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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has finally taken off after being stranded in India for over 36 hours. But he is going to land in Canada amid backlash and criticism over his domestic policies and diplomatic failure at the recently held G20 Summit in India.
The mood in Canada is inclement if the reactions of the media, experts and politicians are anything to go by.
Canada’s leader of the opposition, Pierre Poilievre, posted a scathing remark on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. “Putting partisanship aside, no one likes to see a Canadian prime minister repeatedly humiliated and trampled upon by the rest of the world,” Poilievre tweeted, with the image of a page of the Toronto Sun.
The headline on the Toronto Sun page read, ‘This Way Out’, with the description, “Trudeau finds he has few friends at G20 summit in India”.
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party of Canada on Tuesday posted a video of Trudeau’s foreign embarrassments with the caption ‘Trudeau’s never ending global clown show grounded in India’.
Trudeau was supposed to leave India on Sunday after the G20 Summit but a snag in his aircraft kept him stranded in India for at least 36 hours. Even a replacement plane that was supposed to take him back was diverted to London.
The Canadian PM finally left India on Tuesday afternoon after his plane was repaired and approved fit to be airborne. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar was at the airport to see Trudeau off and thanked him for attending the G20 Summit.
BAD TIMING OF TRUDEAU PLANE SNAG
This wasn’t the first time that Trudeau’s plans were jeopardised due to a snag in his plane, but the timing couldn’t have been worse.
Trudeau’s India visit was one that did nothing to mend the frosty ties that he has developed with India due to his patronage of Khalistani elements in Canada.
Trudeau skipped the dinner for the G20 leaders on Saturday, according to Canada’s CTV News. His fast withdrawal from a handhold was also noticed as he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajghat on Sunday.
Later on Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Office in Delhi released a curt and cold statement on the brief meeting PM Modi had with Trudeau.
“He [PM Modi] conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada. They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship,” the PMO said in a statement.
The meeting itself was held on the “sidelines” of the Summit, a stark contrast to the higher diplomatic label of “bilaterals” that was given to most of PM Modi’s other one-on-one meetings with G20 leaders.
Then, on the very day PM Modi highlighted the threat from Khalistani elements, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the chief of the banned US-based Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) outfit, issued a warning to the top Indian leadership.
A Reuters report on the Modi-Trudeau meeting headlined it ‘Modi scolds Trudeau over Sikh protests in Canada against India’.
REACTION BACK HOME IN CANADA
Trudeau’s entire diplomatic faux pax was what was highlighted by Canada’s leader of opposition and political experts.
During his G20 trip, Trudeau not only made relations with India worse but also distanced Canada from key allies, wrote political commentator Brian Lilley.
“The photo by Canadian Press photographer Sean Kilpatrick showed American President Joe Biden pointing a finger in Trudeau’s face. Neither man appeared happy in this moment, both seemed tense, and Biden appeared to be lecturing,” wrote Lilley in The Toronto Sun.
The journalist also went on to question Trudeau’s policy that he said is hurting Canada’s economic interests.
Canada recently called off negotiations on a trade deal with India, citing no reason publicly. This comes even as the UK, under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is going ahead full steam on a free trade agreement with India that is likely to be signed by the end of the year.
Lilley said Trudeau sees PM Modi’s domestic policies as detrimental to his own political future and “wants to poke him in the eye”.
“Given the power of the Sikh community in Canada, he [Trudeau] is siding with them [Khalistanis] even if it hurts Canada economically,” he wrote, adding that Trudeau was catering to his narrow political interests.
CONSERVATIVES GAIN IN CANADA
However, the domestic situation is changing fast for Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party is gaining people’s support.
In an Abacus Data survey released on September 7, 40 per cent of the voters said they would vote for the Conservatives while 26 per cent said they would vote for Trudeau’s Liberals.
Abacus Data then goes on to analyse what is giving the Conservatives the national lead for the 2025 election and points out two factors.
“The primary driver, in our view, is the negative impression people have of the Liberal government and Prime Minister Trudeau,” it says. The second, is the overall negative mood prevailing in Canada, as only one in four believes that Canada is headed in the right direction.
Prime Minister Trudeau might have managed to fly out after embarrassment in India, but the ground he is landing on is shaky.
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