A fiery speech from Trudeau in the midst of a crisis

OTTAWA | Justin Trudeau delivered a fiery speech in front of an audience of several hundred liberal activists gathered in Ottawa to celebrate the end of the year, Tuesday evening, a few minutes after canceling all his interviews planned to close 2024.

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“Are there any liberals in the room? “, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enthusiastically launched on stage to a room full of cheering supporters.

A few minutes earlier, Justin Trudeau’s office confirmed that the Prime Minister was canceling all his end-of-year interviews with the media at the last minute.

A decision which has cast doubt on his political future, while several of his deputies openly demand his resignation and his ministers avoid offering him their unconditional support.

For Charles-Etienne Beaudry, professor of political science at the University of Ottawa, the decision to cancel his public appearances clashes with the enthusiastic speech delivered last night.

“I think he’s trying to retain the support of those MPs who still support him. The idea is to give yourself time,” he thinks.

Family squabble

For about fifteen minutes, the Prime Minister defended his record on conquered ground and threw arrows at his Bloc and Conservative adversaries, without clearly addressing the elephant in the room.

“As in most families, there are sometimes arguments during the holidays,” he said. But of course, like most families, we find a way to overcome this,” Justin Trudeau simply mentioned at the start of his speech, alluding to the shattering resignation of Chrystia Freeland on Monday.

Ready to fight

For political scientist Geneviève Tellier, with this speech Justin Trudeau wanted to prove that he was still capable of staying in power.

“In his attitude and the themes discussed, he shows that he is still ready to fight, particularly with Pierre Poilievre,” she believes, stressing however that Justin Trudeau will not silence speculation about his political future.