Change is on the cards in Canada
THE stunning victory of Justin Trudeau will have reverberations beyond Canada’s borders after the Liberal Party leader emphatically put an end to a decade of rule by the most conservative leadership in the country’s history.
Among the areas in which Trudeau differs from his predecessor, Conservative Stephen Harper: air strikes against Islamic State, support for Israel, climate change, immigration, and how much relations with the United States should hinge on the future of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Speaking at a rally in Ottawa, 43-year-old Trudeau – son of one of the country’s most dynamic politicians – underlined the sea change.
‘‘I want to say this to this country’s friends around the world: many of you have worried that Canada has lost its compassionate and constructive voice in the world over the past 10 years.
‘‘Well, I have a simple message for you on behalf of 35 million Canadians. We’re back,’’ he declared.
With Trudeau’s decisive victory, Canadian voters reclaimed their country’s liberal identity, giving the new prime minister a commanding majority in Parliament that will allow him to govern without relying on other parties.
That means change in Canadian policies on a broad spectrum of issues.
‘‘Trudeau will return Canada to its traditional approach in foreign affairs, which is characteristic of every single government but Harper’s,’’ said Robert Bothwell, a professor at the University of Toronto.
‘‘Canada will go back to multilateralism, back to strong support for the United Nations.’’
The son of former prime minister the late Pierre Trudeau, who swept to office in 1968 on a wave of support dubbed ‘‘Trudeaumania’’ and governed for most of the next two decades, the younger Trudeau channels the star power – if not quite the political heft – of his father.
Tall and trim, he is a former school teacher and has been a member of Parliament since 2008. He becomes the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history.
‘‘The whole tone of the USCanada relationship will change. Philosophically, [US President Barack] Obama and Trudeau are much closer,’’ Bothwell said.
The White House said Obama had called Trudeau to congratulate him, and the two leaders ‘‘committed to strengthening the countries’ joint efforts to promote trade, combat terrorism and mitigate climate change’’.
Obama ‘‘also teased me about my lack of grey hair, but said I’d probably get some quite soon’’, Trudeau quipped at a news conference later.
Trudeau’s victory is likely to improve ties with the US, at least for the remainder of Obama’s presidency. Harper was frustrated by Obama’s reluctance to approve the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas, and clashed with the president on other issues, including the recent Iran nuclear deal.
Although Trudeau supports the Keystone pipeline, he argues that US-Canadian relations should not hinge on the project.
‘‘Theoretically, Justin is for Keystone, but he can obviously jettison that,’’ Bothwell said.
US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton recently expressed her opposition to the project, while Republican contenders are for it.
Antonia Maioni, a political science professor at McGill University, said the Obama Administration would welcome the change of government.
‘‘Even on Keystone, Mr Trudeau says he supports it, but he is not going to make it an issue of conflict with Obama.’’
Still, there are differences that could lead to friction with the US.
Trudeau has said he will remove Canada’s six fighter jets from the US-led bombing campaign against the Islamic State group. Harper had said that doing so would hurt relations with the US.
Trudeau said the issue came up in his conversation with Obama, and the US president understood his commitment to end Canada’s involvement in the combat mission.
Trudeau has also vowed to take in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year. Harper declined to resettle more Syrian refugees, and some analysts have questioned whether Trudeau’s goal is realistic.
Canada shifted to the centreright under Harper, who lowered sales and corporate taxes, avoided climate change legislation, strongly supported the oil and gas extraction industry, and backed the Right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trudeau will have a more balanced approach to the conflict in the Middle East, analysts say.
Trudeau has also vowed to consult the premiers of Canada’s provinces in an effort to come up with a plan ahead of the Paris climate talks in November.
Under Harper, Canada pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol, the emissions reduction programme for rich countries, and the Conservative leader was perceived by environmentalists as more interested in protecting Canada’s oil-rich region of Alberta than in efforts to stem the effects of climate change.
Throughout the election campaign, Trudeau’s opponents pilloried him as too inexperienced, and he will be put to the test in the coming weeks with a series of global summits, including the Paris climate summit.
‘‘He’s going to be with world leaders, and that’s going to be a test,’’ Maioni said.