As his defenders have observed, former prime minister Justin Trudeau is a private citizen now and has the right to live his life anyway he chooses.
In response to social media criticism that he skipped Canada's World Cup opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto on Friday in favour of the U.S.-Paraguay match on the same day in Inglewood, Calif., Trudeau tweeted his response on X.
The former PM noted that with his main squeeze Katy Perry performing in the opening ceremonies there, his presence and his cheering for the U.S. men's soccer team was in the context of the fact that: “Sometimes supportive boyfriend duties call.”
“But you know who I'm rooting for to take the Cup,” he added, followed by a Canadian flag logo.
Sharp about-face by ex-PM
By contrast, while he was still PM in March 2025 at the height of Canadian fury with U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of new tariffs on Canada, Trudeau said:
“Canadians are hurt. Canadians are angry. We're going to choose to not go on vacation in Florida or Old Orchard Beach or wherever,” he said then. “We're going to choose to try to buy Canadian products and forgo bourbon and other classic American products. Yeah, we're probably going to keep booing the American anthem.”
Today, as a private citizen, he has acknowledged that personal relationships trump (pardon the pun) fraught cross-border resentments.
Trudeau obviously came to that conclusion some time ago, given that he was photographed sharing a kiss with Perry on her yacht off the coast of Santa Barbara in October 2025.
So much for 'elbows up'
Some accuse Trudeau of hypocrisy — that he says one thing and does another. While that argument can be made, our view is that it's helpful the former PM has demonstrated through his words and actions that it's OK for Canadians to like Americans again (in his case, at least one American) and for Canadians to visit the U.S. again.
To that we say “bravo” to Trudeau for personally showing that the “elbows up” rhetoric Mark Carney and the Liberals used to win last year's election is so yesterday.
Just as we've learned not to go berserk every time Trump erupts with regard to the ongoing negotiations on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.
