In a move that could set the stage for a challenge to succeed him as prime minister, Justin Trudeau announced Monday that he will step down as leader of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide competitive process,” Trudeau stated to reporters in Ottawa. “Last night, I asked the president of the Liberal Party to begin that process.”
With the Liberals trailing the opposition Conservative Party in surveys and internal disputes blazing over his handling of President-elect Donald Trump, the troubled prime minister’s exit comes amid mounting calls from within his own party for his resignation.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned last month as a result of that pressure. Concerns over the Trudeau administration’s comparatively cooperative stance toward the incoming Trump administration’s proposal to raise import duties on Canadian goods by 25% were the reason behind Freeland’s abrupt resignation as finance minister.
In her letter of resignation, Freeland stated that the country cannot afford Trump’s tariff threats and that she and she had been at disagreement for several weeks on what was best for Canada.
She went on to say that the only honorable and practical course was to leave the Cabinet.
Since taking office in late 2015, Trudeau has mostly avoided the spotlight. He has been in power for nine years.
In November, Trump declared that if re-elected, he would issue an executive order putting tariffs on all goods entering the United States from Canada and Mexico.
As one of my many first executive orders, he stated in an aposton Truth Social in late November, “I will sign all necessary documents on January 20th to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States and its ridiculous Open Borders.”
Trudeau visited the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida a few days later. He then said in a post on X: President Trump, thank you for supper last night. I’m excited about the work we can accomplish together once more.
Trump has since made disparaging remarks about Trudeau and Canada, calling the prime minister the governor of the Great State of Canada and proposing to make the nation the 51st state in the union.
However, even before to his recent handling of the possibility of new American tariffs, Trudeau’s popularity was declining. Many young Canadians and members of the working class hold the prime minister responsible for the nation’s protracted political unrest and high rate of inflation.
In the House of Commons, the Liberals control 153 of the 338 seats. By the end of October, elections will take place.
Over the past year, the party’s popularity has drastically decreased in comparison to the opposition. Voter support for the Liberals has fallen to an all-time low of 16%, according to the most recent study, which was issued Friday by the Canadian research firm Angus Reid.
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