Is the Canadian Prime Minister and the ruling Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau’s resignation marks the first success of the Donald Trump-Elon Musk duo in organising regime change as a part of far right agenda in 2025? Apparently, many might argue that this was not so as the developments in the Liberal Party and the Canadian Government in the last few weeks indicated that Trudeau was getting isolated and his Party was going to lose in the coming elections on October 20 this year.
There is some truth in it, but the fact is that Trudeau still would have tried for a turnaround in his Party’s fortunes in the next ten months if the President elect Donald Trump aided by Elon Musk would not have humiliated him and openly advocated his ouster. Trump talked of his idea of converting Canada into the 51st state of America and completely changing the trilateral agreement between USA, Mexico and Canada to the detriment of the Canadian national interests.
Along with this, Trump acolyte Elon Musk launched a massive disinformation campaign in his social media platform X former Twitter against Trudeau which was a sort of vilification of his character. The Liberal party members who were earlier with Trudeau deserted him in the past two weeks as it became apparent to them that Trudeau’s presence as the Prime Minister or as the Liberal Party leader will bring wrath from the incoming U.S. President. Canada cannot function as a normal democracy by fighting constantly a powerful neighbour like the United States.
In the present Canadian Parliament of 338 members, a majority of 170 is needed. The Liberal Party is running the government since the last 2019 elections as a minority government getting 153 seats on its own and taking the support of the NDP which has got 25 seats. As against the Liberal Party, the conservative CPC has 120 seats and its ally Bloc Quebecais 33 seats.
In September this year, the NDP withdrew support and on December 20, Canada’s powerful finance minister Christia Freeland resigned over differences with the Prime Minister Trudeau. Trudeau visited Trump at Mara Lago residence after Trump’s election victory to sort out issues, but he was rebuffed. Trudeau came back depressed with the feeling that more he stays in his position, more will be his humiliation at the hand of the incoming U.S. President. He was in know of the contacts made by Trump camp with some of the seniors in his government bypassing him.
Following Trudeau’s resignation, there is every possibility that the national elections will be preponed from the earlier scheduled October 20 this year and it can be held anytime in February/March this year. The Conservatives are topping the opinion polls and as a traditional party opposed to the Liberal Party, the CPC has every chance of forming the next government. Senior leaders of CPC are pro-Trump, though they have been vocal opposing Trump’s comments about turning Canada into a 51st state of USA.
As regards the contenders for the PM’s position in the Liberal Party, the front runner is Christia Freeland who resigned as the finance minister on December 20 intensifying the process of Trudeau’s resignation. Freeland is well known in USA and Europe as a competent minister who handled trade negotiations with the USA earlier. She has the confidence of the Trump camp. The next contender is Melanie Joly, the present foreign minister. Both have good relations with Trump advisers and the Canadian political sources say that if the Liberal Party wins, which is unlikely, the new Canadian Government will be friendly with the Trump administration. The US can exercise enough powers on the new Canadian government.
This is a new ‘democratic’ pattern of regime change without resorting to direct intervention or by organising coups as the CIA and the US administration organised in Latin America and in many other countries of the world in the earlier decades. Now Trump-Musk combo is organising a new brand of far right politics which has the potential to sweep the countries which have weak centre right or centrist governments in Europe or Latin America. Mexico has strong government of the Left coalition MORENA. Trump has mentioned about restricting the immigration from Mexico but not used any harsh words against the Mexican President. Because Mexican government is strong enough to rebuff any retaliatory moves by the incoming Trump administration.
Donald Trump has not yet taken over the US administration officially. He will do that on January 20. But the impact is being felt globally. And in this grand task of Trump, his associate Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, is using his social media platform X spread disinformation against the political heads whom Trump does not like. The latest vilification of the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is the worst example of to what extent Musk can go in spreading wrong information about the PM and igniting communal passions against the Muslims and immigrants. Starmer has strongly rebutted the charges but the damage has already been done to the British society. (IPA Service)