The Liberal Party is bigger than Justin Trudeau

What a year the past few days in Canadian politics have been. On the eve of the government’s fall economic statement, Chrystia Freeland suddenly resigned after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated his plan to replace her as finance minister. Amid fears of expected U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods when President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, the ensuing furor has rocked the federal government and poured gasoline on speculation over Trudeau’s future, with most Canadians saying it’s time for him to go.

Some pundits have suggested Trudeau’s departure will also mean the demise of the Liberal Party. Polls have been bleak since 2023, and recent by-election losses have cast doubts on the prospect of holding even certain urban ridings, leading some to dust off old predictions of the Liberals’ impending death. Stephen Harper famously longed to defeat the Liberals for good; doubtless many Conservatives hope their current leader will, to borrow a phrase, finally “bring it home.”

Perhaps, but the Liberal Party is as old as Canada and has been entwined in its national development since Confederation. From their roots as a party of Ontario farmers and Quebec secularists, who championed individual liberty and self-government for the British North American colonies, the Liberals became the defining force in Canadian political history. Four of the five longest-serving prime ministers were Liberals and the party has governed for 58 per cent of the years since 1867, guiding Canada through periods of strife, modernization and growth.

The first Liberal prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie, was elected when voters rejected the corruption of John A. Macdonald’s Conservative government. The second was Wilfrid Laurier, who won four consecutive majorities and opened the Prairies to new communities of immigrants before his support for free trade with the United States led to his defeat. As a French Canadian and Roman Catholic, Laurier paved the way for non-British, non-Protestant citizens to ascend the heights of Canadian society.

Canada’s longest-serving prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, governed for more than 21 years over three periods between 1921 and1948. A public statesman and private eccentric, King led Canada through the Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, Second World War, and the creation of the post-Second World War international system. His successor, Louis St. Laurent, extended Liberal rule until 1957, during which his government joined NATO, introduced the Registered Retirement Savings Plan, and built national projects like the Trans-Canada Highway, Trans-Canada Pipeline, and St. Lawrence Seaway. Between the start of King’s premiership and the end of St. Laurent’s, Canada’s population doubled as it evolved from a self-governing dominion to an independent country.

Later in the 20th century, Liberal leaders became national icons. Lester B. Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for establishing United Nations peacekeeping, and as prime minister, decriminalized homosexuality and introduced public health care, the Canada Pension Plan, and the maple leaf flag.

His successor, Pierre Trudeau, rode to office on a popular wave and, during his 15 years in power, battled Quebec separatism, made multiculturalism official government policy, and enshrined the Charter of Rights and Freedoms within a newly patriated Constitution. 

A decade later, Jean Chrétien’s three majority governments balanced the federal budget, defeated a second Quebec referendum, and joined the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, while declining to invade Iraq.

For his part, Justin Trudeau’s government introduced new social and economic policies, including the Canada Child Benefit, federal carbon price, $10 daycare, pharmacare, dental care, legalizing cannabis, and nationalizing the Transmountain pipeline. A globally recognized leader for diversity and equal rights, the younger Trudeau’s tenure has been shaped by the triple challenges of Donald Trump, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war that will leave enduring legacies in Canadian foreign and domestic policy.

To be sure, Liberal governments have made many mistakes, experienced countless scandals, and often fallen short of their supporters’ hopes. Liberal prime ministers oversaw Indian Residential Schools and discrimination against non-White immigrants and citizens, and against queer public servants, police officers and members of the armed forces. Liberal governments have gotten most big policies right but many smaller policies wrong. Their traditional support in central and eastern Canada has alienated many in the West, and electoral success has fuelled tendencies toward arrogance and entitlement.

Nor can the Liberal Party take full credit for the achievements of modern Canada. In its various forms, the Conservative Party has contributed transformational leaders like John A. Macdonald, Robert Borden, and Brian Mulroney. Visionary Conservatives have governed through challenging times and built consensus across regional and demographic lines to make decisions that changed the country for good. Canadians today owe them, too, a debt for living in one of the best countries in the world.

Yet Liberals are responsible for ushering in many defining aspects of contemporary Canada. They championed individual rights, including the right to abortion, legalized same-sex marriage, and still defend Charter rights against Conservative laws which violate fundamental freedoms. Liberal prime ministers increased diversity at the highest levels of public life by appointing the first Jewish, First Nations, South Asian, East Asian, Muslim, refugee, and openly gay and lesbian federal Cabinet ministers; first female finance minister, deputy prime minister, and Chief Justice; first Indigenous and Muslim Supreme Court justices; first female commanders of the RCMP and Canadian Armed Forces; and first person of colour, Black person, and Indigenous person — all women — to serve as Governor General. Some decry such milestones as identity politics, but they represent important markers of inclusion for non-White Canadians and people from historically marginalized groups.

Multiculturalism ranks alongside Canada’s social safety net, universal public health care, critical infrastructure, and a modern constitution as key Liberal achievements. The Liberal Party has endured electoral triumph and defeat but remains committed to its founding belief that “the dignity of each individual person is the cardinal principle of democratic society and the primary purpose of all political organization and activity.” 

Regardless of what comes next for Justin Trudeau, Liberals will continue to defend their principles. A party that has helped build Canada since its founding is bigger than any one leader, whatever the pundits say.

Will Greaves is an associate professor of international relations at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, where his research examines climate change, security, Canadian foreign policy, and Arctic geopolitics.