A Canadian Revolution

Justin era buried in building economy

The image of Justin’s new equal male/female cabinet strolling confidently up to Rideau Hall for the swearing in of his new government on a brilliant November day in 2015 and Justin stating memorably why Cabinet has gender equality “because it’s 2015” seems like an artifact of good vibes from some ancient past. The world we knew then was to disappear as his popularity and hold on power faded.

The socially and environmentally focused active government and the hope that surrounded the attractive young PM has now long gone. Replaced by a generally harsh judgment on Justin that he was a lightweight, and although his tough Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland successfully negotiated a new free trade agreement with Trump, it was precisely the major threat from Trump’s second iteration that propelled his very different successor banker Mark Carney, into office. Carney is a remarkably popular PM across Canada and around the world that he is courting so successfully. The dramatic changes he has made in the direction of our country is indeed a revolution.

The most glaring policy transformation is the Caney government’s new firm support for oil sands production increases and new pipelines. In 2017 Justin said, “ We can’t shut down the oil sands tomorrow. We need to phase out to manage the transition off our dependence on fossil fuels.”

In a June, 2026, video Carney laid out his almost complete scrapping of Justin’s environmental plans and commitments. He trashed key planks of the country's climate policy: the consumer carbon price and a cap on pollution from the oil and gas sector. He called the Trudeau plans “not sustainable over the long term…It would have been too expensive for Canadians. Canadians who are already struggling with affordability… We can’t afford to restrain the growth of an important part of our energy mix — oil and gas — to meet a short-term goal.” Far from reducing oil sands production, he foresaw major increases to make “Canada an energy superpower!” Before that week was out, the PM had greased the skids for a suite of LNG projects and a new million-barrel-per-day oil pipeline to the West Coast.

According to a major survey by Abacus data in June 2026, Carney’s sidelining of climate action is never the less offside with a majority of Canadians. Eighty per cent say they are either "very concerned," "concerned", or "moderately concerned" about climate change and its potential impact on the future. That is up from 77 per cent in July 2025 and substantially higher than the 62 per cent recorded in 2024. Concern levels have now returned to, and slightly exceeded, the highs recorded in 2023, still under Trudeau climate action regime.

The radical change in dealing with climate changes in a year of the worst forest fires and floods ever is deeply troubling. The message is clear: we need fossil fuels to keep the country together and prosper. Better to boost the fossils now while building out electricity and hoping that emissions might decline at some undefined point in the future.

The second major revolution in policy involves our relations with China, which for much of the Trudeau era was seen as a major threat to Canada. In 2018 we were preoccupied with the fate of two Canadians — Michael Kovrig, on leave from Global Affairs Canada, and entrepreneur Michael Spavor, who were arrested in China on unsubstantiated charges of espionage. This, in retaliation for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in Vancouver on behalf of the US government. Finally, the US government deferred its case against Meng in September 2023, and she was released, and the two Michaels shortly after. The decade of icy relations was not over.

After much international coverage of the plight of the Uyghurs in China, Canada's House of Commons passed a landmark non-binding motion on February 22, 2021, declaring China's treatment of Uyghurs a genocide. Trudeau repeatedly challenged Chinese President Xi over human rights abuses and the mass detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Canadian House of Commons passed a non-binding, unanimous motion in February 2023 urging the government to resettle 10,000 displaced Uyghurs.

Carney’s government has given little space to the Trudeau campaign to support the Uyghur persecution. He has affirmed that human rights are essential in Canada's dealings with China. However, when pressed on whether he agreed with the 2021 House of Commons motion labeling the persecution of Uyghurs a genocide, he noted there were serious issues "in the past" and ongoing, avoiding an explicit repetition of the "genocide" designation. It is not certain he raised the issue on his 2026 productive visit with Xi. The traditional concern Canadians show for human rights abuses has not been carried forward in this case, another major shift in policy.

In 2023, following months of news stories alleging multiple countries, including China, were interfering in Canadian elections, Trudeau launched a public inquiry into foreign interference in the electoral process and democratic institutions. The commission’s work began with a focus on interference from China, Russia and other state actors in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

The voluminous final report in January 2925 expose what commissioner Hogue called the act of "transnational repression," when a foreign state monitors, intimidates and harasses immigrant communities in Canada to achieve its own national objectives, which has become a "genuine scourge" to the democratic process in Canada, This was found to particularly impact effect the Chinese diaspora in Canada.

There has been little further government action on this file and there has been reassurance that CSIS is on top of any US interference or involvement in the sovereigntist movements in Quebec and Alberta.

Ironically, Trudeau’s father was instrumental in the world’s recognition of the then-evolving China.Pierre Trudeau made his historic first official visit to China inOctober, 1973, becoming the first Canadian prime minister to visit the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Interestingly, historically close China relations relate to Dr. Henry Norman Bethune, who is revered as a national hero in China. In 1938, Bethune traveled to China to support the Eighth Route Army led by Mao Zedong during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Chinese leader immortalized him in the essay "In Memory of Norman Bethune," making him a household name and an enduring symbol of internationalism and Canada-China friendship.

Serious issues with China under Justin Trudeau were set aside whenCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a groundbreaking visit to China in January, 2026. His meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping led to agreement on a a wide-ranging strategic partnership to reset bilateral ties and reduce economic reliance on the United States. As the world’s second-largest economy, China presents enormous opportunities for Canada to seek new investments and economic relations outside the United States. China leads the world in purchasing power parity and global manufacturing. China is Canada’s second-largest single-country trading partner too, totaling $118.9 billion in two-way merchandise trade in 2024.

An energy and trade agreement will permit up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the country at a reduced tariff rate of 6.1%, down from the previous 100%. An agreement for China to cut its tariffs on Canadian rapeseed/canola from 100% to 15%, while also suspending duties on canola meal and lobsters. In addition. both nations established an energy framework to explore trade and investment opportunities in oil, natural gas, nuclear energy, clean tech, and battery technology.

The new ties to Chian were criticized by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as an "about-face," tying it to ongoing U.S. tariff pressures on North American trade. Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre argued that China cannot serve as a reliable substitute for the U.S. market. Michael Kovrig, the Canadian previously detained in China, warned that the automotive deal carries political and security risks, while Taiwan's envoy to Ottawa voiced skepticism that Beijing is a trustworthy partner

A sign of warming relations was the attendance of several Chinese state-backed investors taking part in Prime Carney’s Canada Investment Summit in September. How much of Carney’s hoped for one trillion of new investments in five years will come from China has yet to be seen since Canada has a long history of rejecting their investments on security grounds. Carney has emphasized that there are “guardrails” that would prevent Chinese investment in Canadian sectors, including critical minerals, artificial intelligence and defence-related technologies with both civilian and military uses. Still, Carney has completely turned around the Trudeau years of icy relations in one visit.