President-elect Donald Trump once again alluded to the annexation of Canada as the 51st state in his reaction to Justin Trudeau’s resignation on Monday, but with the Liberal leader gone, who will be able to respond?
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Mr. Trump indicated on his social network Truth that Justin Trudeau had decided to leave his post because “many people in Canada like to be 51e State” and that Mr. Trudeau “is aware of this and has resigned.”
According to political analyst Marc-André Leclerc, even if his legitimacy is increasingly fragile, the current Prime Minister must respond to these words from the future American president.
“The problem is who is responding to that right now? asks Mr. Leclerc. Justin Trudeau, he must respond to Donald Trump. The problem for the Liberals is that it’s still Mr. Trudeau that we’re going to see in the news.”
“They don’t have a plan and they’re caught in a leadership race right now,” he adds. That’s the problem. This is a government that is in jello. As long as we don’t have a Prime Minister who is elected with a mandate from the population, we have a government in Ottawa that is in trouble.”
QUB radio host Mario Dumont is of the opinion that a response from Pierre Poilievre would have more impact than that of any Liberal elected official.
“Do you know who should answer this? There is just one, it’s Pierre Poilievre, he said. The one who can respond without having resonance is Pierre Poilievre, because he is perceived as more to the right, he is the one that Elon Musk likes.
“He’s the one who would respond and give a little clap of thunder – a small one – but still,” he adds.
“Lack of political legitimacy”
According to political analyst Emmanuelle Latraverse, this situation lifts the veil on the fragility in which the government has placed Canada for the coming months, especially as it relates to negotiations with President Trump.
“Justin Trudeau was not capable of making all the provinces move in the same direction,” she says. So what’s going to happen? This is the problem of lack of political legitimacy that hangs over Canada at the moment.”
“Mr. Trudeau is legally prime minister,” she adds. He is Prime Minister in name, but in fact he no longer has the power to lead this Team Canada, to lead the charge and to articulate a coherent strategy for Canada to face what is coming next. Donald Trump’s part, not only on January 20, but on January 30, February 2, March 10, I don’t know.
This situation would give an important strategic advantage to the American representative.
“The issue is not that he responds to tweets,” she says. The question is, is there anyone who actually sees him picking up the phone and talking to Donald Trump right now? The other one will be dying of laughter on the other end of the line.”
“This is what perfectly illustrates the kind of crisis and the void into which the federal government has plunged Canada,” she adds.
See the full analysis in the video above
