Trump the last straw on Trudeau

Many Canadians will be glad to see the back of Justin Trudeau, who has led the country as prime minister since 2015.

The liberal drug policies advocated by the ruling Liberal Party - including the much-criticized initiative to decriminalize the taking of even hard-core drugs like cocaine and ecstasy - has betrayed Canadians who gave him their trust over the years.

In British Columbia, for example, adults can legally possess small amounts of certain illicit drugs - including opioids, cocaine, meth and ecstasy - for personal use in specific places.

Special shelters have also been introduced to provide addicts with a so-called "harm-reduced" environment to use the drugs.

It is an evil policy.

While Trudeau is reported to be prepared to resign as party leader, it will effectively lead to him giving up the premiership.

The Liberal Party, which has a minority in parliament, will select one of its lawmakers as interim leader until the party elects a new one on a permanent basis.

Nonetheless, Canada must hold its next general election by October this year, in which the opposition Conservative Party is expected to win a majority of parliamentary seats, according to rolling polls over the past year.

Trudeau's exit is only a matter of time as discontent continues to grow over inflation, housing and immigration, while sentiment continues to swing back from the liberal extreme to the conservative agenda.

Trudeau's defense of the liberal approach towards drug abuse has angered parents, but Donald Trump's election as US president is believed to have helped bring forward the time line of his downfall.

If not for Trump's threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods, Trudeau's loyal deputy Chrystia Freeland may not have disagreed with him publicly and quit as finance minister immediately before the autumn budget.

After his election victory, Trump named Canada, Mexico and China as being on his tariff target list.

Freeland, who also served as deputy prime minister, disagreed with Trudeau's response to the tariff threat.

Local political watchers said her stance was closer to that of Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, who has tried to push back on Trump over the phone.

Nevertheless, following the Sheinbaum-Trump talks, Mexican police raided the Mexico Mart which is known to be a major distribution and wholesale center for Chinese goods.

In contrast, Trudeau flew to Florida to dine with Trump but apparently failed to secure any concessions during their meal.

There were already signs of a split within the Liberal Party prior to Trump's election, with Liberal lawmakers calling for Trudeau's resignation in the wake of poor polling results ahead of the upcoming general election.

Conservatives have been ahead of the Liberals by double digits in these polls.

In a recent by-election for the Cloverdale-Langley City seat in British Columbia, the Liberals lost the seat to the Conservatives, scoring its third by-election defeat of the year.

Any way you look at it, Trudeau's days as Canada's leader are numbered.