Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday, January 6, 2025.
Adrian Wilde Canadian Press (AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that he will step down as leader of the ruling Liberal Party but will remain in office until a new leader is elected ahead of a general election scheduled for the end of October.
“I intend to step down as party leader and prime minister after the party selects its next leader through a national competitive process,” he said at a press conference on Monday. “Last night, I called on the Liberal Party leader to start that process. This country deserves a real choice at the next election. And if I have to fight a domestic battle, I will It was clear to me that I wasn’t going to be the best option in that election. ”
He added that Canada’s Parliament will be prorogued, or suspended, until March 24, when a vote of confidence will be held.
“Parliament has been completely dominated in recent months by obstruction, filibusters and a complete lack of productivity,” Trudeau said. The time has come.”
Domestic media reported that he was expected to announce his resignation before a key national party caucus meeting on Wednesday. Canadian stocks rose slightly on the news. The S&P TSX index rose 0.1% and the Canadian dollar rose 0.5% against the US dollar to 1.4373. of iShares MSCI Canada ETF (EWC) rose 0.5%.
Canada’s latest political crisis, sparked by the sudden resignation of former Prime Minister Trudeau ally and deputy finance minister Chrystia Freeland, is expected to take over the next four years under President-elect Donald Trump. He resigned in December, citing differences over Ottawa’s response to U.S. trade nationalism. .
Dominique Leblanc was then appointed to replace her as head of the finance minister’s portfolio.
Prime Minister Trudeau, 53, who took office in 2015 and was re-elected twice, saw his approval rating among voters plummet to just 19% following Freeland’s resignation, according to pollster Abacus Data. Discovered on December 17th. On December 30th, the Angus Reid Institute declared a “painful year for the federal Liberal Party”, with the following assessment: Popular approval rating is only 16% Prime Minister Trudeau’s resignation leaves his successor only a few months at most to prepare for his campaign.
The opposition Conservative Party currently leads by more than 20 percentage points in opinion polls ahead of the general election, and its firebrand leader Pierre Poièvre recently drew praise from Trump ally Elon Musk. I’m getting it. was praised His “great interview”.
Despite growing calls for him to resign, Trudeau has been hesitant to do so since mid-December, and the Liberal Party lacks a mechanism to oust leaders without a deal.
In another blow to Prime Minister Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the allied left-wing New Democratic Party, announced on December 20th: in an open letter The intention is to introduce a motion to overthrow the Trudeau government and pave the way for an election.
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has failed in the most important job a prime minister has to do: to work for the people, not for those in power,” Singh said, according to a CNBC translation. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have made a lot of beautiful promises, and yet they have let the people down time and time again.”
Prime Minister Trudeau recently took charge of Canada’s economy, where inflation has just fallen below the 2% target. in novemberHowever, they are still troubled by household debt, rising unemployment rate, Worst productivity performance 2023 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development participation and panoptic revelations about the US – where President Trump belittles “Governor” Trudeau and has already teased the possibility of both a 25% tariff and tariffs annexation.
Mr. Freeland and Mr. Trudeau finally split last month over disagreements over Canada’s response to President Trump’s “aggressive economic nationalism.”
“We need to take that threat seriously,” she warned. in her resignation letteremphasized the “serious challenges that America presents” and called for a pushback against “‘America First’ economic nationalism with a determined effort to fight for capital and investment and the jobs they bring.”
— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
