A Canadian prime minister who has outstayed his welcome, persistent inflation, a government bumped and bruised by scandal and a fired-up opposition leader itching for a public showdown.

It was against this backdrop, four decades ago, that Pierre Trudeau took his apocryphal “walk in the snow” and decided not to contest the next federal election.

After a shocking upset in a “safe” electoral district and with a looming possibility of a blowout in the next federal election, Justin Trudeau’s predicament closely mirrors that of his father.

But the incumbent prime minister says he has no intention of stepping down, despite mounting evidence the public is growing increasingly weary of both his tenure – and of his Liberal party.

In late June, Trudeau’s party lost a by-election for a seat the party had held for nearly three decades, foreshadowing what pundits say could portend the collapse of the party’s stronghold in Canada’s most populous city.

    • shinratdr@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      “I have so many reasons it would take me days to go through my file of very good reasons and I have better things to do like comment on Lemmy about Trudeau and all the reasons I have to not like him.”

      I don’t like Trudeau for the same reasons I did before he was elected. He’s a Liberal, and he’s more right wing than I want in a leader. Supporting the oil industry at the expense of our national standing and the environment, and reneging on his promise to end FPTP are also good reasons.

      But I am immediately suspicious of anyone who HATES him or is SO EMBARRASSED by him because they have clearly fallen for a right-wing disinformation campaign against him. They hate him because they’re told about how awful he is because carbon tax and gays and economy.

      • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
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        4 months ago

        Exactly. I had high hopes for him when he was first elected, but when he walked back ending FPTP I knew the slide would continue. At this point it feels like America and Canada are in the same boat … vote for an incumbent we don’t really want or risk having a MAGAt (wannabe in our case) at the helm.

        I hate it here.

        • shinratdr@lemmy.ca
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          4 months ago

          It’s different having a viable 3rd/4th/5th party, so it’s nice to at least have another way to vote that doesn’t immediately just end up in the trash.

          After reneging on his FPTP promise, I’m never voting Liberal again. It’s NDP all the way from now on unless something major changes. My hope is for a conservative minority and the possibility of a coalition or strong opposition, but I’m not holding my breath.