Over the past few months, the perception that “Canada is broken” has gone from being a campaign slogan of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) to a widely accepted truth. In surveys conducted on the occasion of the national holiday “Canada Day” on July 1, 70 per cent of respondents agreed with this thesis, including almost 80 per cent of 18-34-year-olds. In general, people across all demographic groups feel less proud to be Canadian than they did five years ago. Justin Trudeau may not be as impressively self-assured as he was in his first two terms in office, 2015-2019 and 2019-2021, but he seems rock-solidly convinced that he is the only politician in the country who would be able to successfully buck the tide of bad news at some point and possibly even lead his party to victory again in the next general election. In any case, there are no clear indicators in the PM's public appearances that he would be so tired of office that he would resign. This is looking increasingly surreal. It is hard to imagine that the country will be able to drag itself through another 15 months in this state until the scheduled general election in the fall of 2025. What one commentator recently wrote is inevitable: the Prime Minister needs a new, convincing narrative if he really wants a fourth term in office. It is extremely doubtful whether Trudeau and above all the electorate will be able to muster the necessary imagination.
IMAGO / ZUMA Press
