and unemployment.

Last month, during a photo op in Ontario’s Sault Ste. Marie, Trudeau got involved into a tense discussion with a steelworker, which symbolised the public mood. The worker, an employee of Algoma Steel declined Trudeau’s offer of doughnuts in a video posted on X and instead voiced concerns about high taxes and medical expenses. “The 25% tariffs we just brought in is going to help you out … that’s going to keep your job,” Trudeau said. However, the worker questioned the high tax rate and lack of access to a doctor. Trudeau emphasized that a significant investment from the Canadian government would secure the worker’s job “for many years to come”. The worker, in turn, expressed his belief that Trudeau would be voted out in the upcoming election. “I think you are only here for another year. We won’t see you around in another year,” said the worker.

Buying a house may remain out of reach for many Canadians for the foreseeable future, with mortgage costs unlikely to fall enough to offset lofty home prices and weak spending power, economists and real estate agents say, as per a recent Reuters report. Even with expectations that Bank of Canada will keep cutting rates in the coming months, the issue of home affordability – which has strangled Trudeau’s poll numbers – is unlikely to fade before the next election. Housing affordability is a function of house prices, interest rates and a borrower’s income. For prospective buyers, those metrics have skewed unfavorably since the start of the pandemic, the report said.

A growing pool of newcomers to Canada can’t find work or aren’t looking, as businesses hire at a slower pace while the population continues to balloon, Bloomberg reported. The number of working-age people in the country rose by 96,400 in August, Statistics Canada reported last month, a result of the country’s rapid population growth, which is among the fastest in the world. Over 82,000 people joined the country’s labor force last month, but net employment rose just 22,100. In the last three months, Canada’s economy has created one new job for every six workers who joined the labor force on net, the lowest rate in over a year. It’s a stark deceleration from the start of the year, when the number of jobs was actually growing faster than the number of available workers.

Due to a wide lack of trust in Trudeau among Canadians, his anti-India gameplan will yield limited political gains to him. Since many in Canada as well as India believe his allegations against India are triggered by his need to distract Canadians from the multiple crises he faces at home, his moves against India are not expected to harm India-Canada relations permanently despite India recalling its High Commissioner and several other diplomats from Canada and expelling six Canadian diplomats.

(With inputs from TOI and agencies)