🇨🇦 Canada: Trudeau Toodle-oo

Was this forwarded to you? Signpost is a free weekly newsletter analysing what media says, what it means, and why it matters. It’s free to subscribe. Alternatively, you can add me on LinkedIn.

🇨🇦 The Last of the Trudeaus?

Last year, 2024, was a blockbuster year for national elections - 74 were held. And the global consensus was that incumbents were either voted out of office, or weakened significantly. And while the rest of us have moved well into January 2025, it looks like 2024 had some unfinished business with Canada.

This week, Justin Trudeau surprised absolutely no one by announcing his resignation as prime minister of 🇨🇦 Canada, not effective immediately. He’ll stick around till March until his ruling party selects a new leader, who will then takeover as PM. And while Canadian federal elections are not due immediately because parliament is suspended, they are due by October this year.

Most people agree that Canada’s current ruling party, the Liberal Party, will likely lose the federal election to the opposition Conservative Party (good for Canada on naming their parties clearly so we all know which side of the line their politics lie).

So, here we are. The longest serving G7 head of state has (not quite) left the building. And today we will look at how the news broke in Canadian media, comparing publicly funded media (CBC) with the conservative broadsheet of Canada (National Post).

CBC: Trudeau says he’s not the right choice to lead party in next election; promises to resign as PM [link]

📢 What CBC is saying
CBC reported the news early on Monday morning, dedicating several paragraphs of the article to direct quotes from Trudeau’s resignation speech. It is a relatively long article, clocking in at over 2000 words, with several, maybe too many, photos of Trudeau.

1. 📸 Visuals

There are several images used in the article, and most relate to Trudeau’s face. At the top of the article is a headshot of Trudeau from his resignation speech, looking very sombre. It’s obvious he’s talking about something serious. The photo is so zoomed in that it cuts off part of his hair and chin, and the background behind his ears is completely blurred. The focus of the story, and be extension your focus as a reader, must be placed exclusively on Justin Trudeau.

The article also helpfully links to the full video of Trudeau’s resignation, along with two more videos; one of Conservative Party leader (and likely next PM of Canada) Pierre Poilievre reacting to the news, and a similar video from Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the New Democratic Party. There is one more photo of former deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, who resigned from Trudeau’s cabinet last month and may well be the next Liberal Party leader. However, while we only see the side of her face with her hair covering about half of it, Trudeau’s entire face is clearly seen looming in the background behind her.

Towards the end of the article, around about the 1500-word mark, CBC put together a (count ‘em) 44 slide photo carousel of Justin Trudeau’s career. Readers can relive some of Trudeau’s greatest hits, from his early success as an elected MP, to the time he boxed, along with photos with all the famous people he met. For the CBC, there is no such thing as too much Trudeau.

2. ✍🏽 Words

Generally, there seem to be too many words to tell this story. First, the headline is 18 words long, which seems excessive, but the word choice in the headline is telling. It showcases him as acknowledging his own weak position in his party, and focuses first on his decision to resign from the leadership of his party, after which it mentions his ‘promise’ to resign as PM. There are several direct quotes from his video, and even quotes from people with whom he has not had the best relationship with in the last few months, namely his former deputy prime minister, and other opposition leaders.

While the article mentions his former DPMs resignation from his cabinet and briefly alludes to why it happened, it also quotes her social media post, where she thanks Trudeau for his service and wishes him and his family well. Of course, the article can only go so far before mentioning Donald Trump and his recent calls for combining Canada and the United States. But also, the article quotes opposition leaders who keep reiterating that the problem in Canadian governance is not only Trudeau, but the entire ruling party.

The article ends with a quick written history of Trudeau’s political life, including mention of him being the son of a former PM. The last section of the article shares his regret about how he was not able to deliver electoral reform which he believes is very important for democracies.

❓ What it means
The overwhelming focus on Trudeau in the article is not unusual - after all, this is the public broadcaster and the prime minister has just resigned. The headline mentions it clearly - Trudeau has enough self awareness and humility to admit he’s not the right choice, sacrificing his position as the head of government for his people.

Every photo in the article of Trudeau is very photogenic, even when it shows him spontaneously celebrating a pride march. Some of the language used to describe him, ‘father of three’ or ‘a sometimes teary-eyed Trudeau’ reinforces his image as a benevolent leader, humanising his position and power.

Meanwhile, the visuals for the other politicians are not particularly flattering. Poilievre’s video is a talking-head style video, and for some reason seems a bit oversaturated. By contrast, Jagmeet Singh’s video, which is a snippet of a longer one, specifically mentions him saying that his party will vote to bring down the government at the earliest to trigger elections.

So here’s what we can interpret: Justin Trudeau has magnanimously decided to step down as PM to give a chance to somebody else to lead. However, he’s still very much part of the establishment (cue photo of him staring creepily at Freeland as she speaks), and while he’s doing this for the betterment of the country, opposition leaders are only interested in getting elected.

⚠️ Why it matters
One of the first things I remember when I went to Canada as student was how the student newspaper at York was so independent of the university that they openly criticised both administrative and teaching staff, and were generally comfortable being disruptive. I was amazed at how 1) the newspaper had no problem being hated by the ‘establishment’, and 2) how the establishment allowed them to be so controversial.

That is not exactly the image that CBC is looking to push here. In fact, it can be said to be almost pro-establishment. And I suspect it will continue to be pro-establishment even when the Conservative Party comes to power (whenever that may be). The editorial stance is very clear - report the story honestly but don’t miss any chance to make the leader look good.

And as a counterbalance to this, let’s have a look at the reporting from a conservative-leaning newspaper.

National Post: Trudeau stepping down, leaving uncertainty about race to replace him

📢 What National Post is saying
The relatively youthful 26-year-old National Post dedicated a little over 1500 words to the news report, still long, but not quite as long as CBC’s reporting. In contrast to the CBC, only one photo of Trudeau is used.

1. 📸 Visuals

We see a photo of a joyous, almost triumphant Trudeau waving at the invisible audience. His left hand is held up above his head, and we can clearly see his ring, watch strap and buckle, and most of his upper body clad in a dark suit with a white shirt and dark grey polka-dotted tie. He looks happy, relaxed, and generally positive.

2. ✍🏽 Words

Let’s start with the headline - Trudeau’s resignation leaves ‘uncertainty’ about who will replace him. Dig a little deeper and few other phrases come to light; he’s called ‘emotional’ twice, it’s mentioned that some of his notes flew away in the wind as he was giving his resignation speech, there are repeated mentions of how much pressure he faced within his own party to resign, his terrible ratings (16% approval, 46% wanting him to resign immediately), and the fact that this was the first time in three weeks that he answered questions from the media on the resignation of his DPM.

Most of the article speaks about what could potentially come next, with speculation on who could be the new party leader and who could stand for elections on behalf of the Liberal Party when the time comes. There is also mention towards the end of the article about how Trudeau framed his resignation as a way to bring the political ‘temperature down’, a framing which the opposition parties disagree with.

❓ What it means
There is absolutely no mention of Trudeau’s legacy as the PM of Canada, no mention of his successes, or the progressive policies he implemented during his tenure. In fact, all the focus of the story is on what a bad position he’s been in in the recent past, which has culminated in his expected resignation this week. Several oblique mentions are also made about how he insisted on clinging to power even when he was losing support both inside and outside his party, indicating he should have probably resigned sooner.

The article also mentions Bloc Québécois’s statement about pushing for early elections, making it seem like everyone wants an early federal election except for the ruling party.

Even the use of only one photo, and that too of a very happy looking Trudeau, is deliberate. The photo almost makes Trudeau look like he’s smugly happy about resigning, like he caused some mischief and is now waving goodbye.

⚠️ Why it matters
Can you see the narrative change? The whole point of the article is to ensure you remember that Trudeau was not a competent, or popular leader (let’s leave aside the fact that he won three consecutive elections) and his resignation was what everybody wanted, except him. There’s only one photo of him (not from his resignation speech, but from a previous time) to make sure people don’t remember his face for too long. After all, it’s hard to feel sympathy for someone if you can’t see their face.

There are more quotes from other people in this article than from Trudeau. It’s almost as if Trudeau’s resignation is an aside to the main story of who will be Canada’s next PM (spoiler, opinion polls predict a Conservative Party win, which is editorially in line with National Post), driving home the editorial point that Trudeau is not the progressive rock star you think he is, but an incompetent has-been (keyword: has-been).

WHAT’S GOING ON? 

⌛ Leaving a political legacy

Remember this photo from 2016? This was before liberal democracies started electing right-leaning politicians into power. Trudeau is standing centre, smiling confidently, looking just a smidge taller than Obama, and definitely taller than then Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto.

Now compare it with the photo used by CBC announcing his resignation. Even the one used by National Post. Neither is attempting to make him look ‘cool’. Elderstatesmen-esque, yes. Mischief maker, yes. But not cool.

CBC is attempting a hagiographic portrayal of his time in office, ready to serenade the reader with a laundry list of his progressive achievements and a truckload of photos of him looking stylish yet approachable throughout the years. National Post has no time for rose-tinted glasses. Their political memory only goes back till when it all started unravelling for him.

The truth is somewhere in between. Read widely. Question thoroughly. Decide accordingly.

WEEKLY POLL

LAST WEEK’S POLL

Was this forwarded to you? Signpost is a free weekly newsletter analysing what the media says, what it means, and why it matters. It’s free to subscribe. Alternatively, you can add me on LinkedIn.