Trudeau Resigns, Guantanamo Prisoner Release, Minneapolis Police Reform
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is resigning after facing mounting calls to step down.
After a landslide victory during his first run as Prime Minister, how did he become so unpopular?
I'm Amy Martinez, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. Nearly half of the detainees have been released from the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Only 15 men remain. What led to the dramatic transfers in the final weeks of the Biden administration.
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Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he's resigning, capping almost a decade in power. The 53-year-old faced calls from all corners of the country to step down over his handling of the economy, immigration and other issues. Now, it's a far cry from 2015 when he was first elected in a landslide.
NPR international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam has been following Trudeau's rise and fall over the years. And she's with us now to tell us more about it. Good morning, Jackie. Good morning, Michelle. Jackie, there have been calls for months now for Trudeau to resign, even from members of his own Liberal Party. What happened?
Well, momentum had been building for some time for him to step aside. His poll numbers and the parties are in the low 20s. A couple of weeks ago, Chrystia Freeland, who was both his deputy prime minister and finance minister, resigned. And she had been a key, steadfast ally for Trudeau. And frankly, he faced a no confidence vote. And it was pretty clear he was going to lose that and he likely wanted to get ahead of it. So he announced his resignation.
This is quite a fall for somebody who, you know, more than nine years ago had a landslide victory during his first run as prime minister. Just tell us more about him.
Well, you're right. I mean, he won by a landslide. You know, he had or has matinee idol looks. He was tall, athletic. His face graced the covers of magazines around the world. And he just energized the 2015 elections. And he had broad appeal for voters, especially young voters. It was the same type of popularity that his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, had. And he was twice prime minister. And he was also a charismatic figure. Justin Trudeau also promoted social causes such as gender equality, and there was an equal number of women and men in his first cabinet. Also more taxes on the wealthy, more effort to protect the environment.
So a progressive agenda that the public seemed to embrace at the time that he was elected and seemed to warmly embrace it. What happened? Why has he become so unpopular?
Well, within a few years of first being elected, it was pretty clear that the honeymoon was over. There were scandals, resignations in his cabinet. Now, he did get good marks for his handling of the COVID pandemic, but, you know, the country never really seemed to rebound. And Canada now is experiencing many of the issues that we see here in the U.S., high inflation, housing shortages. I spoke with Nick Nanos with Nanos Research, which is a leading polling firm based in Ottawa, and he said that there was also a backlash against immigration. Here he is.
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