According to several reports, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may step down soon, which could open the door to a more Bitcoin-friendly government. According to Reuters, “It is increasingly likely that Trudeau will announce that he intends to step down,” although a final decision has not yet been made. A source familiar with the matter told the news agency that the decision could come as soon as Monday, noting that Trudeau’s departure would leave the ruling Liberal Party without a permanent leader before the looming election deadline.
Why Canada could become pro-Bitcoin
Trudeau’s rumored exit coincides with polls indicating a marked decline in Liberal support. According to the CBC News Poll Tracker, Pierre Poilievre’s official opposition Conservative Party has a huge lead of 23%, with 44% of the vote expected to go to them if the election were held today. Notably, Poilievre has expressed pro-Bitcoin sentiments in the past and may lead to policies more welcoming to the digital asset.
BTC Inc CEO David Bailey, who was instrumental in US President-elect Donald Trump’s “orange stacking”, has fueled the rumours, stating on X Today that “Pierre Poilievre will offer Canada a strategic reserve of Bitcoin.”
Bailey and other experts at
Poilievre’s history of defending BTC is well documented. He once argued that bitcoin could enable Canadians to “pull back from inflation,” at a time when one bitcoin was hovering around $40,000. Since then, Bitcoin’s price has soared, reaching a high of over $108,000 at one point — a 170% rise. Poilievre famously showed his support for Bitcoin by purchasing shawarma with Bitcoin in March 2022, joking: “You’ll never believe how he (a store owner) beat the government to beat inflation. Today, I’m going to buy lunch from him and bring my Bitcoin wallet.”
He also posted via X in April 2022: “Bank of Canada says Bitcoin users lack financial literacy. This is from the same people who promised that we would experience “deflation” before inflation reached a 30-year high. It is our central bank that suffers from financial illiteracy, and the deficit in money printing makes our wages go to waste. #justinflation. We need sound money again, as well as the freedom of buyers and sellers to choose Bitcoin and other technologies.
Despite BTC’s strong performance, Poilievre has faced criticism from the Liberal Party and other political opponents. Critics have described his stance as a political wedge issue, leading him to remain relatively quiet on the issue.
However, in a November 2024 speech, Poilievre argued that Canadians “should be free to decide whether they want to use Bitcoin or not,” adding that he had no desire to “ban Bitcoin” like some other countries. He has also been a vocal opponent of central bank digital currencies, once saying emphatically: “There will never be a central bank digital currency.”
While no official plans or policies have been confirmed, the possibility of a Bitcoin reserve seems closer than ever to Canada. If Trudeau steps down and Poilievre becomes the next prime minister, many in the Bitcoin space believe Canada could follow in the footsteps of emerging pro-Bitcoin policymakers on the global stage.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $99,318.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com