Justin Trudeau has said he will step down as Canada’s prime minister after his party has finds a new leader, a decision that in effect brings an end to nearly a decade in power.
“Canadians deserve a clear choice in the next election,” Mr Trudeau said, adding party infighting had made it impossible for him to face off against his political rivals. Mr Trudeau said would stay on as prime minister until a new leader of the ruling Liberal Party was chosen through a “robust, nationwide” process.
His resignation throws open the doors to a fierce political battle to be the country’s next leader, with polls showing the Liberals losing badly to the official opposition Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October.
Mr Trudeau, who used his address to recount his government’s accomplishments over three terms, said parliament would be suspended until March 24th.
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Mr Trudeau’s decision to resign also comes at a time when a deep anxiety has settled over Canadian politics before Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. Canadian officials increasingly fear US tariffs will devastate the Canadian economy and a prorogued parliament is unlikely to ease these fears.
Mr Trudeau had attempted to placate the incoming US president, both with an array of policy concessions and with a visit to Florida, where they posed smiling for a photograph, and he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that he promised Mr Trump Canada would shore up border security.
Days later, however, Mr Trump publicly mocked Mr Trudeau, belittling him as the “governor” of Canada, as if his country were merely a US state rather than an independent nation, and musing that it could become part of the US.
In Canada, reaction from the prime minister’s political rivals on his decision to step down was swift and unforgiving.
“Nothing has changed,” said Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader. “Every Liberal MP and leadership contender supported everything Trudeau did for nine years, and now they want to trick voters by swapping in another Liberal face to keep ripping off Canadians for another four years, just like Justin.”
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, said in a statement the Liberals “do not deserve another chance, no matter who is the leader”. Mr Singh propped up the Liberals’ minority government for three years under a confidence and supply agreement but withdraw his support at the end of 2024.
Earlier in the day, Mr Trudeau met the governor general, Mary Simon, and requested the prorogation of parliament until March 24th in order to give the party sufficient time to find a new leader. Lawmakers were due to return in late January and the Conservatives had pledged to bring down the government with a vote of non-confidence, which could have forced an election.
Mr Trudeau (53) has led the ruling Liberal Party since 2013 and became prime minister in November 2015. Until recently, he had told reporters on numerous occasions he expected to lead the Liberals into the next election.
But the recent developments reflect Mr Trudeau’s waning popularity – and that of his governing Liberals. In recent months, the party has after lost political strongholds in recent byelections and prominent cabinet ministers. Recent polling has the Liberals at 16 per cent support, their worst pre-election standing in more than a century.
For Mr Trudeau, the reversal of fortunes has been in the works for years as the public slowly soured on a leader whose historic surname, good looks and charisma elevated him into a global celebrity, or, as a 2016 Vogue profile put it, the “new young face of Canadian politics”.
At home, however, his reputation has – like those of many incumbents in power over the past year – become increasingly tarnished by high inflation and out-of-control housing prices.
A leader seemingly attuned to the mood of the country found himself embroiled in series of personal scandals, including a family trip to the Aga Khan’s private island, skipping out on the country’s first national day of truth and reconciliation for a surfing holiday, and revelations that members of his family were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by a charity to which his government recently awarded a substantial contract.
In each case, Mr Trudeau’s apparent inability to understand public outrage helped to explain his refusal to step down – and seemingly blinded him to the growing dissatisfaction that threatens to cast a shadow over his political legacy.
Almost two dozen backbench Liberal MPs signed a letter calling on Mr Trudeau to step down late last year over fears of a potentially seismic electoral defeat.
In mid-December Mr Trudeau’s closest political ally, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, stepped down amid a row over the appropriate response to Donald Trump’s looming economic nationalism. Her scathing resignation letter accused Mr Trudeau of “costly political gimmicks” and cast doubt on his understanding of the “gravity of the moment”.
Federal law requires an election be held by October 2025 but with all opposition parties saying publicly they no longer have confidence in the governing Liberals, an election is certain when parliament returns in late March.
TheConservatives are expected to win a majority government given current polling. But that result could sway substantially depending on the new leaders the Liberals choose. – Guardian