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Right after Trump threatened to impose high tariffs (25%) on all goods from Canada until it stems the flow of illegal aliens and drugs entering America, panic ensued north of the border, and it has only escalated into pandemonium on both the provincial and national levels. Now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is faced with a crisis from his own government. Even the Toronto Star editorial board stated that “it’s time for Justin Trudeau to resign,” and the UK’s Telegraph didn’t mince words in its headline: “Donald Trump may just have toppled Justin Trudeau’s government.”

Trudeau’s Deputy Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned from the cabinet, merely days before she was to deliver a fiscal update. She also relinquished her position as deputy prime minister. Hours later, Dominic LeBlanc was Trudeau’s pick to replace Freeland as finance minister.

Freeland posted on X her formal letter to Trudeau. It showcases a clash in strategy and policy in the face of Trump’s tariff threat, and her grievance regarding no longer having Trudeau’s confidence to do her job:

See my letter to the Prime Minister below // Veuillez trouver ma lettre au Premier ministre ci-dessous pic.twitter.com/NMMMcXUh7A

— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) December 16, 2024

On the heels of Freeland’s resignation came another shock for Trudeau:

The news seemed to catch Housing Minister Sean Fraser off guard Monday morning when he was asked about it during a press conference announcing his own resignation from cabinet.

Between July and now, six Liberal cabinet ministers have announced they won’t be running again.

Provincial politicians are no less unsettled over Trump’s threat. Ontario Progressive Conservative premier Doug Ford has threatened to shut down energy exports to the U.S. over Trump’s tariff threat, and got pushback:

#BREAKING: Quebec and Newfoundland Premiers say waging war with the U.S and threatening and cut their power…

Is an extremely dumb thing to do when all Trump wants is for Canada to secure its border.

Doug Ford to shut his fat mouth and listen. pic.twitter.com/6tN6ax3ScO

— govt.exe is corrupt (@govt_corrupt) December 12, 2024

Actually, it’s three premiers who do not support Ford’s threat: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Quebec Premier François Legault, and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Andrew Furey. 

The federal government’s reaction to the provinces was to downplay the premiers’ response to Trump’s tariffs. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc warned: “One should be careful not to confuse the odd public comment, with what is a clear desire to work together with the Government of Canada…This is an important moment for the whole country.”

Ford also spoke to Democrat Governors Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan) and Kathy Hochul (New York), saying “they fully understood where I was coming from.”

Other side meetings that excluded Prime Minister Trudeau:

• Quebec Premier Francois Legault met with Trump in Paris to talk about the border and tariffs. Think about it: this is severely embarrassing to Trudeau as prime minister of Canada.
• Conservative Member of Parliament Jamil Jivani met with Vice President-elect JD Vance (whom he knew from college) amid Trump’s tariff threats. Another embarrassment to Trudeau. No one has confidence in him.

According to a new Léger poll, most Canadians agree with Trump on the border issue, while they lack confidence in Trudeau’s ability to “successfully handle the new U.S. president and his tariff proposals.”

Conservative Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre pointed fingers in the right direction from the start, stating of Trudeau:

“He’s lost control of our borders, he’s lost control of immigration, he’s lost control of spending, and with that erratic performance, we now see that he’s lost control of himself…No wonder foreign leaders believe they can walk all over him, they see him as a weak, incompetent leader who does not even have the support of his own caucus.”

Poilievre is now seen as the best leader to deal with Trump according to an Ipsos poll, as Trudeau scrambles to regain control of his own government, let alone Canada and Trump. A cabinet shuffle is expected soon with a puzzling new player: the unelected Mark Carney, former chief of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

Even loudmouthed New Democratic Party leader and hypocrite Jagmeet Singh, who propped up Trudeau in the House of Commons to ensure the passing of every major bill and to shield Trudeau from no-confidence motions, is now calling for Trudeau’s resignation. Others doing the same are Pierre Poilievre and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet, along with other politicians and the public.

On Monday night, Liberal MPs from all over the country convened on Parliament Hill for an emergency caucus meeting in the face of “renewed calls from some members of his party to resign.”

Trudeau is expected by many to resign. If he does, it’s uncertain who will replace him. If he doesn’t, a no-confidence motion may be introduced in late January when parliamentarians resume after the holidays. In this scenario, he’s lost his Jagmeet Singh prop and the government will most likely fall. Otherwise, Canada is stuck with him until the October 2025 elections.