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13 - Where Are We Now?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2022

Margaret Conrad
Affiliation:
University of New Brunswick
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Summary

This chapter focuses on the success of the Liberal Party under its new leader Justin Trudeau in rising from its third party status in 2011 to win a majority of seats in the 2015 election. Promising to abandon austerity budgeting and boasting that “Canada is back” on the world stage, Trudeau embarked on progressive policies relating to Indigenous relations, international affairs, gender equality, climate change, admission of Syrian refugees, child care, and infrastructure spending. His progressive thrust was soon compromised by countervailing forces emanating from provinces, corporations, social conservatives, and American president Donald Trump who demanded a renegotiation of the NAFTA agreement, embroiled Canada in a trade war with China; and treated Trudeau and Canada with open contempt. Unable to square national environmental policies with demands from Alberta and Saskatchewan for more pipelines to carry their oil and natural gas to distant markets, Trudeau was brought low by his government’s decision to buy the Kinder Morgan pipeline to expand Alberta’s exports of heavy oil and by energetic efforts to protect SNC-Lavalin, a multinational corporation based in Montreal, from being persecuted for its corrupt practices in Libya and elsewhere. With Trudeau’s claims to transparency and commitment to environmental sustainability called into question, Trudeau lost the support of many progressive voters, who turned to the Green Party and the NDP in the October 2019 federal election.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Where Are We Now?
  • Margaret Conrad, University of New Brunswick
  • Book: A Concise History of Canada
  • Online publication: 12 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108682367.014
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  • Where Are We Now?
  • Margaret Conrad, University of New Brunswick
  • Book: A Concise History of Canada
  • Online publication: 12 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108682367.014
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Where Are We Now?
  • Margaret Conrad, University of New Brunswick
  • Book: A Concise History of Canada
  • Online publication: 12 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108682367.014
Available formats
×