
Justin Trudeau 2.0
There is a question mark on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s liberal ideas and future political career.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has succeeded to win a second term in the Canadian national elections. Though he failed to clinch a majority but he delivered unpredictably strong results despite having been weakened by a series of scandals that had stained his image as a liberal. It seems racial remarks passed by a leader in a country inhabited by ultra-liberal people cost him too much. The racist behaviour against the blacks and other minorities carelessly shown by Justin Trudeau was presumably the underlying reason for his and his party's failure to gain a majority.
Trudeau's Liberal Party gained the most seats in the Canadian Parliament, giving it the best chance to form a government. Nevertheless, since the party does not have the majority of seats, the Liberals would have to depend on an opposition party to pass legislation in the future. "It's not quite the same as in 2015. It's not all owing to the leader," says Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto. "Trudeau is Prime Minister because the rest of the party was able to pull itself together and prevail. While Trudeau certainly deserves credit for what has happened, he's going to have to demonstrate qualities that he hasn't yet shown."
There is no doubt that Justin Trudeau has always remained a progressive and liberal leader, supporting the rights of marginalized communities and black people. But the emergence of three damning images of the Canadian prime minister have largely shattered the Prime Minister's judiciously curated image as a progressive leader. After that incident, Trudeau also apologized, "I'm pissed off at myself. I'm disappointed in myself," he told reporters. However, his apology dismally failed to convince the Canadians that he was ashamed of his sexist behaviour against the black people and other minorities.
One can argue that the sexist conduct of the Canadian Prime Minister showed his inner dark side that he somehow has a sort of aversion towards non-white people. A leader, who once passed such remarks, cannot be termed a liberal person altogether. Needless to say that a large number of his followers have also been disheartened because of his abrupt change in behaviour- from a liberal to a sexist person. Arguably, it may take substantial time for Mr Trudeau to regain his lost prestige and position himself again as a liberal and as an advocate of the rights of black people. "While Trudeau will likely sustain political damage in the coming days, he's unlikely to be facing an existential crisis," says Nelson Wiseman, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto.
In February this year, Trudeau became involved in a major political scandal after he and his political allies were accused of pressurizing Canada's former minister of justice and attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, into dropping criminal corruption charges against the Quebec-based engineering company SNC-Lavalin.
Instead, Mr Trudeau wished Wilson-Raybould to simply issue financial penalties, which would permit the company, which was charged with having bribed Libyan officials, to avoid a 10-year ban on bidding on federal contracts. Trudeau defended himself by saying he wasn't trying to improperly push the attorney general but wanted to advocate for this route to protect jobs that might be lost if SNC-Lavalin were blocked from federal contracts.

Later, Canada's ethics commissioner Mario Dion largely supported the claims against Trudeau in a 63-page report that appeared in August this year, revealing that Trudeau had employed the authority of his office "to circumvent, undermine and ultimately attempt to discredit the decision" of both prosecutors and Wilson-Raybould.
The loss of credibility of Justin Trudeau will likely convince the Liberal Party to replace him with another person having a greater recognition.
The report outlines Trudeau's "flagrant" efforts to influence Wilson-Raybould "directly and indirectly" over the SNC-Lavalin prosecution, and found that "partisan political interests were inappropriately put to the Attorney General for consideration in the matter."
The scandal left obstructive and adverse impacts on the political career ofPrime Minister Justin Trudeau as seen from the recent shock to his Liberal Party which lost 20 seats and failed to clinch a majority in the elections. Moreover, there have now appeared certain quarters in Canada that have started questioning the politicalcareer of the energetic Prime Minister. These forces in the country would possibly keep checks and balances on all measures proposed and adopted by the next government of Justin Trudeau in the foreseeable future. As a result, it could bring about some sorts of formidable obstacles in the way of the next government to proceed with its manifesto.
The loss of credibility of Justin Trudeau will likely convince the Liberal Party to replace him with another person having a greater recognition in the country.So, the political career of the young Prime Minister hangs in the balance; however, if he wishes to stick to power and save his position, Justin Trudeau must refrain from all kinds of controversy, favouritism and sexist remarks in the future.![]()
The writer is a columnist and an M. Phil scholar at Karachi University. He can be reached at ayazahmed6666@gmail.com |
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