The impossible office: why Canadian prime ministers fail

The Canadian prime ministership is an impossible office, demanding that its occupant simultaneously pass three unforgiving tests: political, managerial, and collegial. Fail one and you’re limping. Fail two and you’re finished. Justin Trudeau was wobbling on all three. One wonders how Mark Carney will fare.

Top left, left to right: Carney, Trudeau, Harper, Martin, Chrétien, Campbell, Mulroney, Turner, Clark, Trudeau, Pearson, Diefenbaker, St. Laurent, Bennett, King, Meighen, Borden, Laurier, Tupper, Bowell, Thompson, Abbott, Mackenzie, and Macdonald.Photographs courtesy of Commons Wikimedia, Government of Canada

Feature

BY PATRICE DUTIL, STEPHEN AZZI

September 29, 2025

If there is one way a Canadian prime minister differs from an American president, it’s this: nearly all go down to defeat. Only a few have avoided that fate: John A. Macdonald died in office (Sir John Thompson did, too, in 1894, but he never faced the electorate). Lester P...

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