Daily Times

Canada hardly makes international headlines. Four years ago it was, however, in the international news with the election of a charismatic and smart prime minister, Justin Trudeau. His reelection in the closely contested poll shows the cycle of history. His father Pierre Trudeau won the 1968 election with a majority but won the following election with a minority. The ruling Liberal Party won the most votes in parliament but lost its majority. It is time for Justin Trudeau to contact smaller parties to make government and pass legislation. Given the agenda of the rival Conservative party, the reelection of Justin Trudeau is good news not only for Canadians but the whole world. In his victory speech, he offered an olive branch to those who opposed him, saying he would work for them every day as Canadians elected a progressive government that will fight climate change.

Looking back, the four years of Justin Trudeau in power achieved many milestones. He picked a racially-balanced cabinet, embraced an influx of refugees, introduced carbon-controlling measures and put the Canadian economy on the right track. Implementing a carbon tax needs strong nerves, which Justin Trudeau has exhibited. The recent results show that his charm is losing the shine even though he faced a charmless, vision-less opposition in elections. His arch rival, Andrew Scheer, had no clear-cut policies on burning issues like same-sex marriage and abortion and his plan to shelve the carbon tax cost the conservatives dearly. It is the time they track the promises made by Justin Trudeau in the elections on climate change, plantation of two billion trees and adaptation of substantially more ambitious greenhouse emission goals. The main goal is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

How much is the election in Canada relevant to Pakistan? Very much, it is safe to say. Canadian-Pakistanis make the sixth largest immigrant community. A majority of over 215,000 Canadians of Pakistani origin supported the Liberals in the elections because of Justin Trudeau’s pro-immigration policies and postures. Similarly, a large number of Pakistani students are in Canadian colleges and universities. In 2017, the volume of bilateral trade was $1.04 billion, where Pakistan’s exports stand at $351 million. Being led by two pro-tree plantation campaigners, Imran Khan and Justin Trudeau, Pakistan and Canada can see eye to eye with each other on many issues for a better tomorrow. *