Justin Trudeau is fighting back, and it’s not pretty

KAMOURASKA, QUE.—So much for “Sunny ways.” When Justin Trudeau took Wilfrid Laurier’s slogan as his own in the election of 2015, I was encouraged he might copy one of the most popular leaders in Canadian history. Laurier won four consecutive elections to serve 15 years as prime minister, and was an MP for 45 years, both long-standing records. It was said Laurier succeeded because he maintained his positive disposition, seeking out the best in people and working toward compromise. “Sunny ways” was more than a slogan—it was his vocation. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the current occupant of the Prime Minister’s Office. On Thanksgiving Monday, he announced an alleged conspiracy involving agents of the Government of India in "widespread violence" in Canada, including the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June of 2023 outside a gurdwara in Surrey, B.C. As a result, six Indian diplomats—including the high commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Verma—were expelled from the country. An avowed Khalistani separatist with a shadowy background, Nijjar obtained Canadian citizenship in 2015 after two prior immigration refusals due to fraud. He was described as a “community leader” or “an activist,” although he was wanted for murder in India. Before Verma was forced to leave, he pointed out India had 27 outstanding requests for extradition of Khalistanis wanted for violence in India, all of which had been refused by Canada. While extrajudicial murder is absolutely unacceptable in a system of international law, so is harbouring fugitives from justice. By siding with the Khalistan movement for a Sikh state—a spent force in India—our prime minister is throwing any pretence of neutrality out the window. And although I am no fan of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP government, when a regional power comes calling for bad guys, Canada should co-operate. Had FLQ killer Paul Rose escaped to India, would we not have expected him to be extradited? The next day, the prime minister testified before the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference chaired by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue. While his own party has been accused of being the tool of Chinese agents who allegedly ensured party nominations, he turned the tables on the opposition with a declaration, “I have the names of a number of parliamentarians in the Conservative Party of Canada … who are engaged in foreign interference.” To me, this sounded like demagogic 1950s American senator Joseph McCarthy who claimed to have a “list of names” of public servants who were communists. Then on Oct. 23, Trudeau stared down a failed caucus putsch by 24 or so unnamed MPs in his own party who had drafted a letter of unknown content. The Toronto Star revealed it asked him for “reflection” on “change” in the leadership of the party. My impression was Trudeau looked at his own refection in the mirror, liked what he saw, and decided change would involve those two dozen MPs. The next day, with a backdrop of a rainbow of Liberal MPs and Immigration Minister Marc Miller, he announced an anodyne plan to reduce the number of permanent residents arriving in Canada over the next two years. The fanfare, the MPs, and the change in policy after more than a year of immigration turmoil was accompanied by a message from Trudeau to Liberal rank and file: I am staying. While all these actions will no doubt be effective, they are the desperate acts of a prime minister who has lost the support of most Liberals. Some analysts are suggesting it is the sign of a stubborn man who doesn’t comprehend his time has run out. I think he is buying time until the American presidential election next month. If Donald Trump wins, Trudeau can say Pierre Poilievre cannot be trusted to deal with Trump, while he has prior experience. As well, if the Parti Québécois wins the next election in Quebec, Trudeau could say only he—like his father—can defeat Quebec separatism. All of this is highly unlikely, given polls showing the Liberals facing a calamitous defeat. But the ruthlessness with which the prime minister dealt with challenges in the past couple of weeks may be a harbinger of the next election campaign. More and more, he is proving he is no Laurier. Andrew Caddell is retired from Global Affairs Canada, where he was a senior policy adviser. He previously worked as an adviser to Liberal governments. He is a town councillor in Kamouraska, Que. He can be reached at pipson52@hotmail.com. The Hill Times