According to several reports, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may soon step down, potentially opening the door to a better Bitcoin government. According to Reuters, Trudeau “is very likely to announce his intention to resign,” although no final decision has been made. A source familiar with the matter told the media that the decision could come as soon as Monday, saying that Trudeau’s departure would leave the ruling Liberal Party without a permanent leader before the election deadline.
Why Canada Can Turn Pro-Bitcoin
Trudeau’s rumored exit coincided with polls showing a significant drop in Liberal support. According to CBC News’ Poll Tracker, the official opposition led by Pierre Poilievre has built a 23% lead, with 44% of the vote expected to go to them if the election is held today. Notably, Poilievre has expressed pro-Bitcoin sentiments in the past and may introduce policies to be more accepting of digital assets.
BTC Inc CEO David Bailey, who played a major role in US President-elect Donald Trump’s “drinking oranges,” fueled the rumours, saying on X today that “Pierre Poilievre will bring Canada a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”
Bailey and other experts in X note that this is similar to Trump’s plans: during his campaign at the Bitcoin Summit 2024, he talked about establishing a “national asset pool” of BTC held and floated the idea of paying the US national debt with BTC.
Poilievre’s history with BTC Advocacy is well documented. He once argued that Bitcoin could enable Canadians to “get out of cash,” at a time when 1 BTC was going for $40,000. Since then, the price of BTC has risen, reaching a high of more than $ 108,000 at one time – a 170% surge. Poilievre famously showed his support for Bitcoin by buying shawarma with Bitcoin in March 2022, joking that “you’ll never believe how. [a shop owner] beat the government to beat inflation. Today, I bought him lunch—and brought my Bitcoin wallet.”
He also posted on X in April 2022: “Bank of Canada says Bitcoin has no financial information. This is from the same people who promised we would have “de-inflation” just before inflation hit a 30-year high. It is our central bank that is financially illiterate,” and “a shortage of money printing presses is making our wages “go up in smoke”. #JustinFlation. We need money that makes sense again—and the freedom for buyers and sellers to choose Bitcoin and other technologies.”
Despite BTC’s strong performance, Poilievre faced criticism from the Liberal Party and other political enemies. Critics called his situation a political issue, which made him silent on the issue.
However, in a November 2024 speech, Poilievre said that Canadians “should be free to decide whether they want to use Bitcoin or not,” adding that he had no desire to “block Bitcoin” like other nations. He has also been an opponent of Central Bank Digital Currencies, once saying emphatically, “There will be no Central Bank Digital Currency.”
Although no official plans or policies have been confirmed, it is possible that a place to store BTC seems closer than ever in Canada. If Trudeau steps down and Poilievre becomes the next prime minister, many in the BTC sector believe Canada could follow in the footsteps of emerging BTC policymakers on the world stage.
At press time, BTC traded at $99,318.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com