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Trudeau’s Liberals recently suffered upsets in special elections in two districts in Toronto and Montreal that the party has held for years, raising doubts about Trudeau’s leadership
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre during a debate in the country’s Parliament. (Screengrab)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was subject to ridicule in the country’s Parliament on Wednesday as he attempted to defend the Liberal Party’s record on immigration amid stringent criticism from the Opposition.
Addressing the Canadian Parliament during a debate, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre attacked Trudeau over the failure of the government’s immigration policy which has led to a housing crisis. As Liberals continue to trail the Conservatives in the latest surveys, Poilievre said the Canadian PM “cannot fix what he broke or anything else because he’s busy fighting his own caucus.”
‘A brokenist vision’
While defending his record, Trudeau said, “Once again, we see the leader of the Opposition is pushing a ‘brokenist’ vision of Canada that is simply not aligned with the reality.” With a huge smirk, Poilievre quickly responded, saying, “Mr. Speaker, ‘brokenist’, it’s not even a word. He (Canadian PM Trudeau) is even breaking the English language.”
‘One more absurd addition’
Trudeau’s use of the word ‘brokenist’ ignited a meme storm on the internet, with dozens of users on social media mocking the Canadian Prime Minister. “Wait! One more absurd addition to the glossary, compliments of Canada’s lame-duck Prime Minister: brokenist,” said one of the users on the social media platform X. “Where did you hear that? What does it even mean!? What is happening to? He English language,” wrote another user mocking the Liberal leader.
Trudeau’s fourth term?
Sharing the speech of Trudeau’s speech, a user said, “From the most brokenist PM Canada has ever had.” Yet another user said, “Fresh off this caucus meeting, the Dear Leader is so flustered, he makes no sense. This is the ‘brokenist’ he’s ever been.”
This comes as lawmakers in Trudeau’s own Liberal Party asked the leader not to run for a fourth term Wednesday, handing him one of the biggest tests of his political career. Three Liberals said they were among a total of 20 plus lawmakers from the party to have signed a letter asking Trudeau to step down before the next election. There are 153 Liberals in Canada’s House of Commons.
Trudeau, who previously has said he plans to run again, didn’t take questions from reporters after the meeting. No Canadian prime minister has won four straight terms in over 100 years. His Cabinet ministers have supported him publicly. “There is what would you call some palace drama going on right now. And that takes us away from the number one job, which is focusing on Canadians,” said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault, a Liberal Party member. Not all Liberal members of Parliament came out in support of Trudeau.
Trudeau’s Liberals
“It’s the decision of the leader of the party as to whether he stays on as leader,” said Ontario Liberal lawmaker Yvan Baker said. Charles Sousa, a Liberal member of Parliament for a suburban Toronto area, said Trudeau is reflecting. He said he didn’t sign the letter. “Trudeau made it very clear that he feels he’s the right choice but he appreciates all of what is being said,” Sousa said. “I respect his decision, whatever that may be.”
Trudeau’s Liberals recently suffered upsets in special elections in two districts in Toronto and Montreal that the party has held for years, raising doubts about Trudeau’s leadership. The federal election could come any time between this fall and October 2025. The Liberals must rely on the support of at least one major party in Parliament as they don’t have the majority of seats.
The opposition leader of the Bloc Québécois has said his party will work with the Conservatives and the New Democratic Party, of NDP, to bring the Liberals down and force an election if the government doesn’t boost pensions for seniors. The Liberals trail the opposition Conservatives 38% to 25% in the latest Nanos poll. The poll of 1,037 respondents has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
(With agency inputs)