Justin Trudeau to resign as prime minister of Canada

Justin Trudeau announced on Jan. 6 that he will resign as Canadian prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party once a replacement is selected, citing internal battles as the reason for his departure. 

Trudeau made the decision after pressure mounted on him from within his own party. Over the past several months, multiple Liberal MPs publicly called for his resignation, with some saying they possibly would not run in the upcoming election should Trudeau have remained the party’s leader. 

The announcement comes two weeks before Donald Trump is set to return to the White House on Jan. 20. The president-elect has threatened to implement 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian goods exported into the country the day he takes office unless measures are taken to shore up borders. 

Last month, one of Trudeau’s closest Liberal allies, deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland, resigned hours before she was set to present Canada’s first economic plan ahead of the incoming Trump administration. 

“The timing is really the problem. Prime ministers don’t last more than eight or nine years before they face enormous backlash from citizens, so you would expect a prime minister to have the wisdom to anticipate that,” Kwantlen Polytechnic University political science instructor Gregory Millard says.  

“The Liberal Party is left with a very short time frame to pick a new leader before an election, and Canada is left with a caretaker government [while] a hostile Trump administration takes power in the United States.” 

Millard adds a sensible strategy for Trudeau may have been to exit following the loss of seats in byelections last year or as a decision to focus on family and reconcile differences with his now estranged wife. 

“Everyone would have understood had he exited due to those kinds of familial considerations,” Millard says. “He had a number of moments where he could have gracefully exited the stage, but instead we’re left with this mad scramble.” 

In his Jan. 6 address to Canadians, Trudeau said Gov. Gen. Mary Simon granted his request to prorogue Parliament until March 24. During this time, the Liberal Party will select a new leader, which is set to be announced on March 9. 

Once Parliament resumes on March 24, the new Liberal Party leader and prime minister of Canada will almost immediately face a no-confidence vote, likely triggering an election. Leader of the Official Opposition Pierre Poilievre is polling far ahead of the other federal party leaders, CBC News reports.  

“I wasn’t too surprised because it looked like people were putting a lot of pressure [on Trudeau], and a lot of the other party [leaders] were like, ‘We hate Trudeau,’” KPU business student Marvin Raymond says. 

He added he is unsure if another candidate will fare better than Trudeau, given the challenges of being prime minister. 

“He can’t see into the future. I feel like it’s pretty tough … and then [people] blame world events [on him] that he can’t control,” Raymond says. “I feel like it would also be wrong to say anyone else could handle it better.” 

KPU engineering student Moyo Etta adds she was not surprised but a bit saddened with how the resignation unfolded. 

“I don’t know exactly what happened behind the scenes, but it made me feel sad in a way, especially because there’s so many people who make money off of smear campaigns about him,” Etta says, referencing the expletive signs and stickers that have become synonymous with the twilight of Trudeau’s political career. 

“It’s just very distasteful, especially to see people’s reactions and celebrations.”