Justin Trudeau Contends With a Summer of Discontent

OTTAWA— Justin Trudeau’s marital split, announced in his-and-hers Instagram posts on Wednesday, caps a string of setbacks for the Canadian leader who seems to have lost his golden touch with voters.

After eight years in power, Trudeau’s approval ratings are close to an all-time low. He faces the prospect of an inquiry into how his government handled alleged Chinese government interference in the last election. His Liberal government has seen continuing criticism over its role in fueling inflation and has yet to successfully address stubbornly high housing prices. A cabinet shuffle last week aimed at providing a fresh start did little to revive his fortunes.

Half of Canadians want a new government while only 19% favor Trudeau, according to a poll last week from Ottawa-based Abacus Data, a dangerously low level of support for the leader of a minority government holding on to power through a coalition agreement with another party.

“He’s getting pounded on a regular basis,” said Duane Bratt, a political-science professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta.

Trudeau, the longest-serving current leader in the Group of Seven countries, has said he intends to lead the Liberal Party in the next election, which for now isn’t scheduled until 2025. If Trudeau loses the support of the left-wing New Democratic Party, an election could come sooner. That party agreed to prop up the Liberals until 2025 in exchange for increased spending to expand medical and dental coverage for low-income Canadians and delivering more affordable housing.

Canadians identify cost-of-living issues as their biggest concern, despite data showing that inflation in Canada has slowed rapidly, from a peak last year of 8.1% to below 3% as of June. The government last month started to issue one-time payments to lower-income Canadians to help offset higher grocery bills, but that hasn’t seemed to translate into popularity with voters.

“I don’t think the government has effectively communicated what its economic vision is,” said David Coletto, chief executive of Abacus Data.

Trudeau’s main rival, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, has repeatedly blamed Liberal government stimulus spending during the pandemic and planned increases in carbon taxes for fueling higher inflation.

When he shuffled his cabinet last week, Trudeau defended his record on job growth and argued that inflation has decelerated to one of the lowest rates among G-7 countries, but stopped short of making changes to his economic team. One influential Montreal commentator panned Trudeau’s cabinet-shuffle day performance on a podcast, calling the press conference “probably one of Trudeau’s weakest ever. It was not only empty, but it failed to provide a positive narrative.”

A spokeswoman for Trudeau said the prime minister’s revamped cabinet is a group of “hardworking cabinet ministers who are already rolling up their sleeves to make life more affordable for Canadians.” She added that Trudeau looks forward to leading the Liberal Party in the next election and will work with the new cabinet to help Canadians struggling with higher costs.

One pressing item is housing. At a news conference this week, Trudeau acknowledged that there aren’t enough housing units to meet demand, which is keeping prices elevated across the country.

“I will be blunt: Housing isn’t a primary federal responsibility,” he said, “but it is something that we can and must help with.”

Then, two days later, came news of the breakup with his wife of 18 years, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau. The couple said they have signed a separation agreement and are focused on raising their three children in a “loving and collaborative environment.”

The marriage was the subject of public fascination long before Trudeau entered politics. Trudeau, the son of former Prime Minister

The breakdown of the marriage seemed sudden after the post and triggered an outpouring of sympathy from Canadians who said they recognized the toll politics can take on family life.

“There are many politicians with whom I do not agree, but I would not wish such a painful life experience on any of them,” Dave Graham, a retired teacher in Orillia, Ontario, said in a Facebook post.

Trudeau’s father, who was prime minister from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984, also separated from his wife midway through his third term in 1977. Pierre Trudeau at the time similarly dealt with public blowback from business and labor over wage-and-price controls imposed to bring down double-digit inflation. He later abandoned the wage-and-price caps. Pierre Trudeau’s Liberals lost the 1979 election, although he returned to power after a snap vote the following year.

Alex Wellstead, a former press aide to Justin Trudeau, said it would be premature to write off the prime minister. “You’ve got a man who is a fighter. He’s driven. I think he sees every challenge as an opportunity to do more for Canadians,” he said.

Write to Paul Vieira at [email protected]