These are strange days in Canada. The incoming President of the United States has suddenly promised to slap a 25% tariff on cross-border trade—a tariff that has the potential to devastate the Canadian economy. Some suggest it could cost Canada a 3% hit to its economy and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. At the same time, he is openly mocking Canada’s Prime Minister, trolling the country by suggesting it voluntarily become America’s 51st state, and even stating he will deploy economic force to annex the country. As is so often the case with Donald Trump, it’s difficult to know the degree to which he is serious and the degree to which he is merely deploying negotiation tactics and shows of strength.
Either way, his flexes are hitting Canada especially hard right now because our Prime Minister has become so woefully weak and unpopular that he has been forced to announce his resignation. While he is still technically Prime Minister, he is the ultimate lame duck who no longer has the confidence of the people, the parliament, or even his own party. He is hardly in a position to meet strength with strength—a posture Trump tends to value. In fact, to maintain his position for another couple of months, he has suspended parliament so that no legislative processes can take place—a move that is technically legal but widely understood to be contrary to the interests of the country even if it’s consistent with his own. Thus, at a time of turmoil, the government is unable to function effectively at the behest of its Prime Minister. It’s a mess.
What does the immediate future look like? No one is quite sure, but we do know that Parliament is set to resume on March 24 and before this time the Liberal Party will attempt to choose a new leader. Presuming that person is chosen by then, he or she will become Canada’s new Prime Minister—but probably only for a matter of weeks. When Parliament resumes, the other parties have all vowed to express their lack of confidence in that government, meaning it will fall and the country will immediately go to a federal election. In theory, a new government should be in place by May or June. At worst, a new government will come in October when we have a regularly scheduled election.
To understand the background to all of this, you need to know that Canada is experiencing an affordability crisis in which the cost of living has spiked without a commensurate increase in earnings. Hence, the average Canadian is growing relatively poorer rather than wealthier, especially in comparison to our neighbors to the south. Inflation has been one driver, though our inflation rates have been similar to most other countries as we emerged from all the borrowing and spending of the pandemic. The main driver is the cost of housing and this stems from low building and high immigration. A perfect storm of slow and stifling government bureaucracy, poor interest rates, and high labor costs have kept building to a minimum. Meanwhile, the government has opened the doors to unprecedented numbers of immigrants. When high demand meets low supply, housing costs skyrocket, as does homelessness, food insecurity, and a host of related problems. And, of course, it also causes political instability. (That, of course, simplifies matters since the economic problems actually go much deeper and touch matters of taxation, productivity, national debt, and so on.)
There is an old adage that Canadians don’t vote Prime Ministers in but instead vote them out. In other words, a new Prime Minister has the confidence of the people for a time, but then the electorate turns on him. That has been exactly the case with Justin Trudeau. Once seen by so many Canadians as a fresh and exciting leader, he is now so unpopular that if an election were held today, his party might be nearly wiped out. Some polls suggest the Liberal Party might plummet from holding 153 seats in the House of Commons all the way down to single digits. He is so unpopular because people hold him and his party directly responsible for this decline in prosperity. People also dislike his tax policies and especially his carbon tax, his gutting of the military, his policy of sowing seeds of division, his heavy-handed and civil-liberty-eroding response to COVID, his many scandals, and so on. A man known for his capacious ego and sense of personal entitlement, his legacy is likely to be forever tainted by leading Canada into a time of national decline.
You have probably begun to hear the name Pierre Poilievre (pronounced poly-EV) and that’s because he is the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the man a majority of Canadians seem to believe can lead them out of this mess. You may have seen him in his now-infamous “how do you like them apples” interview, an impassioned speech in the House of Commons or, more recently, on Jordan Peterson’s podcast. Though he is not a true social conservative (much less an evangelical believer), he is at least a fiscal conservative who wants to reign in government borrowing and spending, reduce bureaucracy, lower the barriers to homebuilding, cut some of the “wokeism” that has made its way into government, restore the military, and taper immigration to more sustainable levels. He represents a shift away from elitism and toward popularism and, if the polls are correct, should coast to an easy victory in the forthcoming election.
Until then, Canada is likely to remain in this period of uncertainty. Thus, if you think of Canada, it would be good to pray for God’s blessing on the church here. While the decline in prosperity is certainly an issue, there are other matters of much greater concern.
- The Liberal government has a special hatred for pro-life organizations and has long been hell-bent on revoking their charitable status, legislating them out of existence, or criminalizing elements of their work. Pray that God would continue to grant the freedom to serve women who are abortion-vulnerable.
- Canada has become infamous for its high rates of euthanasia (deceptively termed MAiD or Medical Assistance in Dying) and it is now common for ill or elderly people to opt to end their own lives. Meanwhile, of course, they are sometimes pressured to do so. Pray that Canadians would value life in all the ways God does.
- Pray that as immigration continues—something many regard as an absolute necessity for continued economic growth and health—God would a) bring to Canada those who are already Christian and b) cause new immigrants to hear the gospel and be saved. God has already done remarkable things in this way and we long for it to continue. Many have observed that there is much greater interest in the gospel among those who are new to Canada than among those who have been here for many generations.
- Canada has always been solidly pro-immigration and generally remains so, but the current government has so shattered the compact that some who have legitimately immigrated face insults or discrimination. Pray that there will be peace among all Canadians, especially those who profess the name of Christ. Pray that the church is a haven in which God displays the unifying power of the gospel.
- Pray that churches, especially in big cities, find ways to be able to afford the cost of providing for pastors. With housing and living costs as high as they are, many churches are simply unable to provide sufficient compensation to pastors which in turn keeps young men from pursuing ministry in the first place. There are already many vacant pulpits in this country with more opening than being filled.
- Pray that Canadian Christians would not despair over bad government or have idolatrous hope in better government, but fix their ultimate trust on God. And then pray that in the coming months, Canadians would choose a government that enables Christians to “lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2).
- Finally, I think it would be good to pray for Justin Trudeau. Nine years ago he was riding high with the country behind him. Today his country has turned on him, as have his party and cabinet. And, of course, so has his wife as they have separated. If he is ever going to respond to the Lord’s chastening, perhaps it is now.
