Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Announces Resignation
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he will resign as prime minister and Liberal Party leader amid growing opposition to his leadership.
Trudeau said Canada’s parliament will pause until a new leader has been chosen. It will resume in late March, which will allow for a Liberal Party leadership race.
Trudeau, a former high school teacher and son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, became prime minister in 2015 after his Liberal Party won a decisive parliamentary majority. The Liberal Party won two more successive elections in 2019 and 2021, but lost the popular vote, requiring him to form a minority government with a left-wing opposition party, leaving his party dependent on allies to pass legislation.
In his press conference on Monday Trudeau called for a more unified political environment and suggested changes to Canada’s election process that would allow voters to look “for things they have in common instead of polarizing and dividing Canadians against each other.” He said failing to amend that process during his term is “one regret particularly” that he has leading up to the next election.
Trudeau’s leadership has faced significant challenges in the wake of the COVID crisis, leading to a loss of confidence among Canadians from various backgrounds. Key issues such as housing affordability, the rising cost of living and high levels of immigration contributed to widespread disillusionment. This growing frustration led to Trudeau’s own Liberal supporters to start calling for his resignation.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s abrupt resignation on Dec. 16 further complicated Trudeau’s political landscape and threw his Liberal Party into disarray, reviving calls for him to step down.
In an explosive resignation letter posted online, Freeland said she and the prime minister had become “at odds about the best path forward for Canada.” His housing minister had resigned a week earlier.
Asked to address Freeland’s departure, which some saw as the catalyst to Trudeau’s resignation announcement, the prime minister said he had hoped Freeland would agree to continue in his cabinet as deputy prime minister, “but she chose otherwise.” Trudeau declined to share more details about their “private conversations.”
