OPINION: I’m Canadian, and I Dislike Justin Trudeau

Justin Trudeau, the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada. Photo: Prime Minister of Canada (pm.gc.ca)

With the current state of political affairs in the United States being one that is unpredictable, Americans have turned to their friends in the North for hope. Justin Trudeau, the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada, is praised by Americans of all political stripes for his charisma and policies. But up here in the Great White North, things aren’t how the seem. In order for everyone to understand, lets start with some context.

2015 Federal Election

The 2015 Federal Election had the highest voter turnout since 1993 with 68.3% of the population voting. This election brought big changes to the House of Commons (the elected lawmaking body in Parliament).

Here’s what the House looked like prior to the 2015 Election:

Seats in the House of Commons going into the 2015 Federal Election. Conservatives (blue, 166 seats) New Democrats (orange, 103 seats) Liberals (red, 34 seats) Bloc Québécois (light blue, 4 seats) Green Party (green, 1 seat). Photo: wikipedia.org

Justin Trudeau had to truly turn the Liberal Party around in order to have a chance at gaining any seats in the 2015 Election. And that he did. His charisma, age, and background did much of the work for him. He ran a platform that everyone could clearly read and understand (the full election platform can be found here). He appealed to the youth. For the first time, a young person was at the helm of a…