Tentative deal puts Trudeau on firmer base

TORONTO－Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal party and the opposition New Democratic Party have reached a tentative agreement that would see Trudeau's Liberals keep power until 2025, said a senior government official on Monday night.

The official said the agreement still needed approval from NDP lawmakers, but the leadership of both parties had signed off. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the person is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Trudeau's Liberal party won reelection last September, but failed to win a majority of seats in Parliament and must rely on the opposition to pass legislation. The NDP party will support Trudeau's Liberals in exchange for deals on pharmaceutical and dental care plans, but it will not have a lawmaker in Trudeau's Cabinet.

"The NDP-Liberal coalition is nothing more than a callous attempt by Trudeau to hold on to power," said interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen in a statement.

Bergen had earlier tweeted, "God help us all."

Anti-vaccine fringe

Often branded a "liberal elitist" by his critics, Trudeau refused to meet with anti-vaccine mandate protesters and truckers who laid siege to parts of the capital Ottawa for more than three weeks earlier this year.

Trudeau depicted the protesters as an anti-vaccine "fringe" fueled by disinformation and conspiracy theories.

Trudeau is still remembered for evoking the prospect of "sunny ways" when he took office in 2015 at the age of 43－the second-youngest Canadian prime minister.

There have been setbacks since then, but he has been reelected twice.

In theory, Trudeau could run again when the next possible election is held in 2025.

However, there are widespread doubts that he will do so, given that he would have been in power for 10 years and has seen a drop in his popularity and a rise in animosity toward him in much of western Canada.

Tall and trim, Trudeau channeled the star power－if not quite the political heft－of his father Pierre Trudeau, who swept to power in 1968 on a wave of support dubbed "Trudeaumania".

Pierre Trudeau, who was prime minister until 1984 with a short interruption, remains one of the few Canadian politicians known in the United States, his charisma often drawing comparisons to John F. Kennedy.

Agencies via Xinhua