Justin Trudeau was at the head of Canada for almost 10 years. His three terms as prime minister of the country were notably marked by the establishment of several social programs, the accumulation of deficits and the management of the health crisis.
The son of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau entered the House of Commons in October 2008 by being elected MP for Papineau, in Montreal. Re-elected a second time in 2011, he launched the race for leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada (PLC), which he won handily in 2013.
Two years later, Mr. Trudeau managed to bring his political party back to power, defeating Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, who were trying to win a fourth term.
The Liberal leader then became the 23e Prime Minister of Canada, garnering a majority of seats in parliament with 39.5% of the votes. He was unable to repeat this feat in the next two general elections, instead forming minority governments with more or less a third of the vote.
During his first term, one of the key promises of his 2015 electoral campaign was adopted. His government legalized cannabis, making Canada the first G7 country to move forward with such a policy nationally.
Mr. Trudeau is also implementing another of his important promises: a child allowance which consists of paying a monthly amount of money to parents to help provide for the needs of their children under 18 years old.
His government, however, renounces its commitment not to generate annual deficits of 10 billion dollars, this milestone having been exceeded each year. The Liberals argued that even greater investments were needed to improve Canada’s long-term economic growth.
Internationally, Mr. Trudeau had to learn to work with American President Donald Trump. Relations were tumultuous between the two men. They were marked by the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the imposition of customs tariffs.
During the last year of his first mandate, Mr. Trudeau was shaken by a political storm with the SNC-Lavalin affair and the resignation of his Minister of Veterans Affairs at the time, Jody Wilson-Raybould. The Vancouver-Granville MP says that when she was justice minister, she was pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office to reach a remediation agreement with the Quebec engineering giant in a case corruption in Libya.
Under the sign of the health crisis
His second term, this time in a minority situation, was mainly dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The government had to put itself in a crisis management position. Various public health measures have been put in place to protect the population, as well as economic measures to help businesses and workers.
It was in the midst of a health crisis that Mr. Trudeau decided to call elections early in the summer of 2021, sparking strong criticism from the opposition.
During his electoral campaign, he was followed by numerous demonstrators who mainly expressed their dissatisfaction with the health measures. At one point, Mr. Trudeau was hit by small rocks thrown from an angry crowd in London, Ontario, on the sidelines of a campaign event.
This discontent with regard to health restrictions continued to be heard during Mr. Trudeau’s third and final mandate. He had to deal with the Freedom Convoy protests, which blocked downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks, as well as border crossings.
He invoked the Emergency Measures Act to put an end to these protests, the first use of the law since it replaced the War Measures Act in 1988.
A turbulent period
His last years at the head of the country were particularly stormy.
He has grappled with allegations of foreign interference in federal elections, a sharp rise in the cost of living and a housing crisis. This is without taking into account the geopolitical tensions on the globe with the wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East. Or even the threats of customs tariffs from Donald Trump following his election last November.
Mr. Trudeau was able to ensure the survival of his government by obtaining the support of the New Democratic Party (NDP). In exchange, the government has committed to implementing certain ideas dear to the New Democrats, such as a dental care plan and drug insurance.
This agreement of support and confidence ensured that they would remain in power until June 2025. However, it ended in September after the leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh, decided to tear up the agreement.
The Canadian dental care program was established and legislation for the first phase of a national and universal drug insurance plan was adopted. It was also during this last mandate that the national daycare system at $10 per day, inspired by the Quebec model, took off.
In recent months, Mr. Trudeau’s leadership has been challenged, with many in Liberal ranks calling for him to step down from the party. He resisted these calls, but the surprise resignation of his Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, last December, reignited the debate surrounding his political future.
Before the decision of Mme Freeland, several other ministers had announced their intention not to run again in the next general elections, while the PLC found itself in troubled waters in the polls.
On a more personal level, Mr. Trudeau and his ex-partner Sophie Grégoire announced their separation in 2023 after 18 years of marriage. They had three children together, two boys and a girl.
Before politics
Before entering politics, Mr. Trudeau, now 53, taught several subjects, such as French, mathematics and drama, in Vancouver. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from McGill University and a bachelor’s degree in teaching from the University of British Columbia.
Justin Trudeau lost his younger brother, Michel, in an avalanche while skiing in British Columbia in 1998. He was 23 years old.
Two years later, his father died of prostate cancer at the age of 80. The speech he delivered at the funeral on 15e Prime Minister of Canada, in Montreal, left his mark.
Justin Trudeau served as director of the Canadian Avalanche Foundation after the death of his brother. He was also involved with Katimavik from 2002 to 2006. After being suspended in 2012, the volunteer program for young Canadians was resurrected in 2018 by Mr. Trudeau, who made it an election promise.
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