OPINION:
It turns out Canada’s far-left prime minister will not have the chance of becoming governor of America’s 51st state. Justin Trudeau announced Monday his intention to step down as prime minister and Labor Party leader.
He didn’t have much choice, as Canadians — like so many people worldwide — are starting to realize that progressive policies aren’t the path to prosperity.
Two years ago, Mr. Trudeau used the Emergencies Act to crush 500 “Freedom Convoy” truckers who drove to Ottawa, the capital, to complain about COVID-19 restrictions. His proclamation outlawed peaceful protests that contradicted the Labor agenda.
Government officials went after 257 dissenting truck drivers by forcing banks to freeze their accounts, cutting them off from services needed to survive in the modern age.
The Federal Court in Ottawa declared Mr. Trudeau’s actions unlawful last year.
“I have concluded that the decision to issue the Proclamation does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility — and was not justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints that were required to be taken into consideration,” Judge Richard G. Mosley wrote.
No wonder the prime minister has a dismal 74% disapproval rating.
In his place, Canadians are turning to the Conservative Party led by Pierre Poilievre, who has surged in the polls. According to CBC News, Mr. Poilievre’s team is set to win 227 seats in Parliament — far more than the 172 needed to take the majority and form the government. If he wins, Mr. Poilievre promises to champion the free market and create a “country where the state is servant, not master.”
That contrasts with the arrogance of Mr. Trudeau, who refers to those who disagree with his policies as “small” and “angry.” As Mr. Poilievre explained: “He thinks the people are the problem when Canadians know he is the problem. But we won’t let him divide us anymore.”
Blaming Labor’s mass-immigration policies for the nation’s economic woes, Mr. Poilievre said he would end the fraud and abuse Mr. Trudeau introduced. “He allowed ISIS terrorists into Canada, who then went on to try to attack Jews and other Canadian citizens. … Common-sense conservatives will fix what Trudeau and the [New Democratic Party] liberals broke.”
He would fit right in with the growing number of conservative Group of 8 world leaders. Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, for instance, stands up for traditional values against her critics.
“They said it is a scandal for someone who wants to defend the natural family based on marriage, who wants to boost the birth rate, who wants to value human life, who wants to support educational freedom, who wants to say ‘No!’ to gender ideology,” she said in a speech to the International Organization for the Family.
In Germany, polls show the conservative Christian Democrats and the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party are likely to take a majority of seats in next month’s elections. In an op-ed in Die Welt, Elon Musk offered his support.
“The AfD, despite being labeled far-right, offers a political realism that resonates with many Germans who feel their concerns are ignored by the establishment,” he wrote. “They address the issues at hand without the political correctness that often masks the truth.”
It’s good to know that people in North America aren’t alone in recognizing the long-term damage caused by liberals such as President Biden and Mr. Trudeau. The world is waking up.
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