Tom Mulcair: Grading Trudeau's performance in 2024, and what's ahead for him in the new year

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is about to enter the final year of his mandate and, quite possibly, of his political career, writes Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca. The former NDP leader takes a snapshot of Trudeau's leadership balance sheet as a way of understanding how he got to where he is in the polls.

A lot has been written and said about Chrystia Freeland’s resignation the week before Christmas. Her bombshell letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be part of Canadian political lore for years to come.

I don’t think it was a revelation to Freeland or anyone else that Trudeau likes political gimmicks. It’s that very showman-like approach to political life that contrasted so sharply with the serious Stephen Harper, and it helped Trudeau win his only majority.

Stunts—from bhangra dancing in India to showing off his yoga poses—have all been part of the Trudeau brand from the get go. And it’s worked; until it didn’t.

Freeland has had a front row seat through it all. She knew the gimmicky side to Trudeau better than anyone else. What she had underestimated was his bloody-mindedness in dealing with his closest colleagues.

Bill Morneau and Jody Wilson-Raynould had written about it. When Wilson-Raybould quit, Freeland went after her for not being a team player. That doesn’t mean that Freeland wasn’t paying attention to what Trudeau was about; she is, if nothing else, studious.

So when Trudeau offered her an empty minister’s portfolio with no budget and no real role, she jumped from the campaign plane and deployed a virtuous parachute to prepare a soft landing. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake as Wilson-Raybould, who’d accepted veterans affairs before finally leaving herself.