Trudeau sounds alarm over 'rise of populist right-wing forces'

Roberto Wakerell-Cruz
  |   June 11, 2024   |   Be the first to comment

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is concerned about the rise of "populist right-wing forces" as his popularity plummets.

Trudeau's comments come after several right-wing parties made huge gains in the European Parliamentary elections.

France, for example, saw Marine Le Pen's National Rally nearly sweep the incumbent party of Emmanuel Macron, the Renaissance party.

When questioned about this, Trudeau said, "We have seen around the world the rise of populist right-wing forces in just about every democracy that we've seen."

"It is of concern to see political parties choosing to instrumentalize anger, fear, division, and anxiety. My approach has always been to respond to it, to understand it and to look to solve it. To roll up our sleeves, and work hard with ambition for this country and our future."

In Germany, the center-right parties, the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union, led the polls, while the Alternative for Germany, described by media organizations as an "extreme right" party, secured the second strongest showing.

In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy party also achieved significant gains.

"I continue to be convinced that Canadians are thoughtful about the challenges that we're facing and ready to see them solved rather than allow themselves to have their anger amplified without any solutions offered," Trudeau said.

Europe's Green parties and globalist left-wing parties saw the biggest losses in the elections. According to Politico, if right-wing parties united into a single group, they would become the second most powerful force in the E.U.'s parliament, surpassed only by the center-right European People's Party.

It's the second time in recent memory that Trudeau has sounded alarms over the momentum gained by populist politicians, while condemning the brand of politics.

“In every democracy, we’re seeing a rise of populists with easy answers that don’t necessarily hold up to any expert scrutiny. But a big part of populism is condemning and ignoring experts and expertise, so it sort of feeds on itself and relies on a lot of misinformation and disinformation," he said during a Vox interview in April.

“There’s a lot of populism that folds into a level of individualism that I think is counter-productive to the kind of world we need to build where we are so interconnected.”

“I think the opposition is recognizing that there is concern and anxiety out there. The thing is though, they’re not offering any solutions at all for it.”

Despite Trudeau's apparent concern for the state of democracies, the prime minister has himself displayed a tendency to act as an authoritarian. In 2022, Trudeau involved the never-before-used Emergencies Act, froze the bank accounts of peaceful protesters at the Ottawa freedom convoy, and forcefully dismantled the protest.

The prime minister did all of this while refusing to even meet with representatives of the convoy.

Trudeau also campaigned on the wedge issue of COVID-19 vaccine status in the 2021 snap election, using rhetoric like, "Do we tolerate these people?" and "small fringe minority with unacceptable views," to describe Canadians opposed to suppressive public health diktats. 

 

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