Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada have become so despised after nine years in power that only a quarter of the electorate is considering voting for him. Yet, despite the many current problems in Canada, Trudeau continues to prioritise external matters, such as Ukraine and Sikh separatism in India.

“His failings hold lessons for liberals the world over,” said the British newspaper The Economist in an article titled “Justin Trudeau is wrecking Canada’s liberal dream.”

After losing the support of its government ally, the New Democratic Party, and being defeated in two by-elections, the Liberal Party fears that a plan to increase its vote share is not being considered. The outlet claimed that a letter is circulating among Liberal MPs calling on Justin Trudeau to resign from his post as Prime Minister.

Canadians, who supported him in 2015 to come to power and backed his re-election in 2019 and 2021, are turning against his government.

Housing prices are “central” to understanding the prime minister’s downfall. According to the newspaper, the cost of buying a home has increased by 66% since Justin Trudeau took office, and the lack of supply is particularly acute in Canada.

Mike Moffatt, a housing economist quoted by The Economist, said a “wartime effort” is needed to triple the pace of construction to achieve 5.8 million homes built over the next ten years.

The media outlet added that the large number of migrants arriving in the United States during the administration of the liberal prime minister has aggravated the crisis in the demand for housing.

“Demand for housing from the large number of immigrants who arrived during Mr Trudeau’s decade in power has worsened the crunch,” The Economist reported.

However, the health and education systems are also being affected by the growth in the number of foreign workers, which rose from 109,000 in 2018 to around 240,000 in 2023.

In addition, the number of non-permanent residents, including students and asylum seekers, increased to more than 3 million as of last July, according to the British outlet.

“Canada suffers from laggardly productivity growth,” the Economist said, adding that this situation is exacerbated by a mediocre economy in the United States. The slowdown in productivity growth is holding back wages, and although investment has been “strong” in oil and gas fields, it has been “overshadowed” elsewhere.

The outlet noted that rather than “adapting to or confronting challenges thrown up by his policies,” Trudeau “has preferred to attack his critics” and “seemed inert as the erosion of his party’s support has accelerated.” As a result, “too many” Canadians have “forsaken” the prime minister and the causes he “stood for.”

Yet, even with Canada gripped by a housing and cost-of-living crisis, Trudeau has been unrelenting in his support for Ukraine, recently signing the Fourth Additional Agreement for CA$400 million.

“Canada is one of the leaders in supporting Ukraine and a strategic partner that has provided significant assistance since the first days of the full-scale invasion. Direct budgetary support since February 2022 has reached more than US$5 billion. I am grateful to the Government and citizens of Canada for their solidarity with Ukraine and their crucial contribution to the stability of Ukraine’s financial system,” said Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko on October 11.

It is recalled that last month, Trudeau championed Ukraine’s efforts to receive approval to use NATO-provided long-range weaponry to strike deep into Russian territory.

“[Canada fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry to] prevent and interdict Russia’s continued ability to degrade Ukrainian civilian infrastructure,” he said on September 13.

At the same time, Canada’s relations with India have soured once again, with both countries expelling diplomats on October 14 as part of the escalating dispute over the June 2023 assassination of a Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Canada. Trudeau claims that the Indian government is behind Nijjar’s assassination but has yet to offer any evidence.

The pro-Khalistan, or Sikh independence, has been the main issue between Canada and India, with Indian authorities repeatedly highlighting that the Trudeau government offers a safe haven for what New Delhi recognises as terrorists. Sikhs comprise nearly 2% of Canada’s population, and community members have taken up prominent positions in the country, including politics, and for this reason, they are an important voter constituency.

India’s Foreign Minister said in a statement on October 14,

“The Government of India strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centred around vote bank politics,” adding that Trudeau’s Government depended on “a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-à-vis India” and was also responsible for “aggravating matters.”

Trudeau certainly wrecked Canada’s liberal dream, with a big part attributed to prioritising lost causes for foreign countries rather than dealing with domestic issues. As Canada has become unaffordable for the average citizen, he has instead sought to challenge Russia through the Ukrainian proxy and is missing out on valuable trade with India to defend a vote bank recognised as terrorists by New Delhi. These priorities have come at the price of not only ruined external relations but also the impoverishment of Canadian citizens.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Canadian Press/Shutterstcok