Canadians had been calling for him to go since 2021. Members of his own party had joined them by early 2024. In September, realising it was time to leave Justin Trudeau’s sinking ship, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, ended the confidence and supply arrangement that had been agreed with the diminished Liberal Party in March 2022 (reportedly delaying until he qualified for his parliamentary pension). By December, calls to resign were emerging from Trudeau’s own cabinet, which he was still delusionally reshuffling. His personal poll ratings had slumped to 22%, down from a peak of 65%. On 16 December, one of his few remaining allies, the deputy minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly quit. Her resignation letter-cum-application for the party leadership spoke of being ‘at odds’ over how to handle Trump’s threat of 25% tariffs. A few days later, Singh promised to table a no-confidence motion when parliament reconvened in the new year. Still, Trudeau clung on.
