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Last week, Canadians voted in yet another Liberal government—the fourth in a row since 2015. The Liberals have proven themselves to be the most politically successful left-leaning party in the Western world over the past decade. In an age of populist conservative nationalism, they defy all odds. How do they keep doing it?
Let’s begin with a look at the past few months in Canadian politics, illustrated by three useful images.
Late last year, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval ratings dropped to around 20 percent. The Conservative Party opposition, led by Pierre Poilievre, made withering attacks on Trudeau’s Liberal government as incompetent, too far left, and out of touch. Canadian voters across the political spectrum viewed Trudeau as having badly mismanaged the economy. Polls predicted a 2025 Conservative Party landslide. The long-term trend appeared inexorable; the Liberals were doomed.
Prominent Liberal figures then did what ruthlessly effective political parties in the parliamentary tradition have always done—they stabbed their faltering leader in the back. On December 16th, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned from the government, denouncing Trudeau as incompetent on fiscal matters. Since Freeland was the heir apparent to the Liberal Party leadership, jokingly referred to as “Minister of Everything,” this sent shock waves through the party like nothing else. But as so often happens in the Westminster system, the hand that wields the knife sometimes fails to pick up the crown.
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