Many breathed a sigh of relief when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his plans to resign but a few political allies spoke highly about his time in office.
On Monday, Trudeau announced in front of Rideau Hall that he will be stepping down as the Liberal party leader and prime minister once a new leader is selected to replace him. The news of the event quickly prompted reactions from some well-known commentators and political figures on social media.
American author and journalist Michael Shellenberger responded with a scathing review of Trudeau’s legacy, calling the Canadian prime minister an advocate of censorship.
“Justin Trudeau has resigned. He framed himself as an honest, caring, and compassionate leader. He was not. He falsely smeared his critics as Nazis. He justified freezing bank accounts using faked intelligence. And he spread disinformation while demanding censorship,” said author and journalist Micheal Shellenberger in a post to X.
In contrast, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow shared her gratitude for the prime minister in a post to X, saying, “I want to thank Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for over a decade of public service to Canadians.”
Youtuber and political pundit J.J. McCullough reacted with a sardonic post to X, writing, “Breaking news! Justin Trudeau to continue process of verrrry slowly going away!”
Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations and former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae said that he admired his former colleague in Parliament for his “commitment to Canada, his respect for Canada’s international obligations, and his love of human rights.”
However, among the general public, the overwhelming majority of Canadians seemed to be, while happy with the news of Trudeau’s resignation, also quite angry at his decision to prorogue Parliament at such an unstable time for the country.
“The vast majority of Canadians do not want prorogue. Why should we give the failed Liberal party a chance to regroup while the country continues to flounder and fail under the liberal/NDP coalition,” wrote one X user. “We want the election now. You do not have the right to hold us at bay like this. You do not represent us. You have represented Justin. Call the election. Enough of this foolishness.”
As the deadline for U.S. President-elect Donal Trump’s inauguration nears, the threat of his proposed 25% tariff on all Canadian imports looms heavy as well.
“Let me get this straight. Donald Trump will likely impose a 25% tariff on Canada as soon as he becomes President. And Trudeau’s response is to prorogue Parliament just to hold onto power for a few more months. We can always count on the Liberals to do the worst thing for Canada,” wrote one X user.
“Under the current circumstances it was inappropriate for the Governor General to prorogue Parliament. She failed to reconvene the house immediately. Our system is broken. The Governor General needs to resign,” wrote another.
The last time Parliament was prorogued was also at the hands of Trudeau in 2020 when he shut down the House of Commons during an ongoing ethics committee investigation into his involvement in the WE Charity scandal.
During this same period, there was also a special committee investigation into China’s treatment of Uyghurs and human rights abuses, which had to be abruptly halted.
