Liberalism in retreat as Trudeau bows out

With Justin Trudeau announcing his resignation as the Prime Minister of Canada last week, it marks another huge blow to liberal order of the West, which is witnessing one wall after another crumble to the ground.

Trudeau was once described as the “poster boy of liberalism” and his exit comes at a time which also marks a huge shift in American politics with Donald Trump’s come back as President for a second term. It begs the question: is liberalism as we know it, dying?

Look around you. President Macron of France is facing a huge challenge from the far right party of Marine Le Pen. In Germany, of all places, the far right has made huge gains and the moderate Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to do badly in the upcoming general election.

In the UK, where the Labour Party won handsomely last year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing several headwinds and a decline in his popularity in opinion polls.

In the meantime, the far right Reform Party is making gains even at the cost of the Conservatives. In 2023, another liberal poster child, Jacinda Adern, had to step down as Prime Minister of New Zealand as her popularity plummeted in opinion polls.

These are all leaders who spent their political careers embracing the values of liberalism like multiculturalism and fighting climate change. Justin Trudeau embodied this strongly, as a modern progressive leader who stood for the environment, for refugees and for equal rights for women.

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During Trump’s first stint, Trudeau openly welcomed refugees into Canada, saying, “To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength.”

Yet, Trudeau has struggled with his popularity for years and was finally forced to step down as he saw the writing on the wall. The progressive values he espoused are today being challenged across different parts of the world by those on the far right and those who vote them to power.

Trump 2.0 era begins

Donald Trump’s big victory is a testament to that sentiment. He did not just get the support of old, white men but a cross section of ethnic groups including Black men and Latinos.

The under current was the same: anger over cost of living, over jobs and illegal immigration that threatened to take away those jobs. Those who voted for Trump did not care for the big slogans about saving democracy that came from the Democrats. They cared about bread and butter issues.

As I wrote in a piece shortly after Trump’s win, the problem is how the liberal world reacts to these developments. There is a disdain, a nose in the air approach which was very evident when Hillary Clinton described Trump supporters as a “basket of deplorables”.

Instead of dissing voters for their choices, we need to take a step back and try to understand why they are making these choices.

We need to ask ourselves where liberalism has failed. Today people feel the gap between the rich and the rest has grown wider. Economies are feeling the pinch and in democracies this anger is being expressed through their votes.

Liberal and centrist leaders need to find a way to address that anger and reclaim their space.