Trudeau’s exit and Poilievre’s rise

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 14th of January.

This is WORLD Radio and we thank you for listening. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

First up on The World and Everything in It…a political sea-change in Canada.

The Liberal Party of Canada is still looking for a new leader to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He’ll leave his post in March.

Here’s Trudeau last week in Canada’s capital, Ottawa.

TRUDEAU: I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide competitive process.

One question is: why now? Joining us is Stockwell Day, he’s a former member of the Canadian Parliament, and for two years led the nation’s conservative opposition. He’s now a political consultant, and we caught up with him on a business trip overseas.

REICHARD: Stockwell, good morning.

STOCKWELL DAY: Great to be with you, Mary.

REICHARD: A bit of background about Justin Trudeau for listeners. He is the son of Pierre Trudeau, who was Canada’s prime minister for 16 years, between 1968 and 1984. Justin has been in power for almost a decade. Why resign now?

DAY: The question Canadians have had is why has it taken him so long, quite honestly. Because he has been battling from within his own party now for quite some time. More and more members are becoming more public and wanting him to step down.

They're very low in the polls. His own personal ratings are very low. I've been making the case that it's not just him, it's the policies that people are tired of. And really the final straw, if we can say that, was when his finance minister resigned. She quit on him a little over a week ago, and that made everybody furious. He's lost a number of ministers, and including actually, key women in his cabinet over the last couple years. And this was the final straw.

REICHARD: So the ruling Liberal Party will choose a new leader in March. And then voters will elect members of parliament in October. Some people predict the Conservative party will emerge with the majority…and if that is the case, Canada’s next prime minister would likely be Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre.

Stockwell, you know this man. He was your assistant before he ran for Parliament back in the early 2000s. What kind of leader do you think he’d be?

DAY: Well, you're right. I do know him. He did work for me. He actually kind of ran our campus campaign when I was running for Leader of the Opposition, and he was very good, very astute at that. And then when I came to Ottawa, he came along as my assistant, so I got to know him. Canada will be in very good hands. And I'm not just saying that just because I know him, but because he has not just sounded like—but people are convinced he will behave like—a true “small c” conservative in terms of fiscal priorities, some similar concerns in the US as Canada.

In Canada, you may be aware that the street drug problem is actually a runaway train, and the homelessness that has exploded onto our streets over the last 10 years or so is horrendous. Crime has gone up in that regard. So he wants to address that issue. It's those types of “small c” conservative issues. People wanting a return to normalcy, people being able to afford to buy the groceries that they need to. Housing has gotten extremely expensive. All of these things are leading up to a very upset population, the majority of which say they will vote for Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party, and that's been baked in, Mary, for a couple of years. He's not taking anything for granted, but it's really a solid thing among voter intention. It's not just a momentary win.

REICHARD: How might diplomacy change between a Canada led by Poilievre and the US? Versus now, and in light of President Trump returning to power?

DAY: Pierre Poilievre is much more security minded. He understands the border issues. He understands the crime issues, but he will also be a tough negotiator. When he's sitting down with President Trump, I think they will respect each other, because they have similar views in terms of security that's needed in the world these days. And the necessary steps needed to be taken to bolster what we're doing in terms of military and defense spending. So he'll be a tough negotiator. He will clearly put Canada first, but they come from some similar thinking as far as the importance of security to a nation.

REICHARD: How do you think Poilievre would approach Trump’s stance on tariffs?

DAY: He understands the trade issues very well. He also knows that there are some important economic issues that could hurt American business if Canada was to respond in kind. The US still acquires a fair bit of Canada's energy products, coming to many refineries in the US. There's going to be some significant trade offs that have to be dealt with. So those will be real factors in the negotiation. But where nobody is kidding anybody here. Tariffs are a huge issue. Tariff wars, historically, never work out for both sides. But there's an understanding that president elect Trump is going to try and use them as a hammer in the negotiations for sure.

REICHARD: Now I know that you are a Christian man who has been in Canadian politics for decades now I'm wondering, what is your prayer for the country's leadership this next year?

DAY: My prayer would be right along the lines that are written into the Canadian Constitution. And the preamble to our Constitution, which is supposed to set the tone for the Constitution, are the words that are very clear. It says, recognizing the supremacy of God. And certainly we're not talking about a theocratic nation, like an Islamic nation here, but that policies which could be described as Judeo Christian, that recognize the supremacy of God. So that would be my prayer for Canada, is that an increasing number or sufficient number of Canadians would recognize that there are time tested, proven policies that can be universally applied to any group of people that will allow either a community or a city or country to flourish, and that would be my prayer for Canada. That we would continue to flourish because we recognize that there are universal principles that come to play in terms of making for a successful community or a successful nation.

REICHARD: I pray the same for my own country. Stockwell Day is Canada's former opposition leader and a political commentator. Stockwell, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it. Thank you for your interest.

DAY: All the best.

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