This proclamation from Justin Trudeau’s former confidence-and-supply partner, and the man who helped the Prime Minister survive three previous non-confidence votes, arguably represents the most potent threat yet to the power and authority Trudeau has wielded since assuming his office in 2015.
“Justin Trudeau failed in the biggest job as a Prime Minister has: to work for people, not the powerful. To focus on Canadians, not themselves,” wrote Singh. “The Liberals don’t deserve another chance. That’s why the NDP will vote to bring this government down and give Canadians a chance to vote for a government who will work for them. No matter who is leading the Liberal Party, this government’s time is up.”
Jacquetta Newman, a political science professor at King’s University College in London, Ont., told The Catholic Register that if Trudeau decided to relinquish his office in response to this development, the official announcement would likely not come until the New Year since he made a significant cabinet shuffle today. The operative word of the last sentence is “if.”
“I’m not as convinced as I was that he was going to resign in the New Year,” said Newman. "I’m a little worried that he is trying to shuffle the cabinet and say, ‘everything’s new’ and try and power through in the New Year.
“There doesn’t seem to be a realization that the problem isn’t cabinet, the problem isn’t his ministers, the problem is the unpopularity of him.”
Viewing the non-confidence toppling to the Liberal party as an inevitability, Newman added that the timing of the government’s “imploding” is coming at “possibly one of the worst times.” She said strength and unity need to be projected to face down the 25-per-cent tariff threat declared by incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
Canada is also set to host Trump and the rest of the G7 at Kananaskis, Alta., in June. How would the optics look if Trudeau prorogued Parliament — a path the commentariat suggested Trudeau could take — and was still holding onto power at the time of that important summit?
“All of the world leaders are going to be looking at him and saying, ‘you know, buddy, you don't really have a mandate at this point, right? You don't really lead the country at this point,’ ” said Newman.
Whether an election happens before Oct. 20, 2025 — a scenario increasing in probability –—or on that appointed day, Matthew Marquardt, the executive director of Catholic Conscience, a non-partisan civic engagement organization, would like Canadian Catholics to seize the opportunity to make their voices heard this upcoming election year.
Marquardt is delighted that catholicconscience.org has garnered over 22,000 views over the past calendar year, with traffic surging in the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. election. This online platform was conceptualized to help Canadian voters become more discerning voters.
"I started Catholic Conscience because I was alarmed that Catholics were being encouraged, channelled into being one or two issue voters when there's a whole lot of things we ought to be considering,” said Marquardt. “We need to look at the entire picture. No party is perfectly Catholic, or it's very seldom any party's perfect with a Catholic. They've all got great things. They've all got things that we ought to reconsider.
"The entire church, top to bottom, should be engaged,” continued Marquardt. “I think our leaders need to encourage us to be more involved and not afraid about speaking out.”
Visit Catholic Conscience’s comprehensive voter resources for the 2025 federal election by visiting https://catholicconscience.org/canada/federal/2025federal.