Editorial: Justin Trudeau was due for his walk in the snow

After almost 10 years in power, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is going for his walk in the snow.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trudeau confirmed he would be resigning as leader of the Liberals and proroguing Parliament while the party chooses its new leader ahead of this year’s election. Trudeau acknowledged the polls that show his party at near-historic lows and that it was time for someone else to take over.

In one ledger, you can credit him with shepherding Canada through the pandemic, creating the first national policy to do our part in combatting climate change, a national childcare system and legalized cannabis. In the other, you can chalk up records in new federal debt, buying a money-losing pipeline, and numerous unforced ethical scandals.

But legacies are for historians to debate. The issues of today are what’s making things move in Ottawa. The cost of living has grown at a punishing rate, and affordable housing remains out of reach for working people.

Some within the Liberals might say it’s too little, too late, and that Trudeau should have read the room and made his exit months ago. It probably wouldn’t have made much difference. Like a slow swinging pendulum, Canadians tend to oscillate between the Conservatives and the Liberals in fairly regular intervals of every 10 years or so. Barring any unforeseen scandal or some seismic shift in the country’s leanings, the Tories are likely cruising to an easy majority.

Surely, as Trudeau takes that winter walk, he’ll feel the winds of change were already blowing at his back.

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