UVic students react to Trudeau’s resignation
Photo via Flickr.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation has sparked conversation across the country — including among students at UVic. The Martlet took to campus grounds to ask UVic students for their take on the prime minister’s resignation.
Quinn, a UVic student, was caught off-guard by the news. “I found out in one of my classes. I don’t read a lot of the news, I mostly find out on social media.… It was pretty unexpected,” they said. Quinn added that they immediately texted their mom upon hearing the news.
“It was all over TikTok,” Quinn said.
According to a study published by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, “83 per cent of 16-24s consume news online, 71 per cent of which is driven by social medi[a].” In addition, findings from this study indicate that “the proportion of 16-24s that claim to consume no news at all is twice as high as older adults.”
Many students would not comment on the news, saying they felt inadequately prepared to voice an opinion on a subject they didn’t know enough about.
Nevertheless, some students — like Jo — felt that Trudeau’s resignation was a necessary step. “I think it is what needed to happen. I think he had a good run,” they said. Reflecting on Trudeau’s run, Jo described him as “relatively inoffensive and adequately effective,” but agreed that it was time for change.
“What I genuinely think needs to happen is that all of the parties need to replace their leaders,” Jo said. In their view, Trudeau, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre all face significant trust and likability issues among Canadians. “It feels very juvenile,” they told the Martlet, saying that current political discussion “reminds [them] of children fighting on a playground — ‘he said this’ or ‘his mom bought him that!’”
Jo hopes that Trudeau’s resignation will spark more constructive political conversations regarding party leadership for the sake of all Canadians.
Student Prym Goodacre echoed Jo’s sentiments, describing Trudeau’s resignation as “expected.” “There was no chance he wasn’t going to resign eventually,” she said.
“I think that Trudeau positioned himself as a progressive leader who ran a centre-right government. Seeing him gone is exciting because it means there’s potential for progressive change, but it’s also frightening, because in all likelihood the lesson they’re going to take from this is that [the Liberal party] needs to be more centre-right.”
While Goodacre sees Trudeau’s resignation as an opportunity for more progressive change in Canada, she remains wary about what comes next.
Colby Sandberg, another UVic student, was less enthusiastic, viewing the resignation as largely symbolic, but still echoed the perspective that it was long overdue. “I think at this point, with how close to an election he [was], it’s more performative than anything,” they said, adding that the news was “better late than never.”
Aethan Beaudry also felt that the timing was appropriate. “I think it is about his time. He was going to go anyway,” he said.
While Trudeau’s resignation marks the end of an era, it also raises pressing questions about the future of political leadership in Canada. As Jo put it, “I hope that the leader that they do come up with will be more effective than Trudeau can be in our current situation.”
